Evergreen Webview2: Hot!

If a user has five different applications installed that all use WebView2, the Evergreen model ensures they share a single runtime instance on the disk. This avoids the redundancy of having five separate copies of a 150 MB browser engine clogging up the user’s hard drive.

On a fresh Windows 10 install without the runtime, your app triggers a download (~150 MB) before it can show WebView2 content. evergreen webview2

– The Evergreen WebView2 runtime is the right default for most modern Windows apps. It offloads update management to Microsoft and keeps app size lean. Just ensure your app handles the missing-runtime scenario with a fallback or clear guidance. For mission-critical offline systems, use Fixed Version. If a user has five different applications installed

Evergreen for almost every use case. Here’s a quick breakdown of why it matters and how to manage it effectively. Why Go Evergreen? Automatic Security: The runtime updates itself alongside Microsoft Edge. You don’t have to ship a new version of your app just to patch a Chromium vulnerability. Smaller Footprint: Multiple apps share the same Evergreen installation, saving significant disk space on your users' machines. Performance: You automatically get the latest memory and CPU optimizations from the Chromium team. How to Deploy It Most modern Windows 10 and 11 systems already have the runtime. However, for a seamless experience, you should: Use the Bootstrapper: Include the WebView2 Evergreen Bootstrapper in your installer. It’s a tiny (<2 MB) file that checks for the runtime and downloads the latest version if it’s missing. Standalone Option: If your users are often offline, package the – The Evergreen WebView2 runtime is the right

You don’t bundle ~150 MB of WebView2 binaries. The runtime is either already present or downloaded once.

The runtime is Microsoft’s distribution model where a single, system-wide version of the WebView2 control is automatically updated (independently of your app). This contrasts with the Fixed Version (bundling WebView2 with your app).