Apple Forcing Users to Upgrade to Latest Adobe Flash Plug-In Due to Security Issues

[peterdevries]

I decided to uninstall Flash after this news and have to concede that I don't see any difference in my browsing experience besides that a number of these annoying expanding advertisements (those that shortly cover everything else) on news sites seem to have disappeared.

I can recommend anyone to just uninstall it. At the very least you will be rid of this weekly tedious update process.

 

[furi0usbee]

Been off flash for a while. I use ClickToPlugin, so I'm presented with HTML5 video when available. Since web video is 99% of my use for flash, and most major sites have HTML5 video, this works fine. For some sites this won't work for video, so I just use Safari's "Develop" menu to change my user agent to iPad and that works.

I DO NOT miss Flash. I have no Adobe, Microsoft or Google products on my computer, and I'm trying to keep it that way.

 

[2984839]

I decided to uninstall Flash after this news and have to concede that I don't see any difference in my browsing experience besides that a number of these annoying expanding advertisements (those that shortly cover everything else) on news sites seem to have disappeared.

I can recommend anyone to just uninstall it. At the very least you will be rid of this weekly tedious update process.

I agree. I haven't had it on my computers in years. There has been a noticeable improvement in HTML5 support over the last year or two that makes it a pretty viable alternative.

 

[Michael Goff]

ms windows. certainly that stands above all others.

Windows is not really:
A) A single piece of software
B) A security hazard in terms of malware
C) Filled with flaws

I ran a test on a few computers. They had nothing more than what Windows 8 provided for them. Months roll by, and then I end up going to run a couple of programs I have on a USB to test for malware. I do find spyware, I do find adware, and I find a single piece of malware. Months later, same test... and this time nothing.

 

[benthewraith]

I downloaded something that resembles an update file. But the image's name and the URL sound suspicious for me. Are they legit/secure? Should I open the file?

Image

It's safe.

 

[petsounds]

According to his Adobe page, Flash accessibility is provided through MSAA -- a Microsoft-only solution. This article notes that Adobe abandoned its efforts to provide accessible Flash for the Mac -- back in 2012.

Setting the record straight: Adobe is the company that didn't care enough to spend the time implementing accessible Flash.

Thanks for the clarification on them abandoning accessibility support. Not surprised though, Adobe dropped Flash like a hot potato as soon as Steve Jobs put his laser eyes on it. Adobe operates in a very soulless, Machiavellian fashion.

But to say they were anti-accessibility or didn't spend the time to implement it in Flash is historically inaccurate, as it had pretty good support back before Flash became a bad word. It was never as good as VoiceOver, but it was good enough to comply with Section 503.

 

[jdechko]

Yes I would. Flash only runs when I explicitly permit it to. What's going to happen, ESPN3.com (used a couple of times every 4 years for the World Cup) is going to try to make me download malware? If there's a big enough vulnerability in Flash that it would cause more hassle for me than updating Flash does, I wouldn't update Flash but ban it from my computer.

That's exactly why I run Chrome as my "flash browser". I don't have to worry about flash being updated because google does that for me with every release of Chrome. And since chrome automatically updates to the latest version, I automatically get updated to the latest flash. I use flash infrequently enough that it's not a hassle to open up chrome.

 

[PocketSand11]

That's exactly why I run Chrome as my "flash browser". I don't have to worry about flash being updated because google does that for me with every release of Chrome. And since chrome automatically updates to the latest version, I automatically get updated to the latest flash. I use flash infrequently enough that it's not a hassle to open up chrome.

I didn't know Chrome did that. That's a good idea. As a bonus, I'd be able to cmd+tab between Safari and Chrome to switch between normal browsing and the World Cup. I don't really like Chrome otherwise, but I'll install it next time I want to use Flash.

 

[C DM]

That's exactly why I run Chrome as my "flash browser". I don't have to worry about flash being updated because google does that for me with every release of Chrome. And since chrome automatically updates to the latest version, I automatically get updated to the latest flash. I use flash infrequently enough that it's not a hassle to open up chrome.

Unfortunately they aren't up to speed sometimes. For example this recent update came our earlier this week and there are still plenty of people who haven't gotten the update in Chrome yet and have no good way to even do it on their own or force it.

 

[SantaRosa2.2]

I haven't installed flash since 2011. Cant say I've missed it. Most video plays in HTML5 these days and anything else is just noisy, flashing, CPU hogging crap. If a website doesn't support no flash I skip it.

Same Here, 2011 is the year flash was no longer needed for me. Haven't installed it on any of my Macs since. Flash is a scourge on humanity..

 

[jdechko]

I didn't know Chrome did that. That's a good idea. As a bonus, I'd be able to cmd+tab between Safari and Chrome to switch between normal browsing and the World Cup. I don't really like Chrome otherwise, but I'll install it next time I want to use Flash.

If you use Alfred, there is a workflow that lets you open the current safari tab in chrome. It's great.

C DM, that's probably true, I'm sure the update isn't immediate and can't be forced, but it is a lot quicker than what most people would normally get. Also, by isolating flash to Chrome-only browsing, I am safe to continue browsing in Safari.

 

[PocketSand11]

Same Here, 2011 is the year flash was no longer needed for me. Haven't installed it on any of my Macs since. Flash is a scourge on humanity..

Lucky you. I have to deal with family members asking me how to update their Flash every month.

 

[Michael Goff]

Lucky you. I have to deal with family members asking me how to update their Flash every month.

And you can't just tell them to wait for it to automatically update?

 

[PocketSand11]

And you can't just tell them to wait for it to automatically update?

They usually ask me about a week after the update comes out, so for whatever reason, it doesn't update automatically.

 

[Michael Goff]

They usually ask me about a week after the update comes out, so for whatever reason, it doesn't update automatically.

You should go make sure the auto-updater is working, or get them to use either IE or Chrome. Chrome updates it automatically with the version and with IE it comes in Patch Tuesday updates. Either one of those will work, depending on what OS they're using.

 

[Solomani]

You people need to stop bashing Flash so hard. Please remember that Flash is one of the Great Selling Points for Android devices.

Remember, there were people that bashed Apple's iPhone/iPad as inferior and said they would never buy one because it lacked the ability to play Flash content. That was such a game-breaker for them.

 

[Michael Goff]

You people need to stop bashing Flash so hard. Please remember that Flash is one of the Great Selling Points for Android devices.

Remember, there were people that bashed Apple's iPhone/iPad as inferior and said they would never buy one because it lacked the ability to play Flash content. That was such a game-breaker for them.

And I remember people saying that without iOS support... flash would die. Yep, sure looks dead to me.

 

[NT1440]

You people need to stop bashing Flash so hard. Please remember that Flash is one of the Great Selling Points for Android devices.

That hasn't been the case in years.

 

[FloatingBones]

According to this Adobe page, Flash accessibility is provided through MSAA -- a Microsoft-only solution. This article notes that Adobe abandoned its efforts to provide accessible Flash for the Mac -- back in 2012.

Setting the record straight: Adobe is the company that didn't care enough to spend the time implementing accessible Flash.

Thanks for the clarification on them abandoning accessibility support.

In a cross-platform system, a feature is only viable if it's supported on all platforms.

Not surprised though, Adobe dropped Flash like a hot potato as soon as Steve Jobs put his laser eyes on it.

The facts don't support this. Apple never provided browser support in iOS (2007), but Adobe claimed until 2012 they were adding accessibility to Flash. Apple has enthusiastically supported Flash apps in the iOS app store since the fall of 2011. The Flash app Machinarium was (briefly) the highest-revenue app in the entire app store. You -- or anyone else -- is welcome to publish and sell a Flash app today.

But to say they were anti-accessibility or didn't spend the time to implement it in Flash is historically inaccurate

It's completely accurate. Adobe only shipped an accessible version of flash for a single platform. This deficiency in Flash had been noted for a long time: here's a piece dating back to the year 2000 that noted the lack of accessibility in Flash.

as it had pretty good support back before Flash became a bad word.

Disagree. Unless a cross-platform system provides a feature on all platforms, there is no real support for that feature. Flash never had accessibility.

Just as bad, certain standard of MacOS do not work in Flash windows. Command-tilde (shift between windows in app) doesn't work when running Flash on a Mac, for example. You have to maintain a completely separate map of keyboard shortcuts that no longer work in that environment. Read that 2000 document. While a couple of those design flaws got fixed, most of them still exist to this day.

It was never as good as VoiceOver, but it was good enough to comply with Section 503.

Shipping a product is a prerequisite to having compliance. A Mac version with accessibility was never shipped. A Linux version with accessibility was never shipped. No developer interested in a platform-independent solution, with accessibility, could ever have used Flash.

 

[C DM]

Lucky you. I have to deal with family members asking me how to update their Flash every month.

They usually ask me about a week after the update comes out, so for whatever reason, it doesn't update automatically.

It's interesting that those who don't even know how to download and run an installation file actually even know what Flash it, let alone that there's some new update to it that they actually might need to care about it.

 

[rctlr]

The only place I use Flash any more is on the BBC news website. I really can’t understand why they're still using it.

Set your useragent to iPad, and you can then view the videos.

I ditched flash a while ago.

 

[morespce54]

Shouldn't that be:

[...]Or worse yet, sites that are optimized for one browser such as Chrome, which takes the web back to the 90s where "This site looks best on Netscape Navigator" messages were common.[...]

I can't remember a single day where any websites looked better on Internet Explorer...

 

[Michael Goff]

That's just untrue. Flash has a lot of accessibility support, it's just that most companies don't care enough to spend the time implementing it.

I find it funny that people go on tirades about Flash, but then the replacement – HTML5 – still results in choppy browser animations and poor performance. Or worse yet, sites that are optimized for one browser such as Chrome, which takes the web back to the 90s where "This site looks best on Internet Explorer" messages were common.

Flash is still the king of games and animation on the web, and it'll be a while before Javascript/HTML can get to that level.

But, of course, people will tell you that it's different these days because "you can just fork their rendering engine" (as if that actually happens to any real extent).

 

[jdechko]

It's interesting that those who don't even know how to download and run an installation file actually even know what Flash it, let alone that there's some new update to it that they actually might need to care about it.

It makes perfect sense to me. Flash might be pretty buggy, but it's notifications are quite "in-your-face" when there's a new version. Average users are conditioned not to click any pop-ups on their computers and to ask for help when a situation arises. If the Adobe updater bugs them for a week, chances are they are going to ask their technical support person about it, but they're not going to click it themselves.

 

[C DM]

It makes perfect sense to me. Flash might be pretty buggy, but it's notifications are quite "in-your-face" when there's a new version. Average users are conditioned not to click any pop-ups on their computers and to ask for help when a situation arises. If the Adobe updater bugs them for a week, chances are they are going to ask their technical support person about it, but they're not going to click it themselves.

Seems like for people like that the default "install updates automatically" option is pretty much just right. Not sure why anything else would be selected for them in that case.