BUG problem of WeChat when browsing content in mini program

On January 9, the WeChat mini program was officially released. On the day of its release, the argument of "APP extinction" followed. Users are frantically researching how to play with mini programs, and developers are flocking to seek to publish their own application accounts in mini programs. Even on the day of release, relevant technology websites have advertised, claiming that they can perfectly develop program accounts for enterprise use. However, after the carnival, there was a "mess" all over the floor. Some users who suffered from insufficient mobile phone memory happily uninstalled a large number of APPs that took up space, and then silently installed the original APPs back after using mini programs. The poor experience has made mini programs the target of public criticism. Even so, mini programs still caused a huge shock to the industry. Just a few days after the release of WeChat mini programs, industry insiders revealed that Alibaba Group Alipay has also begun to develop its own mini program system. It is necessary to use small programs to divide the APP application market. Relevant people said that the APP era created by Jobs may be ended by mini programs in China. Although mini programs still have the problem of low user experience, the era of mini programs has begun.

Mini programs are not as beautiful as imagined

After the official release of mini programs on January 9, users began to explore mini programs one after another. Some apps with low usage were eliminated by users, but the popularity of mini programs The performance is not satisfactory. First of all, users complain about it: "It's different from what was promised. The mini program application that should have appeared in the discovery bar is not there at all. If it is not recommended by an acquaintance, I can't find it and how to use it." The use of mini programs is not simple. A few days after its launch, many users are still unable to use mini programs directly. Secondly, the search function of mini programs has low recognition ability and can only perform precise searches and cannot perform related searches. Some "mini programs" searches are even missing one word and cannot be recognized, and no relevant applications can be found. Thirdly, there are currently too few development programs for mini programs. Many frequently used applications cannot be searched, and there are also very few applications in each category. Moreover, applications from companies such as WeChat’s “competitors” and Tencent’s “competitors” do not appear in the list of mini programs. For example, Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s own social software QQ cannot be used. Finally, among the small programs that can be used, although the integrity is relatively smooth and the basic application functions are complete, there are still many bugs in the details, such as lags and crashes. The login interface of some small programs Unable to obtain the verification code and unable to log in.

If the above experience is still a technical issue for mini program developers, the optimization of the mini program itself is also unsatisfactory. For example, placing a mini program at the top of a chat cannot be undone. This irreversible experience greatly reduces the installation rate of mini programs. In addition, in some mini programs that require the use of positioning, if positioning is not allowed, the interface will pop up repeatedly, the mini program cannot exit, and the user cannot return to WeChat. The user can only force close WeChat to solve the problem. At present, both the WeChat Mini Program team and the application development team are in the exploratory stage for this new feature, and the WeChat Mini Program itself still has a lot of room for optimization. Even if optimization-related issues and bug issues have been perfectly resolved, the simplified attributes of the mini-programs themselves greatly reduce the functionality of many apps. In some shopping mini-programs, there are only search and order functions, which are completely inconsistent with users’ online shopping habits; some discount applications cannot be used in mini-programs; some information mini-programs only have the option to browse news, and cannot share or comment. This makes information applications lose some of their social attributes. The most important thing is that when announcing the release of the mini program, WeChat originally wanted to create a lightweight and quiet application platform. However, through searches, it was found that related applications have begun to be promoted on the mini program. By clicking and using In order to earn traffic, WeChat’s original idea of ​​building a pure application platform can only be a beautiful idea.

I believe that reading various information on WeChat has become a habit for many people. Some of these information contents can be quickly browsed and left, while some have long content and cannot be finished browsing for a while. However, as a communication application, message processing is the first priority for users, so there are often situations where you need to reply to messages while browsing content. The needs that arise at this time can be viewed from two aspects:

Users need the function of quickly replying to chat, and can quickly bring up the chat interface to send messages while browsing long content.

Provide content temporary storage function. Users can temporarily save the interface they are browsing and quickly return after replying to the message.

The first requirement is what I thought of at the first time, how to provide a quick The function of replying to messages, but after thinking about the planning for a long time, I found that it was too complicated and would have a great impact on the entire original process of WeChat. So after further understanding the requirements, I produced a second understanding, which would greatly affect the original process of WeChat. There is no impact on the process, and at the same time, it cleverly solves the need of "replying to messages while browsing long content". So our question became "how to quickly return to the original article when the browsing behavior is interrupted."

WeChat has its own collection function, but after collecting it, you need to enter the secondary module to view the content. The operation is a bit cumbersome, and some content users just want to continue reading, and do not necessarily have the need to collect it. This is different from the envisioned "fast The functions of "temporary storage" are quite different. So the idea of ​​adding a quick return to the temporary content at the top of WeChat came up. It happened that the "display on top of chat" function provided after the mini program was released provided the possibility for a third party to implement this function. I call it "QuickOne"

"QuickOne" is a small program product that relies on WeChat to help WeChat users quickly view information content in WeChat. Help users quickly return to the original article when their browsing behavior in WeChat is interrupted and they need to cut out the current article interface.

Receive the link saved by the user through the service account

Automatically open the link saved by the latest user when entering the mini program

The records that have been joined can be viewed in the joining history from the most recent to the most distant.

Users can cancel and set automatic display of content through the extension function in the upper right corner. Setting automatic display means setting the most recent item to be automatically displayed.

#When there is no automatic display of content, the homepage module will display the usage guidelines of this product.

Generally speaking, the biggest problem with the product experience is that the "display at the top of the chat" entry provided by WeChat is unstable. If it is pinned to the top, it will remain unused for a long time. And the WeChat process disappears after being killed, which is a pity. In addition, this method cannot save the user's current browsing progress, which is also a problem.

The birth of small programs is actually limited by hardware limitations. Almost everyone or their friends are troubled by "insufficient memory" and "clearing space". Light applications such as mini programs emerged as the times require. The properties of light application platforms can solve the problem of users installing too many apps that occupy a large amount of memory. Secondly, with the development of technology, the emergence of light application platforms such as mini programs is also the result of technological progress. , Modern people are increasingly pursuing simplicity and convenience. Some applications are not used frequently, but users have to install an APP for this purpose, and even have to clean it up after use to save space. This process is very inconvenient. The very good aggregation attributes of the light application of mini programs can satisfy the requirements of most users for using APPs using one platform, which is simple and convenient for users; finally, although the current ecosystem of mini programs and related application development still exist There are many problems in use, but WeChat has the feeling of "a drunkard's intention is not to drink". According to the current attributes of the mini program, its platform is an open platform and does not yet have the attribute of profitability. From the previous introduction to WeChat, we can also see that the mini program is not an intuitively profitable project. WeChat hopes to form a small program through the small platform. The user ecosystem on WeChat can, on the one hand, reduce the development cost of WeChat with the help of mini programs; on the other hand, it can increase user stickiness and combine the online and offline ecosystem of WeChat to form new value. This is the greatest value of the mini program.

Looking at the current technology and Internet companies, from Apple, Xiaomi, LeTV, Meizu, Huawei to Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu and other large Internet technology companies are building their own ecosystems and establishing a comprehensive and three-dimensional industrial chain system. As for Internet companies, there are no technology companies like Apple and Xiaomi that use hardware to support their own ecosystems. At the same time, the cost and time it takes for a team of Internet companies to develop an application is too long. If you want to create your own It will take at least three to five years for the ecosystem to fully cover users’ daily necessities, including food, clothing, housing, and transportation. Mini programs can perfectly solve this problem. The corresponding application team will develop the mini programs themselves. WeChat only needs to provide the existing basic user group without the risk of being snatched away, and it can obtain a full range of Internet ecology. The system is the best acceptable result for both WeChat and the application team using mini programs.