If you’ve ever used a media app on Xbox and found it to be slow, not very user-friendly, or lacking the latest features available on web-based versions, those issues may soon be a thing of the past. Microsoft has decided to permit Xbox app developers to utilize the Chromium-powered Edge browser to enhance their apps.
This support for Microsoft Edge’s WebView2 on Xbox is now accessible, enabling developers of Xbox media apps to incorporate the latest web technologies into their apps, thereby boosting performance.
Developers have been testing this feature for several months, and it has been a highly requested addition, according to Microsoft. The STARZ streaming app is among the first to make use of WebView2, and we anticipate that other developers will also integrate it into their media apps and lightweight games on Xbox in the coming months.
While Xbox users have had access to the Chromium version of Edge for a while, developers have been forced to use the older version of Edge in the background. The new Microsoft Edge WebView2 control employs the Chromium-based Edge rendering engine rather than Microsoft’s older EdgeHTML browser engine.
This WebView2 control supports the inclusion of web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript into Xbox apps, which suggests that we are likely to see more HTML5 games on Xbox in the future. Microsoft has even created a MakeCode app that includes games, all thanks to the WebView2 control.
