3 ANDROID ADVISOR • ISSUE 10
engine within WebView was replaced with a
Chromium-based version known as Blink, so KitKat
and Lollipop devices are not a ected.
However, the huge number of older and low-end
Androids still in circulation today means that 60
percent of phones and tablets – more than a billion
devices – are a ected. As of 5 January, the vast
majority of Android users were still running Android
4.3 Jelly Bean or below (60.9 percent), with only 39.1
percent running Android 4.4 KitKat or 5.0 Lollipop.
Google is in a di cult position. Although it could
develop a patch if it was so inclined (it is not, given
the age of Jelly Bean), it can only recommend that
its hardware partners develop and roll out a patch
to their customers. And given that it is largely old
and low-end devices that are stuck on Android Jelly
Bean or lower, that's not going to happen.
The good news is you can fi x the fl aw yourself
by updating your phone to Android 4.4 KitKat or
Android 5.0 Lollipop.How to protect against the WebView bug
If your phone is not rooted it will be able to receive
OTA (over the air) updates. It's quite possible that
one is available for your device for some time and
you've until now ignored it. Updating your device
could not only improve any stability issues but
bring new features.
It's important to note, however, that unless
you own a Nexus device (and in which case, you
should already be running Android Lollipop) the
software updates are the responsibility of the device
manufacturer and not Google. If your device is from
a well-known brand such as Samsung, Sony, HTC,