Will Apps be replaced by HTML5 and disappear completely within three years?

In 2007, the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) established the HTML5 project. It was not until the end of October 2014 that this eight-year-old specification was finally officially closed.

In the past few years, HTML5 has subverted the pattern of the PC Internet and optimized the mobile Internet experience. Next, HTML5 will subvert the native App world. This sounds a bit alarmist, but if you carefully analyze the development history of HTML5, you will find that this is indeed the development trend of the world.

7 major advantages of HTML5 for developers

Cross-platform:

In the multi-screen era, development The suffering index of users is very high, and everyone hopes that HTML5 can play the role of savior. Multiple sets of codes, different technical types of work, and business logic synchronization are a torturous process. It's a bit like the early world of personal computers. At that time, each computer had its own operating system and programming language, and developers were tired of making different versions. In fact, the popularity of DOS was largely due to the fact that developers really didn't have the energy to write for other computers. program. Cross-platform technology mostly died due to performance issues in the early stages, but in the mid-to-late period when hardware capabilities are enhanced, it will become mainstream again, because cross-platform is indeed a necessity.

Quick iteration:

The mobile Internet is an era where the fast fish eats the slow fish. Whoever meets the needs of users faster will have lower trial and error costs. , whoever has a huge advantage. Most Internet products are free and have network effects, making it very difficult for latecomers to snatch users. Using native development, the efficiency of all aspects of recruitment, development, and launch is more than doubled, and the more people involved, the communication efficiency is often more than doubled.

Continuous Delivery:

Many people have this experience. When a native application is launched on the Appstore, a big bug suddenly appears, and they have to work overtime to fix it, and then wait quietly for 2 It has been reviewed by Apple for a week or more. In the past two weeks, it has been drowned in user comments. The market has been filled with negative reviews and a large number of users have been lost. By the time the new application is reviewed and launched online, the user has already uninstalled it. However, HTML5 does not have these problems. You can update in real time and respond immediately if there are any problems.

Significant cost reduction:

Financing is not easy for entrepreneurs, and it is very important to spend money more efficiently. If your natively developed app is no different from your competitors' apps developed using HTML5, but your development costs are twice as high, I believe no investor will like to invest money in you.

Developed open source ecosystem:

HTML5 front-end is an open positive feedback loop ecosystem. A large number of open source libraries can be used, making application development easier and more agile. , of course, this is also reflected in rapid iteration and cost reduction. But more importantly, the future vitality of this open positive feedback loop ecosystem is stronger than that of the native ecosystem.

Open data exchange:

HTML is an open code based on the page. It does not require the development of a special SDK. As long as there is no confusion, it can interact with other applications. . Developers can make their data easily retrievable by mobile search engines and more easily collaborate across applications to meet end-user needs.

Easier to promote and easier to explode:

Many diversion entrances: HTML5 application diversion is very easy, super App (such as WeChat Moments), search engines, Application markets and browsers are full of HTML5 traffic portals. The only traffic entrance for native apps is the app market. Smart HTML5 developers will of course play with various traffic portals to gain a stronger advantage.

High traffic: Some time ago, "Nervous Cat" was popular in WeChat Moments. If this game were put on the Appstore, there would definitely not be that much traffic. The traffic brought by the super App is much greater than the native application market. If WeChat allowed games to create shortcuts on the desktop, and if the game was subsequently upgraded to solve the problem of continuous entertainment, the future would be unimaginable.

High traffic diversion efficiency: In addition to many entrances and large traffic, high traffic diversion efficiency cannot be ignored. Everyone knows that web games and client games use the same advertisements. The conversion rate of advertisements to users is much higher for web games. Yu Duanyou.

The three major advantages of HTML5 for end users

Significantly lower the threshold for use

Why will streaming media replace downloaded videos and become the mainstream? Why will web games become mainstream? So popular? Just because users are too "lazy". Let users meet their needs more conveniently, sometimes the effect is better than meeting their needs more.

The user's eyes see a point of interest, and after clicking it, the user's needs should be met immediately. For example, streaming media can be watched immediately, and web games can be played immediately. In the current native app market, users need to do this: select an app, wait for download, confirm permissions, wait for installation, and then click to open. Such a bad experience must be subverted sooner or later.

Whether it is apps, games or audio and video, everything will be ready to use in the future. Whoever meets the needs of users first will win.

Excellent experience of real-time updates and differential updates

HTML5 applications can bypass the restrictions of the application market for independent real-time updates, and users can quickly enjoy new services.

And this kind of update can be a differential update. For example, if there is a problem with a certain HTML page or a certain js file, just update this small file of a few kilobytes. This is much better than the update experience of native applications.

Cross-application experience

Currently mobile application switching is centered on the desktop or task manager, but in fact these centers greatly affect efficiency and experience. If a user wants to go on a business trip to Sanya, he first opens the Qunar App to book a ticket, then switches back to the desktop, then finds and opens the Weather App, searches for Sanya, then switches to the desktop, finds and opens the Hanglv Zongheng App, enters the flight number to check in, oh yes Now, what is the flight number? Then switch to the desktop, find and open the Qunar App to see the flight number, finally find and open the car rental app, enter the car rental location, and then switch back to the desktop.

Under the native application system, users can only do this. But under the HTML5 system, he does not need to switch back to the desktop. He can jump directly and conveniently between apps instead of using isolated apps. He does not need to repeatedly enter data, and applications can easily transfer data to each other.

This model requires a little imagination, but it will come sooner or later.

At this point in the analysis, we can clearly see that whether from the perspective of end users or developers, HTML5 will definitely replace the current position of native applications. And this triggered a series of subversions.

The subversion of native apps

HTML5's "performance" obstacles have been solved and can be close to the effects of native apps, so can it replace native apps? Many people believe that even if HTML5 will If the development is better than now, it will also be a pattern where native apps each occupy a part of the market. Long-tail applications with low requirements will use HTML5, while mainstream applications will still be dominated by native apps.

But such an idea is dangerous. Just like before Apple was founded, HP executives told Woz: Who would put a computer at home? In the future, HTML5 will definitely subvert native apps.

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