February 6, 2026
Jank Wars: Android Edition
WebView performance significantly slower than PWA
Android’s in‑app browser gets roasted as “laggy” while plain web apps fly
TLDR: A dev says Android’s in‑app web viewer feels slower than a regular installed website, with jerky scrolling in a popular app. Commenters split between blaming big companies, citing Facebook’s custom fix, and demanding the freedom to use different browsers in apps—because this impacts how millions of apps feel to use.
A frustrated developer filed a bug saying Android’s built‑in WebView — the mini browser that apps use to show web pages — is choppier than a regular website saved to your home screen. In their test inside the TopDecked app, a simple card scroll turned into a jitter fest, while the same thing as a PWA (a website you install like an app) ran smooth. Cue the crowd: the comments lit up.
One voice sighed “unfortunately nobody cares :(,” setting the mood. Another blasted that it’s “amazing” how these bugs linger even with “megacorps” pouring engineers into the code. The kitchen‑table fix? One commenter pointed to Facebook’s workaround: they literally built their own Chromium-based WebView link. A more technical take claimed WebView slows down when it has to sync with Android’s own UI system, especially during animations — while Chrome (the full browser) avoids that path and feels snappier. And then the nuclear option drops: “Let us opt out and use our own browser,” says another, basically asking Google to stop forcing one size fits all.
Between “no one cares,” “Big Tech dropped the ball,” and “let us bring our own browser,” this thread turned a jerky scroll into Scrollgate. Pass the popcorn.
Key Points
- •A reported bug shows Android System WebView performing significantly slower than a PWA for the same app content.
- •Testing was conducted on a Pixel 6 Pro running Android 12 with WebView version 98.0.4758.54.
- •Reproduction steps involve navigating within TopDecked and scrolling a modal, which jitters in WebView but is smooth in the PWA.
- •Expected behavior is performance parity between WebView and PWA; actual behavior shows slower animations, script execution, and load times in WebView.
- •The reporter requests diagnostic artifacts (bug reports, screen recordings with ADB) and notes Chrome bugs should be filed separately at crbug.com.