what does microsoft edge webview2 runtime do

By default, a WebView2 app targets the Runtime rather than Microsoft Edge. When you use a WebView2 SDK release package, use the WebView2 Evergreen Runtime on your development client, rather than a Microsoft Edge preview channel.

Use a release version of the SDK along with the Runtime

Avoid using the SDK prerelease package to build production apps.įor information about temporarily pointing your app to a preview channel instead of defaulting to the WebView2 Runtime, see Test upcoming APIs and features. The experimental APIs are subject to change based on your feedback. Preview channels provide the implementations of the experimental WebView2 APIs. The SDK prerelease package is a superset of the SDK release package, with method signatures for more, Experimental APIs. The Canary preview channel is recommended rather than Beta or Dev, because Canary is most recent and has implementations of the latest experimental APIs. Preview channels are also called Insiders channels. When you use a WebView2 SDK prerelease package, use a Microsoft Edge preview channel on your development client. Because the web platform is constantly evolving, regular testing is the best way to ensure your app will continue to work as intended. When developing an Evergreen WebView2 app, regularly test the app against the latest Microsoft Edge preview channel, in addition to testing against the WebView2 Runtime. Use a prerelease version of the SDK along with a preview channel of Microsoft Edge More detail about the prerelease and release SDK packages is provided below.

The WebView2 Runtime on your development client.

When you're working on a production release of your WebView2 app, use the following combination: Release SDK packages only contain stable APIs, not experimental APIs.

A preview channel of Microsoft Edge on your development client.

A prerelease version of the WebView2 SDK.

When you want to test and use experimental WebView2 APIs, use the following combination: The Canary channel is recommended, because it has the implementations of the latest APIs. Prerelease SDK packages are for use during development if you want to test the latest WebView2 APIs, including the experimental APIs, before support for those APIs is added to the Runtime. Either use a prerelease SDK with a preview channel of Microsoft Edge, or use a release SDK with the WebView2 Runtime.

The NuGet package for the WebView2 SDK contains both a release and prerelease package.

What does microsoft edge webview2 runtime do