Android Smart WebView 7.5 🔐 (Stable)

[mgks]

This is a critical security and stability release that addresses several core issues related to the authentication lifecycle, UI theming, and state preservation. We strongly recommend all users update to this version.

✨ Security & Enhancements

This release introduces a major overhaul of the Biometric Authentication plugin to make it more robust and secure against common bypass methods.

• Hardened Authentication Lifecycle: The app session is now invalidated whenever the app is paused or sent to the background. This ensures that authentication is required every time the app is brought back to the foreground, closing a critical security loophole that previously allowed bypassing the lock on resume.
• Secure App Snapshot: The main app window is now flagged as secure (FLAG_SECURE). This prevents the app's content from being visible in the "Recent Apps" switcher or in screenshots, protecting sensitive information when the app is in the background.
• Robust Auth Cancellation: Fixed a critical flaw where tapping outside the system's authentication prompt would minimize the app. The security overlay now correctly persists, forcing the user to either complete authentication or manually exit the app.
• Guided Security Setup: If a user has no screen lock (PIN, pattern, fingerprint, etc.) enabled on their device, the "Authenticate" button on the security overlay will now correctly redirect them to the Android Security Settings to set one up.

🐞 Bug Fixes & Stability Improvements

• Fixed: State Loss on Configuration Change: The WebView no longer reloads to the initial URL after a screen rotation. The user's current page, scroll position, and plugin states are now correctly preserved. (Note: The runtime theme toggle has been temporarily disabled to prevent this issue).
• Fixed: Status Bar Color: Resolved all inconsistencies with the status bar color, ensuring it correctly matches the app theme in both fullscreen and drawer layouts, across light and dark modes.
• Fixed: Drawer Layout UI: Corrected theme and layout behavior conflicts to ensure the search menu consistently appears and the WebView is correctly positioned below the toolbar when the header is visible.
• Fixed: Crash with Mock Locations: The app no longer crashes with a SecurityException when "Allow mock locations" is enabled in Developer Options.
• Fixed: Missing Image Resource: Resolved a layout inflation error caused by references to a non-existent @raw/front_splash resource. Layouts now use a valid fallback drawable, ensuring splash screens and headers render correctly.
• Fixed: Menu Crash: Patched a StackOverflowError that would occur if a menu item was selected due to an incorrect recursive call.

🔧 Under the Hood

• Plugin Lifecycle Enhancement: The PluginInterface and PluginManager have been updated to support the onPause() lifecycle event, allowing plugins to perform actions when the app is backgrounded. This was a necessary change to enable the new security features.
• Modernized UI Implementation: Refactored the entire theme and layout system to correctly use modern Material Components and handle window insets, providing a stable and consistent UI across all app configurations.

💖 Get Premium Plugins Access

Includes AdMob (Banner, Rewarded, Interstitial), Biometric Auth, QR Scanner, and more — available to monthly sponsors.

---

This discussion was created from the release Android Smart WebView 7.5 🔐 (Stable).

[mgks]

🚀 Issues fixed in this release – #336 #339 #343 #346