Mikogo HTMLViewer: Designing and Developing for Mobile Apps

[ Note: this is a guest post from the folks over at Mikogo ]

Steve Jobs was right. Flash is dead. Well maybe not dead but, as he explained in an Apple memo dated April 2010, Flash is becoming virtually obsolete in an increasingly mobile world. In his infinite wisdom, Jobs explained that we were moving into an age where developers weren’t just obligated to design for Chrome or Firefox or Safari. They had to also design for what pages would look like on an iPad, iPhone, Android, Blackberry etc., expanding their depth of field and forcing developers to consider cross-platform integration on an entirely new level.

This August we at Mikogo, desktop sharing and online conferencing provider, added key features to the HTMLViewer already in our repertoire. The HTML viewer allows users to access and organize sessions on their mobile phones or on their computerswithout having to download software or install browser plug-ins. Features in the software include screen participant pointer features, an auto-fit adapter, and smoother screen sharing capabilities for various screen sizes.

Most developers would corroborate Jobs’ views on the future of HTML5 as a serious contender to Flash. HTML5, as a platform, has a level of accessibility, ease, and performance superiority that transcends devices and browser compatibility. Our decision to create an HTML Viewer using the increasingly lauded platform was about 5 months in the making, with visual performance sitting at the forefront of our development team’s minds.

Our new HTML Viewer has been optimized to reach a noticeably higher display performance level. Our Product Development Manager, Matthias Litz, is thrilled by the fact that “the new HTML Viewer can display the presenter’s screen data at a higher frame rate.” This will lead to a smoother screen flow on the viewer’s end and enhance the user’s experience.

Many developers will point out that the future of Adobe Flash does not look promising, with the company itself using HTML5 in the development of the new animation suite, Adobe Edge. “ Flash has not performed well on mobile devices,” wrote Jobs. “We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it.

At the heart of the argument over whether or not HTML5 will take over, lies a fundamental principal: the ability to understand what the customer can benefit most from, a key principal that we at Mikogo are very familiar with.“Customer feedback is essential for us because it allows us to optimize our service based on the user’s needs,” assures Matthias.

With mobile traffic making up around 11% of total internet traffic, any service that isn’t moving toward a platform that honors our patterns as consumers is ultimately one that falls behind. We see great potential for Mikogo in the market of mobile devices including Tablet PCs like the iPad. We aim to support not only the ability to view a screen presentation but also to enable screen sharing for mobile devices.

Wherever mobile app development is headed, it is safe to say HTML5 will be a part of it. With software companies like ours moving quickly and efficiently to adapt to the ever growing mobile environment, it is no overstatement to say that HTML5 is the one to watch.

Our HTML viewer is available at go.mikogo.com.