Looking at the development prospects of WeChat mini programs from Chrome App

Understanding App may be helpful to our analysis of the development and prospects of small programs. Next, this tutorial will share with you how to view WeChat mini programs from Chrome App. Friends who are interested can refer to

News about WeChat mini programs has been a hot topic in Internet news these days, and there are various speculations. There are also endless ones. The mini program is only in an internal testing stage. However, in 2010, Google also developed the Chrome App based on the Chrome browser. Although the two are two different products, they have many similarities in many places. Understanding Chrome

App may be helpful to our analysis of the development and prospects of small programs.

About WeChat and Chrome

The first thing is about the status of the two platforms, WeChat and Chrome. WeChat has 700 million monthly active users. The mobile version of Chrome alone has 1 billion users, and both have a huge mass base. In Chrome's app store, a wide variety of applications, games, and program extensions have brought huge expansion to Chrome's usage scenarios and functions. Various applications built around the browser have helped Google improve the functions of the browser itself and meet various needs. At the same time, good scalability has also brought good reputation and more use to Chrome to a certain extent; As for WeChat, after a long period of development, it is no longer a simple instant messaging software. After the launch of official accounts and enterprise accounts, the upcoming mini programs can be said to have once again It enriches the functions and usage scenarios of WeChat. In any case, it is foreseeable that mini programs will bring many changes and development possibilities to WeChat.

About ChromeApp

In the Chrome App Store, there are four categories: applications, games, themes, and program extensions, for which you can also add A further division is - applications and themes based on browser extensions, while the other type of applications and games is more like an independent program and application based on Chrome compared to the former, with greater freedom and can be used offline. It can be launched and used, and Google has also developed a Chrome App launcher to make these apps independent of the browser.

However, it is worth mentioning that a month ago, Google announced that it would stop supporting the Chrome App service for mainstream operating systems. The App it refers to is the second type of relatively independent applications and games, and various types of The program expansion and theme services will continue.

Google’s move is due to many reasons. The first is the Chrome App itself. Compared with traditional desktop apps, Chrome App is more lightweight. Relying on the Internet, users can Convenient to switch and use on different devices. At the same time, its shortcomings are still very obvious, that is, as an application, when users need enough professionalism and more powerful entertainment, Chrome App does not have enough capabilities to satisfy users. At the same time, in today's cloud services Today, as it has become more and more popular, its advantage in synchronization is no longer so obvious.

Corresponding to the Chrome App, the number of users of various themes and extensions in the Google Store is huge. They are the main audience in the App Store. Various browser-based The expanded application of usage scenarios can meet the various usage needs of users. The cooperation of various extensions can bring users an excellent usage experience. This is why Chrome has an obvious reputation among some experienced users and has high user loyalty. Key factor. However, the entrance to the Chrome App Store itself is not obvious. Moreover, the complexity of using them as an application extension is relatively greater than that of ordinary apps, and it cannot provide users with an intuitive user experience improvement. Therefore, it is still not popular in terms of popularity. There are certain flaws and shortcomings.

Generally speaking, Chrome App has achieved good results at the browser level, and has achieved good results in improving user experience and enriching usage scenarios. However, in terms of independent Apps, it is too lightweight and restrictive. It has its own development, but it is worth noting that Chrome App is mostly for desktop applications. It has a certain involvement in the mobile Android side but is not in-depth. Compared with WeChat’s small programs, which are mainly for mobile terminals, they are similar but There are still slight differences and differences.

About the Mini Program

Judging from the current published information, the mini program is more similar to the Chrome App in terms of mode. WeChat is only used as an entrance. The interaction and collaboration between the mini program and WeChat itself is not the direction of the mini program. This is also easy to understand. WeChat itself has a high degree of completion. Third-party expansion is likely to make WeChat bloated and affect the user experience. Mini programs do not need to be installed and are more portable than other applications. When users need to use this function, they can find the application by scanning the code or searching, which is consistent with the "use and go" concept advocated by WeChat. What comes is a lighter usage experience.

Under such a concept and operating mode, it is difficult to predict the expected usage, specific user feedback, and the final effect. However, we can still make predictions by learning from the performance of Chrome App A rough judgment and speculation.

The various extension applications that shine in Chrome App are largely due to the excellent adaptability of these applications, which improve the user's productivity and efficiency. In a certain sense, they are a The application of tools and services is also foreseeable at the level of small programs. On the one hand, for a brand-new application, it is always easier to realize the value of a tool-type App, just like people can more easily feel the value of an alarm clock, but only after a certain amount of use can people feel the value of Weibo Use value, which is why Apple uses more tool applications when promoting the iPhone's rich App Store. On the other hand, as an internal function of WeChat, mini programs are destined to require users to open the program through multiple levels of clicks. Under this premise, various service and tool apps have good adaptability and can be used at the individual user level. Its low frequency can be well adapted to small programs. Coupled with its "just go" feature, it is foreseeable that various tool and service applications will perform well in small programs.

As an application, Mini Program has richer and more powerful functions compared to WeChat’s first two expanded public accounts and service accounts. The first two rely on WeChat’s strong user volume and communication power to attract more users. We have achieved good results in terms of operations. Nowadays, there are still various marketing activities that rely on Moments to attract users. The portability of the mini program itself is well adapted to the "one-time" nature of the operation. It is foreseeable that richer functions in mini programs can bring more influential operational activities.

In addition, Chrome

The advantage of the App is its portability and seamless switching and operation brought by cloud storage, but its The lack of professionalism and entertainment has become a limitation of its development. Mini programs are more outstanding in terms of portability, and the requirements for professionalism and entertainment on the mobile side are lower than those on the desktop side. From these various factors, we can see that WeChat mini programs are more adaptable and possible than Chrome Apps, but the various shortcomings of mini programs are also obvious.

As many people have mentioned, mini programs need to be entered from WeChat. Compared with ordinary apps, there are at least one more operation steps. It is foreseeable that it will be used for the development of various high-frequency apps. It will have a great impact. For this problem, Chrome App once developed the Chrome App launcher to solve this problem. However, it is obvious that WeChat will not open a new entrance to solve this problem. At the same time, one of the characteristics of traditional mobile apps is the convenience and quickness of switching and using different types of apps. However, mini programs obviously do not support this under the concept of "use and go", which in a certain sense also restricts It affects the use of some programs, and to a certain extent, it will also have a certain impact on the use of WeChat.

From Chrome App to Mini Program

To a certain extent, the two are very similar in many aspects, but Compared with Chrome App, mini programs have more obvious advantages based on mobile terminals, are more consistent with the platform itself, are more portable, have richer usage scenarios, and have more powerful dissemination channels. These are the things that mini programs can do in the future. The key to creating possibilities. At the same time, the limitations of its own platform will also affect the development of small programs. Exploiting strengths and avoiding weaknesses, combined with its own strong communication power, is the development direction of mini programs.

For more related articles on the development prospects of WeChat mini programs from Chrome App, please pay attention to the PHP Chinese website!