Adobe Discontinues Development of Flash Player on Mobile Devices

[Superken7]

Two years ago, Steve Jobs said "Flash sucks on mobile devices". Adobe whined, screamed, bitched and moaned about it.

Today, Adobe just said "Flash sucks on mobile devices".

this is an excellent example of how ignorant some people can be in respect to the Apple/Adobe/flash issue. Although MR did not summarize the issue well iMHO.

Apple fought against flash *apps* while adobe is dropping the flash *browser plugin*. Completely different things.

Anyone remember the uproar when Apple banned CS5-generated iOS flash apps the day after CS5 was released? (which is EXACTLY when Adobe "whined, screamed, bitched and moaned about it")
Yup, that was NOT about the flash player that's being killed today.

 

[CFreymarc]

Apple killed flash.

Ding dong, the witch (Flash) is dead. IMO, this is one of the last PC-era products that needed retirement with only an install base and legacy support keeping it going. Throw it on the pyre along with WordStar, Lotus 1-2-3, Quattro Pro and dBase. Time marches on.

 

[Mac2012]

Too Bad.

But I think there is hope yet for a re refocused and re imagined FLASH for Mobile.

Its not dead, they just need to regroup and think it out. And thats good

HUH?
They haven't had enough time to figure it all out yet? You haven't figured it out it seems... it's a processor hog and it's inefficient, what more to figure out?
H264 is the future so live and learn and PROSPER!

 

[gadget123]

It's probably as HTML5 is good and you can access Youtube via an app so who ever misses flash?

 

[saving107]

And now say goodbye to Silverlight

Microsoft may halt development work on Silverlight after next release
http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/9/2...opment-work-on-silverlight-after-next-release

 

[ade2bee]

For mobile devices it defunct. For desktops/laptops it still lives.

But! As flash is dead on mobile devices and HTML lives across the board, I would start considering a job toward HTML 5.

The net/web isn't going to move back across to the desktop..

 

[iBug2]

Apple fought against flash *apps* while adobe is dropping the flash *browser plugin*. Completely different things.

Apple also banned flash mobile browser plugin. What have you been smoking?

 

[unsignedbyte]

You know, even if many haven't written code, they've been burned by Flash in the past. How about waiting years for Adobe to get it working? How about watching Adobe shut down Macromedia's Flash Mobile in 2005 because they were too blind to see the future? Only to start it up again after it was too late...their own fault.

Sorry...what are you talking about? Why have "they" been burned? Who cares about flash of the past?

I find flash usefull for watching movies (before html 5) and more then everything else for gaming purposes. Like I said before: with stage3d being live now, (desktop-)flash will stay for while, I think.
For both usages I expect a medium/high processing-power consumtion. But thats ok.

Nobody wants a complete website made in flash. But nobody who's going to share his content with the widest audience possible build it that way. Really, the iPad pushed that trend to use more and more html5. And this is pretty cool.
But I dont get the point of removing flash completely from the web.

I don't understand why you care what other people celebrate.

What a strange comment...
Well, I just wanted to know why this is worth a celebration. Maybe I missed something (but I didnt). So why shouldnt I ask?

 

[itlgames]

HUH?
You haven't figured it out it seems... it's a processor hog and it's inefficient, what more to figure out?

Ermm, am I being ignored? Have you guys read about Adobe Stage3D+AIR??
Flash is definitively not dead, Adobe is just clever to recognises it's done on web (note Adobe Edge is "replacing" now Flash on web), but they have re-factored Flash for games industry (and mobile games industry). Flash won't be any more a processor hog because now we can access the GPU directly. If you don't know what that means, basically will accelerate graphics a LOT.

 

[torpex]

Hopefully they will discontinue the browser based one too, I think the only redeeming feature of Flash is it is easy to block so you don't see those stupid ads. I'm an Android user.

 

[pct]

But it does not matter to the most important person. The consumer.

It's like people on here spout hatred towards Google and Google maps, Google earth. To the consumer who's using it, it's free at the point of consumption and that's all that matters to the average person in the street.

99% of people don't care, or probably even know what Flash is.
They just want to be able to access content on their "any device" at the point of consumption.

Dude Flash isn't dead. Flash for mobile devices is dead. People sure don't know about flash have the time. But its good for the Open Web Standards, sure HTML5 has a long way to go for getting completely standardized, it can't do all the things flash can. But Flash for the desktop web browser isn't dead they are just closing the division for the mobile side. We have to make it a start somewhere, it seems mobile is the answer, over time HTML5 will be the standard across all platforms.

 

[firestarter]

Dude Flash isn't dead. Flash for mobile devices is dead.

Yeah, but you need to understand that that effectively kills flash in the web browser.

Who is going to pay to build two web sites, one with flash and one without?

Mobile browsing is becoming more and more popular - and if that doesn't support flash then you may as well not bother with it.

 

[maflynn]

Wow, woke up this morning to this news. I used flash on my android phone and found it wanting, but I figured adobe would fix it.

Looks like the demands of flash outstripped adobe's ability to fit it into a mobile platform.

The funny thing is apple's competitors bashed apple over the head with flash and here we find Steve was right.

 

[pct]

Yeah, but you need to understand that that effectively kills flash in the web browser.

Who is going to pay to build two web sites, one with flash and one without?

Mobile browsing is becoming more and more popular - and if that doesn't support flash then you may as well not bother with it.

It won't it will die over time, it will be a transition to HTML5, Adobe will provide you with tools to port it to HTML5, which I believe they already have. If they want Flash to work on mobile devices they have to re-architect the whole of it like how apple and microsoft had to do it for iOS and Windows Phone for touch. Its a huge task. So simpler way supply tools to port Flash to HTML5.

 

[AdeFowler]

Good news I think. Any serious content provider can't ignore mobile platforms going forward. In a couple of years time, all major sites will be Flash free on mobile devices, and in time the desktop as well. Longterm, everybody wins, except Adobe perhaps.

 

[KnightWRX]

Yeah, but you need to understand that that effectively kills flash in the web browser.

Who is going to pay to build two web sites, one with flash and one without?

Mobile browsing is becoming more and more popular - and if that doesn't support flash then you may as well not bother with it.

Of course, that's not the trends we've been seeing. Businesses and individuals, Flash or not, are developing 2 versions of web sites with one for mobiles and one for desktop. Just look at Macrumors and their god awful mobile site. This really has nothing to do with Flash at all.

Frankly it annoys me, especially with Macrumors. The mobile forums are crap and the full forums work like a charm on iOS. Why force the god awful mobile sites on devices that can display and use the full websites ? It's a trend that needs to die. The point of mobile browsers these days was to get rid of all this nonsense of "mobile sites" that we had to make do with on more limited devices.

And Mobile browsing still is quite in the low single digits. Yes it's getting "more and more" popular, but over 95% of browsing is still done on laptops/desktops for now.

 

[vladi]

Apple also banned flash mobile browser plugin. What have you been smoking?

And what does flash mobile browser plugin do? Provide free rich content consumption without need to go to app store.


And BTW those who can't stand Flash ads and complain abut them at least they can block them and turn off Flash. Once HTML5 ads hit the road and replace Flash ads I don't know what you will be able to do about it since it will be intergrated part of the website instead of an add on.

 

[BC2009]

So maybe just maybe all these stupid pundits who chalked up "no flash" as a knock on iOS devices (especially those who had it as a checkmark in comparison reviews) will finally realize that with the exception of video, Flash never worked on mobile.

I recently tried out a website that used a Flash app to upload a simple file. The Flash app had a "browse" button to pick the file and once you uploaded it would show a indeterminate progress meter as the file uploaded. On the Asus Transformer eeePad I tried using this with the very latest Android version of Flash. Once the Flash app loaded, none of the buttons even registered a touch press -- not even the "Cancel" button. You don't get much more basic a Flash app than that and yet nothing. The only difference between iOS and Android was that Android loaded the app and made it look like it would work when it did not, whereas iOS rightly told you up-front that there was a missing plugin and therefore it would not work.

iSwifter on iPad has been far more reliable thus far than any implementation of mobile flash I have seen. I expect iSwifter and its alternatives may become popular on Android.

UPDATE: I also expect websites to finally make that shift to HTML 5. Way too many basic things (like file upload and video) should not be handled with Flash.

 

[l3it3r]

FINALLY. I can't stand Flash. HTML5 can do so much more.

 

[BC2009]

FINALLY. I can't stand Flash. HTML5 can do so much more.

It can't do more (yet) -- it can just run in more places. So on your mobile device, HTML 5 can do more because Mobile Flash has always been broken.

 

[itlgames]

It won't it will die over time, it will be a transition to HTML5, Adobe will provide you with tools to port it to HTML5, which I believe they already have. If they want Flash to work on mobile devices they have to re-architect the whole of it like how apple and microsoft had to do it for iOS and Windows Phone for touch. Its a huge task. So simpler way supply tools to port Flash to HTML5.

I feel like I'm being ignored *sob*

Will post here once last time, note I am not an Adobe or an Apple fan.

Adobe has already created Adobe Edge:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/edge/

This is replacing Flash on web, yes.

But then Adobe has created Stage3D:

http://www.adobe.com/devnet/flashplayer/stage3d.html

Yes, they won't support mobile "browsers", but hell they will support mobile native applications. Stage3D was done from the grounds to support openGL ES 2.0 so that my friends is smartphones. Then they did scale up to support openGL and DirectX for desktops.

I will stop now pestering.

 

[KnightWRX]

Flash never worked on mobile.

A gross generalization. It worked fine. It has 400,000+ reviews and is still 4+ stars on the Android market :

https://market.android.com/details?...1bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5hZG9iZS5mbGFzaHBsYXllciJd

It also works splendidly on my TouchPad.

I think the issue we're seeing now is that Adobe is realising their efforts are much better spent on framework work for mobile platforms. Provide a single unified Android/iOS/WP7/webOS/Meego development environment so that developers can target every platform quickly and with little porting effort and that will bring in the cash.

 

[firestarter]

Of course, that's not the trends we've been seeing. Businesses and individuals, Flash or not, are developing 2 versions of web sites with one for mobiles and one for desktop. Just look at Macrumors and their god awful mobile site. This really has nothing to do with Flash at all.

They're not doing much to 'develop' a mobile version - it'll just be a divergent CSS theme to display in a smaller window.

Developing flash and HTML5 separately is an order of magnitude more work. Your analogy is flawed.

 

[NAG]

Of course, that's not the trends we've been seeing. Businesses and individuals, Flash or not, are developing 2 versions of web sites with one for mobiles and one for desktop. Just look at Macrumors and their god awful mobile site. This really has nothing to do with Flash at all.

Frankly it annoys me, especially with Macrumors. The mobile forums are crap and the full forums work like a charm on iOS. Why force the god awful mobile sites on devices that can display and use the full websites ? It's a trend that needs to die. The point of mobile browsers these days was to get rid of all this nonsense of "mobile sites" that we had to make do with on more limited devices.

And Mobile browsing still is quite in the low single digits. Yes it's getting "more and more" popular, but over 95% of browsing is still done on laptops/desktops for now.

We're using MacRumors as an example of good design now? >.> (j/k)

As far as the direction sites should be going it is graceful degradation. This basically means ones "site" that will strip features to match the browser. In other words, stop developing one site to work everywhere (i.e. the IE6 target should no longer be used). While I think such a philosophy can be used to justify a flash and non-flash site, it probably easier to just go non-flash.

 

[jayducharme]

how does this affect flash on the desktop?

I have to teach Flash, and have for many years. It's progressively become more and more difficult to learn and use. You basically have to be an XML programmer now, whereas in the Macromedia days there was a lot of drag-and-drop and simple shortcuts. IMO, Adobe has killed what used to be a pretty decent multimedia development environment.

I'm pretty excited about Hype, which is young and a little rough around the edges right now. It has the potential to unseat Flash as a really powerful yet simple-to-use development tool that isn't a resource hog and runs natively on any device.