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Starting with Android 16, the default User-Agent (UA) string in Android WebView will be simplified. This update aims to minimize passive fingerprinting and enhance user privacy. A similar change has been in place for Chrome on desktop and Android since version 107.
The new, reduced WebView User-Agent string will look like this:
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 10; K; wv) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Chrome/125.000 Mobile Safari/537.36
Key Points of the Change:
- Simpler User-Agent String: By limiting the amount of detailed information, websites find it harder to identify and track users based on their browser setup.
- Retention of WebView Token (wv): The
wvtoken will remain in the UA string. This allows developers to detect and handle WebView sessions as needed.
This shift aligns Android WebView with privacy trends in modern web browsers, promoting a safer browsing experience for users while supporting essential functionality for developers.
