Cannot display HTML string

Navigating through Android's WebView

Loading and parsing HTML content

Android offers WebView as a built-in component for displaying HTML content in apps. Let's explore how to use it effectively:

• Use WebView.loadData() to display your unescaped HTML content directly inside the WebView.

// Who needs a web browser when you've  got a WebView?
WebView wv = findViewById(R.id.webview);
wv.loadData(htmlContent, "text/html", "UTF-8");
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• To ensure compatibility across different Android versions, use Html.fromHtml() to strip HTML tags and handle HTML escaping ensuring special characters render correctly.

// Stripping for better compatibility, how scandalous!
String displayableContent = Html.fromHtml(htmlContent, Html.FROM_HTML_MODE_LEGACY).toString();
wv.loadData(displayableContent, "text/html", "UTF-8");
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• If you're dealing with complex HTML structures, make use of the Jsoup library to parse, manipulate or sanitize HTML content effectively, dodging cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks.

// Jsoup – soup for your jumbled HTML tags!
Document doc = Jsoup.parse(htmlContent);
// Jsoup magic happens here...
String safeContent = doc.toString();
wv.loadData(safeContent, "text/html", "UTF-8");
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• Ensure you're rendering the correct data type in WebView by checking the server's Content-Type header – it's like checking the label before a laundry wash!

Security and compatibility considerations

• Keep XSS attacks at bay by sanitizing and validating the HTML content before they stage a coup inside your WebView.

• Configuring WebView's settings to equitable levels of security is crucial. Maybe disable JavaScript if it's not needed?

// No JavaScript allowed. This is a strictly HTML party.
wv.getSettings().setJavaScriptEnabled(false); 
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• Ensure a smooth transition of HTML content from the server to your WebView by handling HTML escaping server-side and unescaping client-side correctly.

• Test across different Android versions to ensure your HTML string doesn't play favorites!

Addressing encoding and compatibility issues

• Tackle any encoding issues with your original HTML string to ensure it doesn't throw a tantrum while being displayed.

// Encoding 101: Don't let special characters feel too special.
String encodedHtml = URLEncoder.encode(htmlContent, "UTF-8");
wv.loadData(encodedHtml, "text/html", "UTF-8");
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• Confirm your original HTML string contains well-structured HTML, because WebView can be quite picky about rendering.

• Reference the WebView correctly in your Android code, because chasing ghosts during runtime is nobody's idea of fun!