HTML5 for Mobile Learning Development: The Top Four Reasons for Choosing HTML5 as an Authoring Tool

With the growing popularity of the mobile enabled learning, the eLearning industry is also evolving to maintain its pace with the pertinent demands of the mobile learning development. More and more learners in K-12, colleges, professional institutes, and even the corporate sector, are leaning more towards interactive content that can be accessed as per their needs. This is bringing a huge change in the way we now prefer to learn and teach.

A survey on the most preferred tool for mobile app development revealed that, HTML5 was the technology of choice for the majority that is 41% of the users. HTML5 is one of the main tools used by eLearning professionals, one of the major reasons is its versatility and flexibility. There are more reasons to add to the list; we bring you the top four reasons that most developers share when asked the reasons for adopting HTML5 for mobile-enabled learning.

• Continual increase in the functionality: Gone are the days when an HTML5 app could perform the basic functions only. HTML5 as an authoring tool is still evolving, and is rapidly including the functionalities that support a lot of different interactions, and is coming close to the capabilities of native technologies.

When HTML5 first launched, it was supported only by the Firefox browser. But now almost all the modern mobile and desktop browsers support HTML5. Thus, more and more users can utilize the tool.

• Automatic updates for the HTML5 apps: HTML5 web apps get updated automatically; hence, the users do not need to update as per the notification. This is beneficial for the app provider and developer as they need not provide the support for multiple versions of the apps. For the users, they will be directed to the latest version of the app, without conducting any manual updates.
• Cross-platform compatibility: One of the greatest benefits of the HTML5 is its compatibility across a range of devices. The same HTML5 app works on different mobile operating systems, whether it is the iOS, Android, Windows Phone, or Blackberry. This is the reason why the cost of developing the app is much lower than creating native apps for each OS. Some developers claim that creating an HTML5 app is more time-consuming to create an HTML5 app than creating a single native app. While this might be true in some cases, the app needs to be developed only once using HTML5, it saves development time in the long run.
• Suited for the emerging markets: One of the biggest growth areas for the mobile devices is in the emerging markets such as Asia and Africa. However, there is a wide range of devices in such markets. So developing native app in such a scenario can be cost and time consuming. Here, HTML5 brings the perfect solution across multiple devices. HTML5 apps, which can function on a range of devices, have a better chance of being widely adopted in these markets and thus, become the first choice of a developer.

In area of mobile app development, the cross-platform capabilities of HTML5 are attractive prospects as these help in reaching out to a large number of users with the help of a single app. While we have to acknowledge that the choice between HTML5 and native for app development will often come down to the circumstance, for most, the benefits of adopting HTML5 often outweigh the cons. This explains its continuing popularity and evident success.

Source and suggested further reading: 5 Reasons Why HTML5 is Making Waves in App Development