&gt; On the other hand, how do you embed a browser component in a forward-compatible way?<p>Android uses a WebView component. If an app wants to display a webpage, it can make use of this to render HTML. I imagine iOS uses something similar.<p>I believe this component is compiled separately for different versions of Android, and Android will only update to the newest compatible version.<p>Docs: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;developer.android.com&#x2F;reference&#x2F;android&#x2F;webkit&#x2F;WebView.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;developer.android.com&#x2F;reference&#x2F;android&#x2F;webkit&#x2F;WebVi...</a><p>Store page: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;play.google.com&#x2F;store&#x2F;apps&#x2F;details?id=com.google.android.webview&amp;hl=en" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;play.google.com&#x2F;store&#x2F;apps&#x2F;details?id=com.google.and...</a>