How to access the local host server with web view in Android

Question

I have an Android Application and I need to go to my web server and connect my Android Application to another program on the web. my web program is working and when I put its IP address on Android FIrefox or Browser it is working but when I call its IP address with my webview ( webView.loadUrl(my web program IP address) it's not working. Can somebody help me where is my mistake?

Solution 1

Make sure you are not using "localhost" from you app (a very common mistake).

If you are accessing your local server from a wifi, you just need to check which IP your server has assigned and use it in the app.

If you are using the emulator, try with 10.0.2.2

See here Accessing localhost:port from Android emulator

Solution 2

In your activity:

class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
        // you should be to put localhost and port number
      //webView.loadUrl("http://local_host:<port-number>/index.html")
        //example
        webView.loadUrl("http://10.66.0.89:8080/index.html")
        webView.settings.cacheMode = WebSettings.LOAD_NO_CACHE
        webView.settings.setAppCacheEnabled(false)
    }
}

in your manifest:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET"/>
    <application
       ...
        android:usesCleartextTraffic="true">

Solution 3

I too had the same issue. Let's say the IP address is `216.58.216.164. I rectified it using following

webView.loadUrl("http://216.58.216.164/")

Comments

[hatzaviv]

You should also make sure that your firewall isn't blocking your access.