How to be firm in mobile browsers from HTML5

The day before yesterday, Opera released the previous external commitment to the use of the Webkit kernel of the Opera browser version of the test, the move was thought to be opera write down the historical burden of light move. The controversy over browsers and apps sparked by Baidu's takeover of UC browsers last month has just ended. The storm finally Yu to the media to clarify UCWeb is not for sale. UC excellent view seems to repeatedly emphasize this attitude, in the last week while the gossip of the lively release of the HTML5 game engine called X-canvas.

If the mobile-end browser is really entering the twilight as the surface data shows, what is the abacus that mobile browser developers are playing?

No longer the browser of the portal

With the rise of Web2.0, the role of browsers as Internet portals, especially mobile internet portals, seems to be diminishing, and users ' needs are increasingly structured and single. Users do not need to know an exact URL or search for anything, and the user's demand for mobile phones and tablets has been met by a fixed App.

As the number of premium apps continues to grow, mobile browsers are now using less. However, this does not mean that browsers will continue to go downhill in the future until they are completely replaced by the App. On the contrary, with the rise of HTML5 and the advent of 4G networks, mobile-side browsers will survive and the App can prosper. Yes, because HTML5, the result of the browser may be very different.

HTML5: New Possibilities

Cross-platform

"Write once, run Anywhere" (one at a time, running everywhere), a slogan originally used to describe Java, now seems to describe HTML5 as appropriate. In the past, when any development platform attempted to infiltrate its operating environment into a variety of devices and systems, it always encountered unusual resistance.

In technology, we should consider the problem of running efficiency under various operating conditions. It is the policy to consider whether the development policy of this kind of equipment will allow the existence of third Party operating environment.

In the era of the functional machine, Java has almost penetrated every mobile phone, but the advent of the smart machine so that the era of unification is gone. Now, HTML5 has given a glimmer of light to the unified mobile development. Any mobile platform that allows you to run a browser supports HTML5 applications.

The adaptation workload for different browsers will never be as big as porting an IPhone app to Android. Cross-platform, is in the future mobile development process, HTML5 the biggest advantage.

Completely open ecosystems

Many developers now love and hate Apple's ecosystem, and Apple's ecosystem guarantees the interests of the vast majority of developers and often shows its own arrogance in a number of areas. This means that once developers have overstepped the rules that Apple has made, or if Apple has modified a rule, everything that developers have to pay is likely to burnt.

Running WEBAPP on a browser is not a problem, because no one is likely to get a website off the shelf except for government executive orders. This means that developers can do whatever they want on the WebApp, regardless of the App Store and play harsh rules, which will give developers more free space.

Adobe Flash once wanted to be a new generation of Java in the Internet, but it was ruthlessly kicked out of IOS by Apple. It is hard to imagine how Apple will deport those web apps and games that run in the cloud in the future, because once Apple does, the HTML5 will not be apps but Apple.

Multitasking

Compared to mobile phones, the number of clients used on traditional PCs is much smaller than the number of people who open the site directly. Some people, even if they have to brush their tweets every day, even keep a Twitter page without downloading Weibo clients. One important reason is that users can easily close, open, and switch a page without waiting for the program's startup time.

WEBAPP's multitasking and performance depends entirely on the browser's handling and performance, as well as on the mobile side. The manipulation of a good browser allows users to switch between different requirements, sometimes even more than the system's own multitasking.

Offline storage and hardware rendering

Supporting calls to local space is a new feature of HTML5, which means that these applications are not only on the server, but can be stored entirely in the user's device. Even in the absence of a network or poor network environment, WEBAPP can still be run locally on the user.

On the other hand, the support for GPU acceleration and hardware rendering makes the interface based on HTML5 no longer just a simple interactive operation, but a more perfect picture or even a high-quality game. This has greatly improved the gameplay of web games, allowing game developers to join the WEBAPP development team.

Limitations

Network Quality

Network speed is the bottleneck of all Internet applications, many mobile Internet applications are trying to compress the traffic and change the way of communication to the intermittent communication in order to deal with the possible bad environment. From the General people's understanding, in the absence of network environment there is no reason to open the browser. Indeed, the BS structure of browsers tends to make this situation worse.

However, HTML5 makes things look good, and the features of offline storage allow some browser-based applications to be used in offline environments, even if the quality of the network is poor and does not have to be loaded repeatedly.

System interface

Another important factor constraining WEBAPP development is the limited availability of information to programs, since many systems do not provide WEBAPP with excuses such as microphones, gyroscopes, and light sensors, so that developers are greatly hampered in the development process. However, there are already browsers that provide these interfaces in-house, converting system-level interfaces into interfaces that can be used by WebApp through the compatibility layer of the browser.

Prospects

Whenever you talk about the future of the Internet, there will be no more than three steps to talk about cloud, big Data, SAAS, as if you want to throw everything to the far end. And when it comes to mobile internet, the idea that Native App is the future of mobile Internet is strange.

The author does not agree that "browser is also a kind of app" the argument and petty, the correct retort App has defeated the browser should be "browser is also a kind of app Store." With the continuous development of HTML5, the popularity of the 4G, the increasingly sophisticated cloud-driven, browser will increasingly become an essential part of a variety of devices, and even more and more OS will be a browser trend (such as the Firefox OS and the Chrome OS, respectively, representing both mobile and desktop requirements). Behind the browser is an open universal development platform and ecosystem, not just a simple internet portal.

At this stage of the browser is weak, mostly because of network environment and HTML5 maturity constraints, coupled with the improvement of the App quality caused. If you use the life curve to describe, the browser is through its own to the second take-off before the stage, and the APP has reached the pinnacle of development. We can see that the recent UCWeb about HTML5 action frequently, perhaps based on such considerations, UC dynamic vision is determined to not betray their future determination.

(Responsible editor: Liu Fen)