Where is Flash Support?

[michaelsaxon]

This is the only thing that continues to bum me out about the iPhone. I've run into a few situations where a web site was Flash only and I couldn't get anywhere (restaurants, streaming radio, etc.). I recall Walt Mossberg saying right after launch that Flash support was soon coming and there has been nothing since.

Did I miss something?

[walnuts]

who knows? Mossberg can say anything he likes, and there's no guarantee that he's right, etc. There has been talk that flash uses a lot of battery power so they won't implement it because of that. I don't want to be a conspiracy nut here, but it does so happen that the stuff you mention as not working because of lack of flash as well as other things (streaming video, streaming radio) compete with Apple's iTunes. The browser is already better than anything else out there; apple doesn't need to rush to implement something that would compete with iTunes.

That being said, I'd love to see it. I wouldn't be surprised if Steve is going to announce a big iPhone software update at macworld. Hey, we could hope?

[TurboSC]

who knows? Mossberg can say anything he likes, and there's no guarantee that he's right, etc. There has been talk that flash uses a lot of battery power so they won't implement it because of that. I don't want to be a conspiracy nut here, but it does so happen that the stuff you mention as not working because of lack of flash as well as other things (streaming video, streaming radio) compete with Apple's iTunes. The browser is already better than anything else out there; apple doesn't need to rush to implement something that would compete with iTunes.

That being said, I'd love to see it. I wouldn't be surprised if Steve is going to announce a big iPhone software update at macworld. Hey, we could hope?

definitely a possibility, especially with the new SDK coming, having flash support wouldn't hurt :)

[rdowns]

Pop on to any flash site on your Mac and launch Activity Monitor. Watch the CPU usage row and grow and grow. Flash would eat the iPhone for lunch. Adobe needs to do this, no one else.

[walnuts]

Pop on to any flash site on your Mac and launch Activity Monitor. Watch the CPU usage row and grow and grow. Flash would eat the iPhone for lunch. Adobe needs to do this, no one else.

Didn't Adobe recently release a new version of "flash lite"? Does that solve the issue?

[kdarling]

An Adobe engineer recently stated that it was all up to Apple.

Adobe could do nothing without the SDK, to begin with. Then there's the question of whether or not Apple would allow Flash to be downloadable via iTunes.

No one knows the answers yet.

[michaelsaxon]

Flash is just too pervasive on the internet to ignore it. I'd be fine with a setting that allows you to turn it on and off for those who are concerned about battery life, if that really is a factor.

For instance, we were out and about one night and decided to order take out. Googled the restaurant, found it, and then couldn't access any of the menus because they were Flash. Another time, I was somewhere where I couldn't access a football game-- it was audio broadcast in at least three places, but each was flash-based.

Again, I love this phone, but this is the biggest shortfall right now for me.