How many sparks will occur when HTML5 meets Native?

A few days ago, there was a piece of news that attracted everyone's attention: WeChat is going to have an application account. Zhang Xiaolong revealed that he might set up a new WeChat application account in addition to subscription accounts and service accounts for App promotion. Most industry insiders believe that WeChat application accounts will be de-appified based on the WeChat platform, become a standardized service outlet, and provide developers with new technical interfaces. As a powerful drainage platform, WeChat's power is self-evident, and what the application account can provide must be beyond imagination. Just when product managers were thinking, if WeChat is going to have an application account, what should I do with my APP, the 2.0 version of SuperWebview released by APICloud is actually doing something similar.

On the 12th, APICloud launched a new product SuperWebView and a new business model. The launch conference brought together more than 60 Internet technology experts, including CEOs and CTOs of major companies. A product launch conference was more like a feast of technical exchanges. The product concept of SuperWebView is to combine HTML5 with Native to provide new features that far exceed traditional HTML5 functions. SuperWebview can help native App teams solve the problem of "how to develop HTML5 pages with good experience and powerful functions in a short period of time."

In fact, more than 70% of Chinese apps have embedded HTML5 technology, such as Taobao, Dianping, 58.com, Qunar, etc., which have embedded a lot of HTML5. However, the HTML5 embedded by many other companies still has a poor user experience and weak functions. APICloud CEO Liu Xin told reporters that the original intention of SuperWebView is to use building blocks to quickly build various applications to help developers improve development efficiency. According to analysis, the functions developed based on SuperWebview can bypass the review of the app store, realize rapid business adjustments and App updates, and greatly shorten the version iteration cycle from about 30 days to 7 days, improving the operation efficiency by 4-5 times.

How is this done?

Originally, based on the dynamic changeability of HTML5, with the help of the ability of web pages to dynamically obtain, it can make very small changes, and adjust the functions while ensuring that the interface is basically the same as that of traditional technology development. In this case, users can experience the best functions of the application without manually updating the application. Of course, if the application wants to achieve complex functions, it is definitely not a simple HTML5 interface that needs to be embedded, but a large amount of web page code is translated into a callable native API at runtime using the "semi-translation" principle, so that the functions and experience of the native APP can be obtained. It enables it to be embedded step by step in a series of applications such as Tmall, Taobao, 58.com, Meituan, etc., and then it will dynamically derive an OA, and then an ERP, CRM, etc., and the functions and experience are all the best.

The principle of this semi-translation is different from the full translation of react native. Liu Xin said that APICloud actually has great opportunities to provide localized technical services to domestic developers and is more adaptable to the domestic ecological environment.

All of the above is achieved with the help of the integration of Native and HTML5. This hybrid development technology can combine the technical advantages of both, which not only ensures the stability of functions, but also improves development efficiency and reduces the time cost of developers. No wonder Liu Xin seemed confident when talking about SuperWebView. He told reporters that there are more than 700,000 mobile application installation packages on the APICloud platform, and an average of more than 5,000 applications are generated on the platform every working day.

We also learned from the press conference that APICloud, while insisting on providing core technologies for free, has launched "value-added services" to meet the higher-level service support needs of enterprises. Regarding the newly launched VIP service, Liu Xin said that this is the result of starting from user needs, providing special services for paying users while ensuring that the free user experience remains unchanged or even better. For example, 30-minute customer service response plans, 1-on-1 technical support, official online training, etc. are provided to paying users.

Liu Xin said that if we work hard to build the ecosystem, one day the small pond will become a river or ocean, providing more services to future users.