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Apple Forces Users to Upgrade to Newest Adobe Flash Player to Patch Vulnerabilities

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple yesterday posted a new support document and sent an email to its security mailing list noting that it is now requiring all OS X users to upgrade to the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player plug-in for Safari to address potential security vulnerabilities.

The company is blocking all older versions Adobe Flash Player prior to 16.0.0.305, and users with an out-of-date version of the plug-in will see messages like "Blocked plug-in" or "Flash out-of-date" when attempting to view Flash content within Safari before updating to the newest version.

flashoutofdate.jpg
For users who are on systems that are not able to run Flash Player 16, there is an update to Flash Player 13 (13.0.0.269) that addresses the latest vulnerabilities.
APPLE-SA-2015-02-05-1 OS X: Flash Player plug-in blocked

Due to security issues in older versions, Apple has updated the web plug-in blocking mechanism to disable all versions prior to Flash Player 16.0.0.305 and 13.0.0.269.
Click to expand...
The 16.0.0.305 and 13.0.0.269 updates were released by Adobe on February 5 to fix a zero-day vulnerability that was being exploited by hackers against Windows machines.

Article Link: Apple Forces Users to Upgrade to Newest Adobe Flash Player to Patch Vulnerabilities
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/06/apple-forces-adobe-flash-player-update/
I don't know enough about Flash, is there a downside to this? I never hear about newer versions of Flash causing compatibility issues.
 
First Apple force me to update to iOS 8, then Yosemite, now they are forcing me to upgrade to the latest Flash! when will it stop?
 
Traverse said:
I don't know enough about Flash, is there a downside to this? I never hear about newer versions of Flash causing compatibility issues.
Click to expand...

It's time wasted out of my day updating a useless piece of software on every computer I own or work on.
 
I think I updated Flash three times now in the last week. Such a clunky and annoying way of doing it.
 
ipedro said:
Do we need *any* Flash player? I can't think of any site that I visit that still uses Flash.
Click to expand...

I do occasionally use it. I don't have it installed on my mac. I just put safari in developer mode and use the developer menu to kick it over to chrome which has flash built in when I need to view a page containing flash. this way it's automatically updated and I don't even have to bother with it.

Brian
 
Number 41 said:
It's time wasted out of my day updating a useless piece of software on every computer I own or work on.
Click to expand...

You don't have to update it at all. You don't even need it on your machines because you don't use it. Or at least I assume you don't use it because you said it's 'useless'.
 
Whats flash?

If I find a site that requires it I don't bother. Its the only way to teach them to upgrade their websites to work without flash.
 
B2k1977 said:
I do occasionally use it. I don't have it installed on my mac. I just put safari in developer mode and use the developer menu to kick it over to chrome which has flash built in when I need to view a page containing flash. this way it's automatically updated and I don't even have to bother with it.

Brian
Click to expand...

So do I.
 
I'm to the point now where when I see the "Flash Out of Date" message in place of what I'm trying to get to, I close the window and move on with my life.
 
Graeme43 said:
Since I use html5 on youtube I have never needed flash for a good while now :D
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Not a great solution because many videos will only play in flash, especially with ads. You'll just get:

This video is unavailable.

Adobe Flash Player or QuickTime is required for video playback.
Get the latest Flash Player
Get the latest version of QuickTime
 
ButteryScrollin said:
First Apple force me to update to iOS 8, then Yosemite, now they are forcing me to upgrade to the latest Flash! when will it stop?
Click to expand...

Probably because Flash is a vulnerable piece of crapware? Apple has no choice but to force an update (due to the previous version having security vulnerability) if users still insist on using it.

If Apple had not mandated an update, then the WHINERS would have cried and whined and blamed Apple for "allowing" Adobe Flash security hacks and problems to continue on Macs. And then the whiners would then summon the Greedy Lawyers to go after Apple. That's how it usually works.
 
KALLT said:
I think I updated Flash three times now in the last week. Such a clunky and annoying way of doing it.
Click to expand...
It's incredibly annoying, I swear it asks about 10X per month to update and the whole process sucks. And it just nags you every time until you drop everything and do it (pretty much requiring you to close down every running app for every user account), or a bunch of web sites just stop working. And if you have 3 Macs like I do you go through it that many more times.

Die, Flash, DIE!!
 
Traverse said:
I don't know enough about Flash, is there a downside to this? I never hear about newer versions of Flash causing compatibility issues.
Click to expand...

Are you being sincere or sarcastic? I can't tell, since you already have an image on your profile, so you're a regular forum member?

Flash is a multimedia technology that brought a rich media experience to the web, such as animation, interactive games, etc. The earlier web did not support this type of interaction as easily, and Flash bridged the gap. Newer web technologies are now replacing the need for Flash, but there are still many websites out there using Flash first, without an HTML5 fallback.

As a commercial plugin managed entirely by Adobe, we are all at Adobe's mercy to keep the plugin safe and secure to use. This is why Apple has begun enforcing that only certain versions of Flash be allowed to run. Users are inherently lazy, and Adobe has a terrible software installation and updating process, it has now required that Apple block older versions of Flash thereby requiring the users to update before Flash content can be played. It's a necessary evil. If Adobe would only get their head out of the sand about how to properly support software installation and updating on a Mac, life would be so much better.

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furi0usbee said:
Not a great solution because many videos will only play in flash, especially with ads. You'll just get:

This video is unavailable.

Adobe Flash Player or QuickTime is required for video playback.
Get the latest Flash Player
Get the latest version of QuickTime
Click to expand...

**DING DING DING**

Are you using a really old Mac? Give us an example of a YouTube video that won't play natively in HTML5. Really, I'm curious, because I haven't come across such a video in many years.
 
B2k1977 said:
I do occasionally use it. I don't have it installed on my mac. I just put safari in developer mode and use the developer menu to kick it over to chrome which has flash built in when I need to view a page containing flash. this way it's automatically updated and I don't even have to bother with it.

Brian
Click to expand...

This is a great tip! :)
 
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