No, not at all. Lots of apps using the system webview nowadays. I would urge you to revise your deeply outdated knowledge. Lots of frameworks making this convenient too. Capacitor (Ionic) Apps, Cordova (PhoneGap) Apps, Tauri (non-Chromium modes), etc.
A network card is not required for:
- Loading local HTML files into a WebView
- Packaging an app that embeds the WebView (e.g., WinUI WebView2, macOS WKWebView, Android WebView, blah-blah)
- Running JavaScript, CSS, DOM APIs
- Using local storage, IndexedDB, etc
- Accessing file:// resources
- Communicating with native code (e.g., JS <-> native messaging)
Btw, there are a lot of non-Chromium apps! Are you aware that Microsoft Teams now uses the System WebView on mobile (iOS WKWebView / Android WebView) ?
Linux apps like GNOME Notes, Foliate, ReText, Liferea etc use the system webview.
Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Podcasts, App Store, Dash, etc use WKWebView
