Broken page layouts on Android WebView browsers

• Overview
• GitHub on HTC One M8
• Update your WebView
• Sideload official WebView
• Installation on HTC One M8
• Result
• Resources

Overview

WebView-based Android browsers depend entirely on the system Android System WebView component to render pages. On older devices, this WebView is often outdated and lacks support for modern CSS features such as :has() and container queries. As a result, many websites show broken layouts, missing elements, or misaligned content.

GitHub on HTC One M8

On the HTC One M8 running Android 6.0 Marshmallow, GitHub pages render incorrectly in the WebView-based browser Fulguris. Although the Play Store no longer provides recent WebView versions for this device, Chromium officially supported Android 6.0 up to v106. This means newer Google-signed WebView builds can still be installed manually and work correctly.

Update your WebView

Before sideloading anything, verify whether your device is already running the latest Android System WebView available for its Android version. On older devices, the Play Store may stop updating WebView automatically without showing any error.

You can check your installed version directly from the Play Store page:
Android System WebView

If the Play Store offers an update, install it and test your browser again.
If no update is offered and your device remains stuck on an older release, modern sites may still render incorrectly. In that case, sideloading a newer official WebView is the next step.

Sideload official WebView

Android only allows updating the system WebView if the APK is signed with Google's certificate. The HTC One M8 uses a 32‑bit ARM CPU (armeabi‑v7a), so you must install the matching variant.

Installation on HTC One M8

1. Open the download page for the correct WebView build:
   Android System WebView v105.0.5195.136 (armeabi‑v7a)
2. Download the APK variant labelled armeabi‑v7a and targeting Android 6.0+.
3. Enable installation from unknown sources on your device.
4. Install the APK — Android will treat it as an update to com.google.android.webview because the signature matches Google's.
5. After installation, avoid downgrades by disabling auto‑updates on the Play Store page:
   Android System WebView

Result

After installing WebView v105.0.5195.136, GitHub renders correctly again in Fulguris on the HTC One M8. Other modern sites benefit similarly thanks to improved CSS and JavaScript support.

Resources

Fulguris
Android System WebView
GitHub
Android System WebView archive
HTC One M8
Android 6.0 Marshmallow

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