Adobe to End New Installs of Flash on Android as of August 15

[aristotle]

As a Flash Developer I can say this is good news. I have always disliked the flood of poor programming by sudo developers in Flash, this is one of the major reasons for issues with the Flash player, and welcome the hope that as Flash becomes an even smaller "niche" platform we begin to see fewer things developed in Flash, but much better quality for those things that are.

I for one will not miss it on mobile and have always thought it to be a bad idea in the first place.

I hate to break it to you but "Flash Developer" is an oxymoron. That is like saying you are an HTML/Javascript developer. You are a "web guy".

A "real" developer does not call themselves a "insert language here" developer. That is at best a "programmer". You should be familiar with several languages and at least proficient in both C/C++ and either C# or Java. Sorry but "web" scripting languages do not count.

I used to be an HTML/Javascript web guy at work for a short time but I already had learned other languages prior to that so moving from web development so I moved onto perl for rendering webpages before moving off to backend server development.

 

[sfilingeri]

I have been waiting for this day for a long time, Im so tired of my friends who are Android fanboys always putting down my iPhone and iPad for not having Flash.

I now have something I can throw back in their face!!!

 

[Lennholm]

Ooops!!!
Adobe is apparently committing suicide with Flash.

Apple had a good reason for refusing it; Google (Android) accepted it, and now is being taken away.

I can see phones catching fire while playing Flash content.

In some sense, Adobe is admitting their failure with Flash for the mobile environment. On the desktop environment, Flash is being avoided as much as possible by many, by using plugins or proxies to filter it.

Flash was great until it's use got abused.

Next in line: Javascript.

Huh? JavaScript is one of the core technologies of HTML5. It's what really gives HTML5 the edge to make Flash obsolete. Are you sure you're not confusing Javascript with Java applets and Java ME?

 

[ChazUK]

I hope this move forces the BBC to drop the Flash requirement on iPlayer fo Android.

Flash, you won't be missed by me.

 

[phillipduran]

Steve tried to tell ya!

 

[Daveoc64]

Actually, I believe HTML5 includes encrypting streams and doesn't cache it to disk...

It can't.

Web Standards are - by definition, completely open. Any system that is open can be modified.

Safari and Firefox or whatever might choose to abide by any requests by the licence holder (e.g. no copying), but there's nothing to stop someone making an application that simply ignores that protection.

A proprietary plugin like Flash or Silverlight doesn't have that problem, because the parts of the specification referring to DRM are kept confidential by Adobe and Microsoft respectively.

IMO Flash is the lesser of all evils in this regard. It has the best support for different platforms, and they've made real strides in improving its performance for video playback. The alternatives are either other plugins that aren't available everywhere or Apps for every platform. Neither option works as well as Flash does.

 

[HiRez]

So much for the "full Internet", right? What will we do now? How can we function?

 

[akbarali.ch]

Flash was good at the time when all the website had was static text and static images. the only way to get interaction was to use flash. Now with advancement in the web technology & html5 all that animation and interactivity can me done right in the web browser with no additional plugin.

I don't know but anyone seeing JAVA going the sameway ?

 

[Sackvillenb]

Hopefully flash will be on the way out then... And I don't say that as a mac fanboy, I've always disliked flash, even way back when it first came out and I was still using Windows. It's just so unstable and inefficient... crash-city.

 

[notabadname]

Ha, ha . . . this is kind of funny news. (Actually hilarious)

 

[a.gomez]

Not a spot of flash on that page, all HTML5.

Its an example of just how good HTML5/JS/CSS3 is, some of the tech demos done at Google IO yesterday prove that flash simply is not needed anymore.

yeah that is nice in a controlled DEMO - anyone who says flash is not needed anymore does not get a monthly analytic report on an international site

 

[Dr McKay]

I find it ironic because one of the main selling points of android was exactly that it supported flash.

No it hasn't, the main selling point for Android devices is normally the hardware inside it. Failing that, the fact how you can customize and personalize the device to your hearts content and make the device truly unique to you.

 

[CreativeOutlaw]

Replaceable batteries?

I'm happy flash is dead, but Android still has advantages over iOS:
1) More choice in phones (which can lead to removable batteries, better cameras, various screen sizes, etc...)
2) A less locked down app store. There can be browsers other than safari wrappers on the Google Play store.
3) Being able to set default clients (email, browser, etc...)
4) Google Maps. (I hope apple can pull off their own mapping solution, but google maps look better right now).
Lots of other things I'm probably forgetting.

But at the same time, iOS has a lot of nice things about it that I would miss if I moved to android (iPhone owner here, trying to decide what phone to get next):
1) Better games (graphics support is more consistant on apple devices, so game devs have an easier time developing for these).
2) Will continue to get firmware updates for years (though, google makes most of the apps that Apple has baked into the OS be updatable from the Play store, so not getting a new OS on android isn't too big of a deal).
3) Nice consistent feeling. This has gotten better with Android ICS, but few people have that.
4) Good customer support. When **** breaks with apple devices, their customer service rocks.
5) Consistency. As much as people like the control android gives you, it tends to make troubleshooting these devices for computer illiterate people a lot more difficult.

I still don't understand the whole argument that having a replaceable battery is so great. I've seen friends who have Android phones with their phone chargers out with them at the bar, or an extra battery in their pocket... is this really more convenient? I charge my iphone 4 when I go to sleep... that's it... and even on a really busy day of use I still have at least 25% left on the battery when I dock it (most days of light use I still have between 80 and 90%). Maybe it makes more sense to have a phone that lasts all day so you don't need to bring all that extra stuff around with you.

 

[entatlrg]

No it hasn't, the main selling point for Android devices is normally the hardware inside it. Failing that, the fact how you can customize and personalize the device to your hearts content and make the device truly unique to you.

In fact yes it is. Samsung and RIM advertise their devices as "YES, it plays Flash video, so you can do 'everything' on the web", they've touted that more than spec's in all their audio/video adds.

It's been a huge push and selling point for them right down to the rep's who pitch Andriod in all the cell shops, Best Buys etc. When I bought my HTC One for my second line the guy couldn't shut up about how happy I'd be getting the full 'web experience' with Flash, lol. So it's very much a feature they pushed and promoted heavily right up until today I'd guess.

Steve Jobs. Was. Right.

 

[Lennholm]

I hate to break it to you but "Flash Developer" is an oxymoron. That is like saying you are an HTML/Javascript developer. You are a "web guy".

A "real" developer does not call themselves a "insert language here" developer. That is at best a "programmer". You should be familiar with several languages and at least proficient in both C/C++ and either C# or Java. Sorry but "web" scripting languages do not count.

I used to be an HTML/Javascript web guy at work for a short time but I already had learned other languages prior to that so moving from web development so I moved onto perl for rendering webpages before moving off to backend server development.

I've never heard of a job title called "web guy" but the job title "front-end developer" is very frequent.
Using Perl, the read-only language, for rendering web pages sounds like a nightmare. Who did that to you?

 

[faroZ06]

No, it's a plug-in for all browsers.

Chrome has its own Flash plugin, which can sometimes be good if a bad version of Flash is released by Adobe, but it seems to use more CPU power.

----------

......

HAHAHAHA!

Who's having the last laugh now, eh Adobe? This is even funnier than when Steve Jobs said "We opted for killer graphics" (GeForce 320).

I'm laughing at Android more. Adobe is making a good move while Android users still want to cling onto the sinking ship.

 

[kiljoy616]

where are all the people that said "no Flash on iOS ?! Apple is doomed !" ?

They had an aneurism after reading this article about Android, muhahahaha.

 

[AppleFan1984]

I hate to break it to you but "Flash Developer" is an oxymoron. That is like saying you are an HTML/Javascript developer. You are a "web guy".

A "real" developer does not call themselves a "insert language here" developer. That is at best a "programmer". You should be familiar with several languages and at least proficient in both C/C++ and either C# or Java. Sorry but "web" scripting languages do not count.

Ah yes, I remember the '90s when the arbitrary distinction between compiled and runtime languages still mattered to some. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Looks like those poor, misguided souls at O'Reilly have it all wrong, with titles like:

"Mobile JavaScript Application Development: Bringing Web Programming to Mobile Devices"

"Programming JavaScript Applications"

"Head First HTML5 Programming"

"Programming HTML5 Applications"

...and:

"Learning the iOS 4 SDK for JavaScript Programmers"

I guess those dummies at O'Reilly just don't know tech.

 

[Lennholm]

I still don't understand the whole argument that having a replaceable battery is so great. I've seen friends who have Android phones with their phone chargers out with them at the bar, or an extra battery in their pocket... is this really more convenient? I charge my iphone 4 when I go to sleep... that's it... and even on a really busy day of use I still have at least 25% left on the battery when I dock it (most days of light use I still have between 80 and 90%). Maybe it makes more sense to have a phone that lasts all day so you don't need to bring all that extra stuff around with you.

Lasting "all day" i.e. ~12 hours isn't impressive for a phone and simply insufficient for some people. I'd personally like the ability to not have to rely on having access to a charger and power outlet every night.

 

[SBlue1]

I bet everybody have flash on their laptops. Why not uninstall flash on your laptop if you hate it so much.

i do not!

i got my new macbook pro two weeks ago and just yesterday i saw that flash is not preinstalled. so i guess flash is not that important nowadays.

 

[VulchR]

Why on earth is this item about a plugin that works on Android but not on iOS news in MacRumors? Anyways, I hate Flash and its privacy-busting LSO's (which is the only reason why companies use it on web sites)....

 

[Lennholm]

Why on earth is this item about a plugin that works on Android but not on iOS news in MacRumors? Anyways, I hate Flash and its privacy-busting LSO's (which is the only reason why companies use it on web sites)....

Because of this: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/ and the impact it's had.

 

[mabaker]

I am elated that the Google drones have been proven wrong by history.

Anyone else is finding it ironic that Android 4.1 is being heralded as "super smooth" with each and every new iteration? It's as if they always had an inferiority complex compared to the iOS interface speed.

 

[kiljoy616]

I still don't understand the whole argument that having a replaceable battery is so great. I've seen friends who have Android phones with their phone chargers out with them at the bar, or an extra battery in their pocket... is this really more convenient? I charge my iphone 4 when I go to sleep... that's it... and even on a really busy day of use I still have at least 25% left on the battery when I dock it (most days of light use I still have between 80 and 90%). Maybe it makes more sense to have a phone that lasts all day so you don't need to bring all that extra stuff around with you.

Its fear mostly. They believe they will run out of battery at any time. Goes back to times when batteries where not as efficient. What is funny is all those people with phones that can switch out batteries is that they never do.

 

[unlinked]

Yeah, it has changed so much that still nobody wants to use it because it's still not a consolidated, working standard. And when Apple talks about HTML5, they only mean THEIR implementation of HTML5 with THEIR proprietary video codec in it.

The current web browsers still interpret HTML5 code differently and websites still look and behave differently in each browser. That was NEVER a problem with Flash, and it's still a problem with HTML5.

But yeah, HTML5 is ah-so awesome, magical, beautiful because somebody once needed some ammunition to kill a dangerous competing technology that made cross-platform development a no-brainer.

Cross company standards are always more difficult to pull off than single company ones.
I have seem Flash sites that don't work on my Mac but do on a PC. Programmers are amazing. No matter what you give them they still manage to break stuff.