Why HTML5 's final version will subvert the native app world

The 2007 World Wide Web Consortium Project HTML5, until the end of October 2014, the eight-year specification finally formally sealed.

Over the past few years, HTML5 has subverted the pattern of PC Internet and optimized the experience of mobile Internet, and then HTML5 will subvert the native app world. This may sound alarmist, but if you take a serious look at the history of HTML5, you will find that this is the world's trend indeed.

Know history to predict the future, first let us see why the birth of HTML5, these 8 years is how to come.

The birth of HTML5

Since the publication of the HTML4 in 1999, the Web world has grown rapidly and prospered. It was once thought that HTML standards did not need to be upgraded. Some companies dedicated to the development of Web apps have set up separate WHATWG organizations, until 2007, when the consortium took over from WHATWG to start developing HTML5 again.

HTML5 's development history, has the user's demand in the promotion, has the technology development person's demand to promote, has the huge commercial interest to promote.

In the early days of the Internet, for users, the ability to open browser access to the Internet world is a magical thing, but the Internet development until around 2005, began to appear the next change, is broadband interconnection.

With the popularization of broadband and the enhancement of computer performance, people no longer satisfied with the simple internet to see news, send and receive mail, consumption of higher bandwidth entertainment products began to appear, is streaming video and web games. In fact, video and games are ancient needs, in the Internet is not universal, the demand for the way is offline transmission of VCD and game discs; Later, the internet gradually became popular, people changed the use of the way, by downloading software + local media Player to see the video, download the larger end play game.

But a better way to experience the consumer is to come up with and subvert everything that was before, streaming media and web games. YouTube and other companies to grasp the rapid rise of the trend, a variety of page tour companies are springing up.

But the HTML standard did not grasp the changes in the industry in a timely manner, browser products are not upgraded, this new demand by the browser plug-in content, that is flash. This business plug-in, deployed in billions of browsers, has become a fact standard. In 2005, Adobe invested heavily in the acquisition of Macromedia, The Flash, followed by a significant expansion of the FLV streaming media and the action script language, it is clear that the acquisition can be listed as a classic it mergers and acquisitions, FLV streaming media and flash games popular Internet, Adobe has grabbed a lot of profits from the new industry upgrades.

In addition to the fact that Flash is a commercial product, the consortium faces the embarrassment of-ie, the maker of another proprietary extension agreement. IE had a monopoly on desktop browsers and extended a lot of IE only syntax, and developers had no idea who those languages were defined. The entire web world, was kidnapped by two companies Microsoft +adobe.

Many it giants are unable to sit down, especially Apple and Google. The world of PC operating systems is hard to break, the Web browsers are expected by Apple, and the first iphone only supports Web pages, and no Appstore,safari is a product that Mr Jobs attaches great importance to; But did not have a real impact on the status of IE, the acquisition of YouTube found that the bottom is under the control of Adobe is also very sad, and Google each year to IE's search box and adoble flv payment is really not a small number.

Since everyone is the chairman of the HTML5, OK, let's start again.

Yes, HTML5 is actually born like this. That was 2007, IE and Flash turned the corner of the decline.

Second, HTML5 first stage: Web enhancement and breaking monopoly

Since the birth of HTML5, there have been two stages, namely the Web enhancement and mobile Internet. Let's start with Web enhancements.

The rich enhancement of the Web experience mainly manifests in: 1. WebApp, like gmail;2. Streaming media; 3. Game. Let's say what HTML5 did in these 3 ways.

1. webApp

HTML5 new offline storage, richer forms (such as input type=date), JS threads, Socket Wang, Standard extension embed, and a lot of css3 new syntax ...

2. Streaming media

HTML5 new audio, video

3. Game

HTML5 new Canvas, WebGL

And, of course, Google is trying to push the header and section tags in the HTML5 to facilitate search engine analysis, which is not much described.

HTML5 added streaming media and gaming capabilities, coupled with Apple's strong refusal to introduce Flash on iOS, successfully curbed the development of flash and then curb IE's proprietary syntax.

In the HTML5 standard upgrade process, Apple and Google also saw the browser market reshuffle opportunities, they participate in the HTML5 of the specification, while in the browser products. Apple first began to vigorously develop safari, set up WebKit open source projects, Mac, IOS, Windows multi-platform full force; Google initially sponsored Mozilla to develop Firefox, and later developed its own V8 engine, merging WebKit, and officially launched Chrome in 2008. "IE private specification +flash is not the standard, we are the standard" such slogans started in the next generation of browser wars, ie instantly became the monopoly representative of condemnation, and even became an obstacle to the development of the web (at that time IE6 has not been updated for several years, and the slightest fear of Firefox development).

It happened that Microsoft also out of the dizzy strokes, launched a series that is incomplete support norms and incompatible with each other IE7, 8, 9, 10, completely lost the developer's heart.

Adobe's Flash was contained, brushed aside by the web overlords, IE's private standard was curbed, and the IE market share slipped until the latest mobile version of IE began to support webkit private syntax. Do not know HTML6 is not to overthrow the WebKit monopoly.

Third, HTML5 second stage: Mobile Internet

With the ie+flash of Chrome and Safari and the decline of the HTML5, the next era, the mobile internet, came to an ending. HTML5 's Cross-platform advantage has been highlighted in the mobile internet era. HTML5 is the only cross-platform language for mainstream platforms such as PCs, Macs, iphones, ipads, Android, and Windows phone. Both Java and Flash dreamed of this location, but the dream was broken by iOS. At this time people began to study the development of Cross-platform mobile phone applications based on HTML5. Many people at that time that the original application is only a transition, like the same year from C/s structure into B/s structure. and learning C and Java very laborious, I since will web development, why not try HTML5.

The consortium set up at this time Device API workgroup, for the HTML5 extended camera, GPS and other mobile-specific APIs, however, the trouble is that the initial mobile internet iterations too fast, mobile OS in the Non-stop expansion of hardware APIs, gyroscopes, distance sensors, barometers ... Every year the mobile OS has a large version update. As a group of hundreds of member organizations, the World Wide Web is a very complicated process, from the proposal of standard draft to the agreement, which can't keep up with the fast iterations of the early mobile Internet.

The appearance of PhoneGap opens up a window for developers. Many people expect PhoneGap to continually expand the API to supplement the browser's shortcomings. Adobe saw PhoneGap as if to see the revival of the status of Hope, but after the Adobe acquisition of PhoneGap, and found that this thing is not commercially available, and open source so that Adobe can not like Flash to gain commercial benefits, So he donated phonegap to Apache, renamed Cordova.

For a variety of reasons, Cordova's positioning eventually did not become a browser hardening, but toward a hybrid development. Based on the background of the time, they believed that the native is irreplaceable, the "original +HTML5" mixed mode is more meaningful. So now Cordova's use model is "native engineer +HTML5 Engineer" to collaborate on the app.

Facebook joined the consortium and led the mobile Web team. Facebook is a mixed web and has no territory on its mobile OS, and he doesn't like the native application ecosystem that Apple and Google control. The important goal of the Mobile Web team is to make the Web applications developed by HTML5 a native application experience. However, the contrary, it does not work hard to forget, the result is the effort has failed. In the 2012, Facebook gave up HTML5 news and flooded the world's it media, and HTML5 was instantly relegated to the doghouse.

Why did Facebook give up HTML5? The core was that it was based on HTML5 really did not make a good mobile app. Compared to Twritter and other competitors of the original App,facebook version of the HTML5 can not be satisfied with the user. For example, the push function, to the present HTML5 push and the original push experience gap is still huge, let alone HTML5 application of the page switching white, drop-down refresh/sideslip menu is not fluent and so on. Looking at the original engineers easy to shake, two-dimensional code, voice input, to share the circle of friends and other functions, but also let HTML5 engineers feel that they stand the wrong team.

Even if Facebook does not like to be controlled, it cannot take the risk of being discarded by the user. And Facebook has not mastered the key point-the mobile browser kernel. If the browser doesn't keep up, a bunch of draft standards will not fall.

And what is the browser's performance on the phone? First look at the Google,chrome performance is high, but Android browser is not chrome, but WebKit changed out of a crappy Android browser; iOS does not allow other browser engines to shelves the app Store, and other applications using the Safari engine cannot invoke Apple's own JavaScript acceleration engine nitro. The result is that Apple and Google, instead of actively implementing HTML5 about mobile apps on the web, are restricting HTML5.

Whether it was a lack of hardware capacity at the time, or the intentional limitations of mobile OS manufacturers, in short, the result is: In the early days of mobile internet, it must be the world of native application ecosystem, iOS and Android first their own site solid after the industry will be upgraded to the next stage.

Facebook or phonegap is not going to be able to get a piece of the mobile Internet at the beginning, but sticking to it will often happen.

Four, HTML5 this time really come

Finally, at the end of October 2014, the HTML5 was formally finalized by the consortium. This time, not late, the hardware performance is stronger, the mobile OS iteration speed drops.

With the finalization of HTML5 standards, all disputes will come to an ending, and now the era of HTML5 is coming.

Some people say that the final light standard is useless, matching up? Can HTML5 's app match the native app? The answer is that HTML5 not only rivals the native app, but even many of its natural features transcend native apps.

We first talk about HTML5 original use of the place, the industry commonly known as HTML5 have "sex workers can" barriers. That is, the HTML5 performance is inferior to the original, the development tool is inferior to the original life, the ability call is inferior to the native.

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These issues have led developers to be unable to use HTML5 to make apps that are the same as their native ones. However, whether it's hardware upgrades or OS vendor policy changes, and the maturity of related software technologies, HTML5 's "sexual energy" barrier has been resolved.

1. Hardware Upgrades

2011, the iphone 4s CPU is A5, now the iphone 6 is A8, according to Apple's previous release, the speed of a total increase of 7.5 times times. This 3-year 7.5 times-fold increase in speed, flattening too many HTML5 performance problems.

2. Apple, Google's strategic changes

Google launched Android 4.4 at the end of 2013, and the built-in WebView is no longer a crappy Android WebKit browser, but a chromium that has dramatically improved performance. Starting with the latest Android5.0, WebView can be updated in real time through the Google Play store, in line with the Chrome upgrade, and users will not be able to brush up on the latest browser engine; Looking at Apple, after the 2012 iphone 5 release, HTML5 's performance on iOS has been satisfying, and Safari's exclusive JavaScript acceleration engine Nitro is no longer that important, but after the release of iOS 8, Apple has also taken the easy way out of the three-party program call Nitro. Now any browser or application call iOS UIWebView can use nitro acceleration, so in front of the use of JS to do large operations is also possible. The attitude of the two big handset operating systems and the browser giants has changed, making the development of HTML5 on the phone no longer limited, and this change is irreversible can only continue to move forward, this change is bound to have far-reaching impact.

3. Maturity of software technology

Although the development of PhoneGap has slowed down, other product technologies have matured. At the 2014 iweb Conference, many vendors ' products offered free or open source HTML5 solutions for developers.

(Note: The editor, as a practitioner, will also refer to our company's proposals in the analysis of various options, but the editor will not exaggerate the presentation of the proposal, and the program is purely free, no commercial sales suspicion.) )

Dcloud Company in Iweb General Assembly released a system of HTML5 "sex workers can be missing" solution, including:

A) Performance: improve the HTML5 performance of the mobile phone end of the engine, so that the Sideslip menu, Drop-down Refresh and other dynamic interactive cotton problem can be resolved;

b) Tools: HTML5 Development of IDE products Hbuilder, super fast programming tool;

c) Ability: The 400,000 native API is encapsulated into JavaScript object to solve the problem of HTML5 ability Native.js technology;

D A high-performance framework closest to the original experience: The MUI Framework, which has a volume of only dozens of K, is loaded and running much faster than the general framework.

The HTML5 application developed based on this scheme can fully achieve the function and experience of native app.

Using Hbuilder to develop HTML5 applications

Intel has released the crosswalk engine, which lets Android 4.0-4.3 apps pack chromium engines instead of Android WebKit. After all, there are plenty of Android 4.0-4.3 phones on the market, and a unified webview also avoids the trouble of compatibility.

In the professional direction many companies have made good results. Touch of COCOS2D-HTML5, Egret Runtime and Ludei Cocoonjs strengthen canvas performance, let HTML5 gaming experience better; UC, Cheetahs and other mobile browsers have enhanced the performance of audio and video playback.

Whether it's hardware upgrades, software maturation, or operating system vendor policy changes, it's a powerful push to HTML5.

However, note that I said the HTML5 outbreak, not that the mobile browser will replace the desktop to become an application portal. Some people say HTML5 is bad, because users hate the process of opening a browser to enter a URL. I would like to say that the idea is a one-sided understanding of HTML5. Html5!= traditional browsers, although the programming language is HTML, Javascript, CSS, but the distribution is not the traditional site so simple. HTML5 application of the portal, but very little is the launch of the browser input URL, it can be in the Mobile desktop icon, can also come from the Super app (such as micro-trust Friends Circle), as well as search engines, application markets, advertising alliances ... Its entrance is everywhere. Its entrance is more than the native app.

V. The subversion of native apps

HTML5 's "sexual energy" barrier is resolved to approach the effect of native apps, so can it replace native app? Many people think that even if the HTML5 will develop better than now, it will be with the original app each part of the market pattern, demanding long tail applications will use HTML5, Mainstream apps are still the world of native apps.

But I think the idea is dangerous, as HP's top brass told Watts before it was set up: Who would put a computer at home? The future HTML5 will certainly subvert the native app. The elimination of "sex work can" obstacle, only HTML5 disadvantage is weakened, but after the inferiority is eliminated, its superiority will shine, what HTML5 advantage is? We look at developers and end users separately.

HTML5 7 Advantages for Developers

Cross-platform:

In the multi-screen era, the developer Pain Index is very high, everyone expects HTML5 to play a savior. Multiple sets of code, different types of technical work, business logic synchronization, this is the process of torturing people. It's a bit like the early world of personal computers, where every computer has its own operating system and programming language, and developers are struggling with different versions, and in fact the popularity of DOS is largely because developers don't have the energy to write programs to other computers. Cross-platform technology in the early years mostly because of performance problems aborted, but in the middle and late hardware capabilities will occupy the mainstream, because Cross-platform is really just needed.

Quick iterations:

Mobile Internet is a fast fish to eat slow fish era, who is satisfied with the needs of users faster, who is lower cost of trial and error, who has a huge advantage. Internet products are mostly free, and have network effect, after the user is very difficult to snatch. The use of primary development, from the recruitment, development, on-line every aspect of the efficiency is more than one times, and the more people involved, communication efficiency is often slowed more than one times.

Continuous Delivery:

Many people have this experience, a native application on the online app store, suddenly have a big bug, had to work overtime repair, and then quietly wait 2 weeks or longer apple audit, this 2 weeks by the user's smear drowned, the market on a bad rating, the user a lot of loss. And so new applications are audited online, the user has been uninstalled. However, HTML5 do not have these problems and you can update them in real time and respond immediately to problems.

Significant cost of decline:

It is not easy to raise money for entrepreneurs, and it is important to spend more efficiently. If you use a native-developed app and a competitor to use HTML5 to develop a app that doesn't make any difference, but your development costs are one-fold, I'm sure no investor would like to throw you money.

Open Source ecosystem developed:

The HTML5 front-end is an open, positive feedback cycle ecosystem, with a large number of open source libraries that can be used, and development applications to be easier and more agile, of course, in fast iterations and cost reductions. But more importantly, the future vitality of this open positive feedback cycle ecosystem is stronger than the native ecosystem.

Open Data exchange:

HTML is open to the page as a unit of code, it does not need to specifically develop the SDK, as long as not confusing, can interact with other applications of data. Developers can make it easy for mobile search engines to retrieve their own data and make it easier to meet end users ' needs through collaboration across applications.

Easier to promote and more likely to explode:

Diversion Inlet Many: HTML5 application diversion is very easy, super app (such as micro-trust circle), search engine, application market, browser, everywhere is HTML5 traffic entrance. But the original app's traffic entrance only has the application market. The smart HTML5 developers will, of course, play a variety of traffic portals to gain a stronger advantage.

Traffic: A short period of time before the micro-letter friend Circle Rage "neuro-cat", this game if put to the app Store, absolutely not so much traffic, super app brings the flow, far greater than the primary application market. If the micro-letter allows the game to create shortcuts on the desktop, if the game after the upgrade to solve the problem of continuing entertainment, the future unthinkable.

High diversion efficiency: In addition to many entrances, large flow, high diversion efficiency can not be ignored, everyone knows: Page tour and the end of the same advertising, the conversion rate of users, the page is far higher than the end of the tour.

Accurate diversion to Level two page: We all know that search engines can go directly to

HTML5 3 Advantages to end users

Significantly lower the threshold of use

Why does streaming media replace downloaded video as the mainstream? Why is the page tour so hot? Only because the user is too lazy. Let the user more convenient to meet the needs, sometimes the effect is better than more to meet the needs.

User eyes see a point of interest, click, you should immediately start to meet user needs. For example, streaming media can be seen immediately, page tour can immediately play. And the current primary application market, users need to do this: Select an application, wait for download, confirm permissions, wait for installation, and then click Open. Such bad experiences will be overturned sooner or later.

Whether it's apps, games or audio and video, the future will be the point. Who first satisfies the needs of users, who will win.

A good experience of real-time updates and difference updates

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

And this update can be the difference is completely updated, such as an HTML page or a JS file has problems, only to update the small file of a few k can be, this is more than the original application of the update experience better.

Cross-application Experience

Mobile apps are now centered on desktop or task Manager, but in fact these centers have a lot of impact on efficiency and experience. Users want to travel to Sanya, first open to which app tickets, then cut back to the desktop, and then find and open the Weather app, search input Sanya, and then cut to the desktop, find and open the air travel and vertical app, enter the flight number value machine, oh right, the number of flights, and then cut to the desktop, find and open to which app to see flight number Finally find and open the rental app, enter the rental location, and then cut back to the desktop ...

In the native application system, users can only do so. But in the HTML5 system, he does not need to cut back to the desktop, he can easily jump around the app, rather than using an island app, he does not have to repeat data entry, the application can easily transfer data between each other.

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

Analysis to this point, we can clearly see that, whether it is to stand at the end of the user's point of view, or from the developer perspective, HTML5 will replace the current location of the native application. And this triggers a series of subversion.

What else will be changed?

HTML5, the original app ecosystem subversion, is an industrial revolution, many roles will be affected, we have to predict.

New HTML5 engine fires will burn

The standard HTML5 engine does not solve all the problems of HTML5, and the Internet giant, with its large traffic entry, is thinking of better built-in enhancements. Tencent launched the X5 browser engine, which is the opportunity to fancy. At present, various browser manufacturers, application market manufacturers, and even ROM manufacturers are trying to integrate a better quality browser engine. If the micro-letter embedded WebView can run a better canvas game, if the 360 mobile phone assistants can release the point-and-use HTML5 application and the ability to experience consistent with the native, If the millet ROM built-in more powerful webview makes all HTML5 applications in the millet mobile phone running more smoothly ...

When a giant starts to move, all the Giants will Wenfengerdong, yes, the battle will be World War II, the mobile Internet.

Application distribution Market will shuffle

Because the huge flow of super app can easily become the entrance of the HTML5 application, and will create bigger effect, traditional store, even under the line pre-installed, these low flow and inefficient distribution mode will be squeezed out of the market mainstream. It is also a super app's big Flow App Store, which, if properly transformed, will also be based on distribution HTML5 applications.

Advertising and Statistics markets

Native advertising and statistical SDK providers face a awkward, Google, Baidu and other web-based advertising and statistical services will gain greater advantage. Developers no longer need to pack the SDK and introduce a script.

Open source technology will become more popular in mobile internet

The openness of HTML has created a lot of open source products, and it has also contributed to the prosperity of HTML. There are a lot of JS frameworks on the GitHub, and the number of native open source code is very small. And the future of mobile internet world will be developed more quickly because of open source, there is also the opportunity of GitHub vendors.

Changes in development tools

Early HTML only need Notepad to write a few tags, medium-term HTML, JS, CSS more complex, need more advanced text editor, but after the arrival of HTML5, it's code volume, complexity, development model will be in line with the original development, need similar xcode, Professional IDE tools such as Eclipse to solve development and debugging problems. Some developers who are proud to use Notepad to write code will face a shift in thinking and even be eliminated by more efficient developers.

Performance analysis Tuning

At present, many of the performance analysis for native applications and tuning tools or services, the future is also facing transformation, HTML5 application of performance analysis tuning is another world.

Confusion and property rights protection

HTML5 is open code, the benefits also bring drawbacks, some things developers want to expose, but some things developers want to protect. Confusing technology becomes more of a business opportunity. The confusion of Gmail on the PC Web is good. In addition to JS confusion, offline data encryption is believed to have a lot of space.

New opportunities for security vendors

HTML5 's strength can lead to a lot of security problems, and the solution is not the same as the original, the industry may be the emergence of new security manufacturer leader.

Vii. Conclusion

Writing to the end, it feels a bit big. In fact, the future of how to develop is no one can accurately predict, variables are very many. But I think the trend of making users and developers more convenient is not wrong.

I would like to make a point here and welcome you all to discuss it, but I hope we can analyze it rationally and refine it in the controversy, not without thinking or verifying that it is just a senseless spray of fear of subversion.

Also wish you all in the tide of HTML5, hold the opportunity, enjoy the feeling of sitting in the tuyere when the pig: