In the early morning of January 9, the WeChat applet was secretly logged in, and even in the early morning, it broke my circle of friends, and I could sleep at any time, but the products that changed the world were not available every day, so I decided to try, write and sleep again

What is an applet?

First of all, according to the official WeChat statement:

Applets are applications that can be used without downloading and installing. They realize the dream of "being within reach" of applications. Users can open applications by scanning or searching. It also reflects the concept of "go when you run out". Users do not need to care about whether to install too many applications. Applications will be everywhere and available at any time, but there is no need to install or uninstall them.

Q: Can the applet connect with the existing app?

A: Applets can use WeChat to jointly log in and communicate with the user data of the developer's existing App background, but they will not support direct jump between applets and apps.

Q: WeChat already has a subscription number, a service number and an enterprise number. What's the difference between the applet and the three?

　　 A： Applet, subscription number, service number and enterprise number are currently parallel systems.

Q: It is said that the launch of small programs means that WeChat will become an application distribution market. Is that true?

　　 A： WeChat launched small programs not to be an application distribution market, but to provide an open platform for some high-quality services.

In this way, the applet is just like its name, it is a program, and WeChat is the only access to the applet, which can be searched or scanned. In general, it has more functions than the public account, but it cannot replace the public account.

How to use an applet?

The last update date of the iOS user's WeChat client was January 3, 2017, and the WeChat version number was 6.5.3, which means that iOS users can actually use the functions of the applet without updating WeChat, as well as Android users, As long as your WeChat version number is 6.5.3, it supports the latest applet functions. However, many friends around said that their WeChat is the latest version, but they can't see the entrance of the applet.

At this time, As long as the user of WeChat version 6.5.3 enters any applet shared by others, you will find that the entry of the applet appears in "Discovery". By accessing the "Meituan take away" applet shared by others, the author obtained the non-existent "applet" entry. At this time, the Meituan take away applet was automatically added to the author's applet list, and can be used by clicking.

At present, the applet is not so easy to share. Compared with the public account, it is only limited to sharing to the chat window, Can't share with friends , the shared link will display a large content window. Compared with other WeChat services, applet has a strong function to maintain its dignity as a "program", It can run in the background! After clicking the "..." in the upper right corner of the applet, we can see an option of "Display at the top of chat". After clicking it, we can see that it will be displayed on the top bar of the chat window. We can chat while using the applet without error. It is worth noting that, At most one WeChat applet can be placed in the background For example, if I display "Tencent Video" at the top of the chat, and then display "JD Shopping" at the top of the chat, JD will top out the position of Tencent Video. Delete an applet: Draw an applet on the left in iOS and click the trash can, and long press an applet on Android and click Delete. I believe you are familiar with these two operations.

As a powerful and open Android, Applets can even add shortcuts to the desktop (This feature is unique to Android). The author simply added three applets to the desktop. The icon of the applet is on the left, and the real app is on the right. It really has no sense of compromise I have the impulse to delete the column on the right!!

How is the experience of the applet compared with the original app?

Left: JD WeChat applet Right: JD App (iOS)

Left: Meituan take away WeChat applet Right: Meituan take away app (iOS)

At present, the WeChat applet gives us a very intuitive feeling, with a simple and clean interface, no advertising, no pop ups. Taking JD as an example, the original version of JD App is a dazzling interface when it is opened: advertising pop-up window, countdown to flash sale, special offer, flash sale of New Year goods While JD's WeChat applet is like a clean stream, with only one search box and coupon collection, and the function bar at the bottom has also been simplified. At the bottom of JD's applet, we can only see two function bars: "Search" and "My Order". Meituan takeout is the same. Compared with the original app, The function interface of the applet has been simplified, with less information, and the main function has been retained.

In terms of login, since the author's WeChat account has been bound to JD before, my JD account information has been recorded in the JD applet by default, and there is no need to login and bind again, If the user who has not logged in needs to log in/bind the account again.

Although it looks beautiful, the applet does lack some function portals. For example, you can't see the discount rush purchase on JD, and you can't see the full reduction of the special price of some sellers on Meituan. For the author, The author prefers to use the original app with full functions, and the applet can be used as an auxiliary.

WeChat applet of tongue biting film (tongue biting film community)

But for some applets without the original App, the applet is unique. Some WeChat apps on WeChat public accounts have been launched. For example, the tongue biting movie has added its WeChat app portal to the WeChat public account. For these public accounts, WeChat apps can help them achieve more functional expansion, which is undoubtedly their gospel.

About getting applets

The current applet search function is not perfect, When fuzzy search is used, the target may not be hit. For example, when the author searches for "Tencent" in the applet, the results of the three applet will be displayed: Tencent Video, Tencent Recharging Center, and Tencent Peripherals. When searching for "JD", JD will come out for shopping. But if I search for "poison tongue movie", the poison tongue movie community will not come out. At this time, only the full name of the poison tongue movie community can be found.

WeChat official does not have a navigation store for small programs at present. In theory, we can only get some small programs that are suitable for us/of high quality through searching, scanning codes, and sharing with others. However, there are also some third-party small program stores (Baidu small program stores), which are more meaningful in telling you "what small programs are there?" It also provides a QR code for you to scan the code to enter, instead of providing a download way like our usual App Store, because the applet does not need to be downloaded at all.

Why January 9?

Finally, why did the WeChat applet, which seems destined to change the world, go online on January 9, 2017? When January 9, 2017 just arrived, WeChat founder Zhang Xiaolong sent a circle of friends. These six pictures are the Keynote of Jobs when he released the original iPhone, which was released on January 9, 2007, just 10 years ago today. (Please ignore the discordant details of the time difference between China and the United States.)

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