TLDR: Android 15 is going to keep the Android System Webview ram-resident at pretty much all times so that when an app needs a “web popup page” it will load significantly faster.
Here is an article from Android Central detailing how the component works at relatively high level.
This is interesting. I think I’d rather it just keep my actual web browser app in RAM and always open that with a new tab instead of the basic system web view. Or can you change which web browser app is the default web view? Seems like a waste to keep the web view in RAM and also your web browser app
It’s up to the app. “Custom Tabs” are supported by a lot of browsers these days and is sort of the best of both worlds.
The only waste of ram is RAM is RAM that isn’t being used.
Apps like hermit should benefit immensely from this. But, this will also mean reduced free ram for other apps. Fortunately, the increased ram of today’s smartphones should make this negligible.