# Making the case for the WebView

DevFeed: [Making the case for the WebView](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/making-the-case-for-the-webview-30797.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://devblog.kogan.com/blog/making-the-case-for-the-webview>)

Author: Campbell Graham

Published: 2024-01-25T05:29:47Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Kogan.com](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/kogan-com.md>)

Topics: [WebView](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/webview.md>), [mobile-app-development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/mobile-app-development.md>), [Mobile](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/mobile.md>), [User Experience](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/user-experience.md>)

Tags: [hybrid](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/hybrid.md>), [mobile](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mobile.md>), [mobile-app-development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/mobile-app-development.md>), [user-experience](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/user-experience.md>), [webview](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/webview.md>)

## AI overview

This opinion article argues that nested WebViews can be appropriate in hybrid mobile apps when teams must balance feature work, platform changes, maintenance, and parity with an accompanying website. It suggests evaluating criticality, interactivity, change frequency, content size, loading overhead, and native-development complexity, while keeping transitions seamless and preserving navigation and user state.

## Source excerpt

Learning to embrace a hybrid approach for mobile app development: Native apps are best! Like the rest of the native mobile app development community, I typically agree with the notion that "native is best" when it comes to mobile apps. After all, these are the technologies we spend tens of hours every week utilising, and there is a passion for user experience that I feel is required in order to happily dive into the deep-end-specialisation of Google or Apple's tooling. An example of what is possible with Google's Material Design for Android: https://developer.android.com/design/ui?_gl=1*1g30ii5*_ga*MjA3NjQzNjE2NS4xNzAyOTQ0Nzc2*_ga_QPQ2NRV856*MTcwNjA2MTg0My44LjEuMTcwNjA2MTk2Ni4wLjAuMA.. However... As one of these oft-opinionated app developers who tends to view non-native tooling like React Native as a sub-par user experience, I have a potentially unpopular idea to share. Sometimes, a nested WebView does have its place. The pitch It might not be popular with the purists, but please hear me out. The nested WebView does sometimes have an important role to play (emphasis on nested!). When facing the challenge of balancing new features, requested enhancements, required platform changes and general maintenance, maintaining the required degree of parity between your mobile app and its accompanying website can be difficult. In my experience, here are some key factors to consider when deciding whether to implement a flow natively within your app or whether to utilise a nested WebView: Is it a critical piece of functionality that users will frequently use? To what degree is the content static or interactive? Will it be subject to frequent changes? How much content is there to display? Will the overhead of loading a WebView (including any relevant JavaScript) be fast enough for the use case? Do you feel any technical hurdles of developing it natively will result in a better user experience? There is no definitive flow chart that can help make this decision for you. However, wh