HTML5 vs. HTML5. Marketing & Media Services. is a new technology that allows

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1 Marketing & Media Marketing & Media ServicesServices Marketing & Media Services HTML5 vs. HTML5 is a new technology that allows developers to build rich web-based apps that run on any device via a standard web browser. Many think it will save the web, rendering native platform-dependent apps obsolete. While native apps have a clear edge in terms of features and user experience, both HTML5 advocates 24

2 native apps and critics may be missing the point. HTML5 is not necessarily an all-or-nothing proposition. Why this issue matters HTML5 vs. native apps sounds like a technical debate, but that s not just what this is. The question of whether HTML5 or native apps will dominate the future has an impact on many things, including: 25

3 Distribution. The way of how applications are distributed is different depending on whether they are native or HTML5. Native apps are distributed through app stores and markets, controlled by the owners of the platforms (ios and Android). HTML5 is distributed through the rules of the open web: the link economy, whether through search or social platforms. Monetization. HTML5 and native apps are probably monetized differently. Native apps come with oneclick purchase options built into mobile platforms, and can be monetized easily with direct consumer payments although this increased effectiveness comes at the cost of having to pay the gatekeeper. Conversely, HTML5 apps will tend to be monetized more through advertising, because payments will likely be less user-friendly. Platform power and network effects. One of the reasons Apple s app distribution gateway is currently so powerful is that app developers have to conform to Apple s rules and give Apple a piece of the action. Apple s market share, meanwhile, creates network effects and lock-in: If developers wish to reach users, they need to work with Apple. If and when developers can build excellent iphone and ipad functionality on the web using HTML5, they can cut Apple out of the loop. This will reduce the network effects (and financial power) of Apple s platform. Functionality. Right now, native apps can do a lot more than HTML5 apps. HTML5 apps will get better, but not as quickly as some HTML5 advocates think. Freedom. The web is a totally open medium that allows for full freedom of speech and expression. App stores are curated environments where there is less freedom of speech and expression. If an app is not up to store s standards, it can be barred from distribution. So this issue isn t just about technology. It will affect every player in the technology industry, and change a lot of the landscape. HTML5 vs. native apps: Pluses and minuses Here the summary the pros and cons of HTML5 vs. Apps in a simple table: Item Winner Why Cost HTML5 apps are cheaper to create because they re cross-platform. If you want to build an app specifically for every platform, you need to build each version almost from scratch. With HTML5, you can (pretty much) develop the app once and get up and running on every platform. According to Romain Goyet, CTO of app development company Applidium, engineers are more comfortable with HTML5, as well. User experience On this score, so far, native apps win. All the most beautiful apps are native, Goyet says. This is because HTML5 technology still isn t evolved enough, and you can do more with native code. Features This is a big problem with HTML5 right now. There are some things HTML5 simply can t do. This should change as HTML5 evolves. Distribution This could be a wash, but we ll award it to HTML5. Some people are very happy with the native/app store distribution model. But ultimately, the more open web model will allow more people to have distribution access. It will also reduce the power of gatekeepers like Apple. Monetization With app stores and native apps hooked into services like itunes that have your credit card info, native apps are just much easier to monetize than HTML5. 26

4 How HTML5 will take over Support for HTML5 video has been growing. Native apps seem to have lots of advantages over HTML5. Why, then, do we think HTML5 will take over? Because HTML5 has all the hallmarks of a disruptive technology. When a technology comes along that is inferior to the incumbent, but is cheaper and has something key the incumbent doesn t have, the newcomer takes the low end of the market. And, over time, the new, cheaper technology gets better and better. As it does, it starts to eat the rest of the market. This is what HTML5 is, right now. It s less useful than native apps at lots of things. But the technology is improving. And it is cheaper to produce HTML5 apps than native apps. What s more, for certain types of apps apps that represent a majority of the apps out there HTML5 is particularly useful: Media apps. Apps that display text, images and video and monetize through ads and subscriptions can be developed more cheaply and effectively through HTML5. Apple has been trying to get media inside the native app world through special distribution schemes like newsstand, but most of the big media companies aren t biting. Access apps. There are apps that just let you access an account with a service, like a bank or a utility, from a mobile device. Another thing that demonstrates HTML5 s promise is the increasing prevalence of shell apps. These are apps that have a native shell so they can get into the app stores, but where the entire functionality is done via HTML5. One such shell app is Facebook s ipad app. These hybrid apps get the best of both worlds. And, it means more developing resources will shift to HTML5 over time. These wrapper apps will also end up on the web as HTML5 improves. All that being said, it will take a lot of time for HTML5 to replace apps more than those bullish on HTML5 think. Top sites increasingly support HTML5. Why? to overpromise in the short term and over-deliver in the long run. There are many things that HTML5 apps just can t do right now that native apps can, such as location, payments and more. And native apps are richer and prettier. Another huge subset of apps that will stay native for a very long time (perhaps forever) is games, which require the richness of native software. means the technology will evolve slowly. It means the technology isn t really worth using until everyone adopts it. Once W3C decides on a new HTML5 standard, Microsoft, Google, Mozilla and Apple have to update their browsers for the standard to be widely used. When Apple decides on a new ios standard, it just needs to implement it and developers have to use it. So HTML5 will likely progressively replace apps as the feature set improves, starting with media and access apps, and ending with games. Native apps will still be part of the landscape for the foreseeable future, but their number and power will be greatly reduced after a while as much as many PC users today live inside their browsers but still use some native apps. HTML5 promises to make the web as rich and interactive as native apps. Once HTML5 is mature and widely adopted, advocates argue, all of the things that can be done in native software will also be achievable on the web. Given that the web has been disrupting native software, transforming whole industries in the process, this is a momentous development. It means that the web could replace all client-based software and move us fully to a world where computers are thin clients and all the computing happens on the web and in the cloud. Another thing you need to know about HTML5 is and this is important, as we ll see that it is technology done by committee. HTML5 needs to be adopted 27

5 by everyone to be useful, so it is being built by a consortium, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which is the primary international standards organization for the web. This doesn t mean that HTML5 is a bad technology, but it certainly means that it is evolving slowly and haphazardly. The video here shows how HTML5 can enable rich and interactive apps within the browser: Ok, so what are the advantages and drawbacks of HTML5 versus native apps? For a good example of the benefits going to HTML5 instead of native Apps, let s look at the Financial Times. An example of an HTML5 pioneer: The Financial Times The Financial Times was the first large media publisher to go the HTML5 route. To find out about how this is going, Stephen Pinches, Head of Emerging Technologies at the Financial Times reported: features much faster, and retain their business model based on a single username and password. brands have more ways to market themselves to get discovered on the web. (This is another edge for HTML5.) still so prevalent (and they don t support HTML5). Web sites that don t have legacy desktop apps will serve up new experiences, Pinches thinks. So, what does the HTML5 future look like? 28

6 What the HTML5 future will look like We think that HTML5 is a game changer. HTML5 promises a future of web-based software and experiences that become much richer. Native iphone and ipad apps show what the web could look and behave like a few years from now in terms of interactivity and beauty of use even though we think HTML5 will take be a longer time. HTML5 is the next step after the app model. Here what HTML5 will enable: a blank sheet of paper, and creativity rules again. ity. Because HTML5 can make sites rich and interactive, engagement on a site can go from seconds to minutes. HTML5 will also change online advertising, by making it richer and more interactive. Ads will become interactive experiences, where demand can be generated and satisfied in the same place which is impossible with other forms of advertising today. Frédéric Sanuy - frederic.sanuy@dalim.com 29