This week I received my first gift phone in ages, and since the sender wants me to test it I had to go through all my dozen Android phones and update them as well, so that I can run tests against the latest installed Chromia.
During this process I began to have serious doubts about the update process of the Chromium WebView especially, though the same problems also crop up with regular Google Chrome.
TL;DR: Although, as promised, the Chromium WebView can be updated as a stand-alone app from Android 5 on, I doubt if consumers actually do so because Android’s update process is badly broken. Thus a wide variety of WebViews may be in use right now.
Fair warning: if you are unable to contemplate the simultaneous existence of several Chromium versions running on the same device without suffering from existential angst the reading of this article is discouraged until you’ve consulted your psychiatrist.