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If you set the browser executable folder to a specific preview channel of Microsoft Edge, you will need to update the location when that preview channel updates to a newer version.
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One approach is to use a browser executable folder. There are several ways to make your WebView2 app use a specified preview channel of Microsoft Edge: You can learn more about supported runtimes at Distribute your app and the WebView2 Runtime. This can be the WebView2 Runtime, a preview channel of Microsoft Edge, or a specified location containing fixed version binaries. When a WebView2 is initialized, it will attempt to find a valid runtime on the machine to use. Approaches to making your app use a specific browser channel To download a Microsoft Edge preview channel, see Microsoft Edge Insider Channels. To use experimental APIs, download a prerelease version of the WebView2 SDK from 2 package. Downloading the prerelease SDK and a preview channel The preview channels of Microsoft Edge contain the Microsoft Edge binaries that are needed to run and render your app, including the implementation of the experimental APIs.įor more information about how SDK versions works in conjunction with the WebView2 Runtime or preview channels of Microsoft Edge, see Understand the different WebView2 SDK versions. The prerelease SDK works together with a preview channel as follows:Ī prerelease version of the WebView2 SDK contains the method signatures for experimental APIs, which allow you to write code using the experimental WebView2 APIs in your app. The Canary preview channel is recommended, because it's ahead of the other channels and has the latest experimental APIs. For your WebView2 code to run when using experimental APIs in a prerelease SDK, your client (on a development machine) needs to have a Microsoft Edge preview channel. The WebView2 Runtime doesn't have the latest experimental WebView2 APIs. Several approaches for doing this are explained below.
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When you test a prerelease SDK package, you need to direct your application to use a preview channel of Microsoft Edge (Beta, Dev, or Canary), instead of defaulting to using the WebView2 Runtime.
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To test the experimental APIs ahead of time and ensure your app's forward-compatibility, you should perform compatibility testing using a preview channel of Microsoft Edge, along with a prerelease version of the WebView2 SDK. Some of these updates could potentially break your WebView2 app. Updates of the WebView2 Evergreen Runtime often include new APIs and features. To test upcoming APIs and features, you switch to a preview channel, as follows.
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