Mark Zuckerberg, while speaking at a public event recently announced that betting on HTML5 and other open web standards for Facebook’s mobile apps was his “biggest mistake” and that it delayed app development by almost two years. He also said that they bet a little too much on HTML5 instead of using native apps for iOS and Android, but the technology just wasn’t there. The main reason behind using such open web platforms had been cross platform compatibility and easy portability to screens of various sizes. However, the resulting application lacked stability, speed and was just not as snappy as the native applications. It is worth noting that Facebook updated its iOS app last month, while switching completely to a native app which was noticeably faster. In continuation with that, Zuckerberg announced that they are also working to bring such a native app for Android and making improvements to the iOS version. However, the HTML5 story isn’t over yet, he said, and
that he is excited for the upcoming developments in the technology. The mobile website will be one avenue where Facebook will continue to work on HTML5. In fact, Zuckerberg even stated that the mobile website actually has much more users than the apps themselves. He went on to explain how mobile phones are a huge avenue for Facebook and that there was a lot more engagement on mobile phones as opposed to desktops. He further continued to show how they are looking to make a lot of money from the mobile platform. He also said that a team is working to improve the search feature and at some point of time they will start thinking about a full featured search engine.
