WebView vs WKWebView on OSX

Question

Apple's documentation suggests using WkWebView for new development, although it does seem to have a typo where it recommends WkWebView through UIWebView on Mac.

For new development, use this class instead of the old UIWebView class.

The typo is probably due to the fact that they are trying to combine the OSX and iOS interface with the web view using the same header for both.

However, WkWebView does not have all the features that WebView has in OSX. For example, you can access DOM nodes in a native interface in WebView , but I see no way to do this from Swift / Objective-C to WkWebView .

For my purposes, it seems to me that WebView is what I need, but I'm tired of starting a project that relies on an API that will be removed. However, I see no mention of the intention to abandon WebView anywhere in the headers or documentation.

What is even more confusing, this WebKit Framework Link refers to both the WK and the older web interface APIs without specifying anything.

Wkwebview

The WKWebView object displays interactive web content, such as for a browser in an application.

Webview

WebView is the main view class in the WebKit structure that controls the interaction between the WebFrame and WebFrameView classes.

Does WebView to OSX?

Answer 1

This is not a false alarm. Apple has moved Safari from UIWebView / WebView to 6.0, so security fixes just don't happen in the old class. For this reason, you should not use it for new things. Apple was gradually improving it with each version of the OS, so now you can do private extensions (file: // access, download, etc.),

However, it will not be fully equivalent to the old WebView. You cannot directly access the DOM anymore because the Network / Rendering / UI processes have been separated and you are creating locks by creating such element references. Use the postMessage() message handler and wkwebview.evaluateJavaScript () and call-ish / promisy JS code between the two columns to deal with the native interaction network <> asynchronously.

Answer 2

Important

Starting with iOS 8.0 and OS X 10.10, use WKWebView to add web content to your application.
Do not use UIWebView or WebView.

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/webkit/wkwebview