European Commission Joins Investigation of Apple's Flash Exclusion Policies

[camholder]

I'm happy about this because I think Apple can be bullies sometimes.

In terms of using Flash I think nothing will come of it, but the complier is anti competitive and someone needs to step in and pull Apple into line.

Either way there is nothing wrong with having the US and EU investigate this on our behalf.

 

[knightlie]

Funny enough, the only real thing Andriod has with Flash is the ability to play flash movies. The issue being that the Flash games and stuff are often programmed only to really work on computer hardware. So stuff that has software keyboards and no actual mouse, including androids, are often left looking at the game, but not playing it.

Exactly. I really don't understand the fuss about Flash on iPhone, or any other phone - other than video, which can easily be done using other methods, what exactly is the killer Flash feature that people are clamoring for? How is anyone supposed to operate the controls of a Flash app on an iPhone screen?

 

[b166er]

That article does not use the word "sue" or "lawsuit" once.

 

[Hyata]

Some of us would love to have Flash support on our idevices. What's wrong with having a choice? It's not like you won't have the ability to turn it off if you don't like it. Why should the haters decide if we can have flash support or not? Because the Steve said Flash is bad?

 

[danimal99]

Last night, when I was trying to watch a 720p video on YouTube on my 3.2Ghz Core2Quad Windows 7 desktop PC and it kept pausing and spinning every 5 seconds even though the whole video was already downloaded and buffered, it reminded me why I have Flash completely blocked on my MacBookPro unless I've just got to see whatever it is.

And to think people are filing complaints to get this junk on their iPhones.

If Adobe thinks they can make Flash run so well on an iPhone, why haven't we seen it? There's nothing stopping them from writing a Flash Player app, ad hoc-ing it out to all the big tech sites, and proving once and for all that they can make it work (without draining the battery to death).

 

[Chwisch87]

The issue at stake here, is the fact that it is the user that owns the hardware. NOT APPLE! This is why jail-breaking is now legal because in fact you own the hardware and have the right to do with it as you wish.

What could end up happening is that the EC could force apple to allow users the option of installing flash ... just like they have on every other major platform.

 

[Popeye206]

Good. Apple is wrong to ban one of the most widely used and accepted technology on the web TODAY.

If you don't like Flash, you can uninstall it. But why not have the freedom to choose?!

Not good... No government should make a company put in any technology they don't want too. There's no safety or public threat if Flash is not there. They are over stepping their boundaries.

You do know that it takes engineering resources to support this stuff right and if it's problematic (as they claim) then why waste time on it? YOU as the consumer have the ultimate vote in this... if you got to have Flash, don't buy an iPhone or iPad.

I wonder if customers of Sony (or other consumer electronic companies) are this passionate about the features on their DVD or BlueRay players?

 

[Tyre]

Good. Someone needs to stand up to them. However, since iOS is the AOL of 2002, then I don't think it really matters. Apple has lost the fight against Android, and will be a marginal player in the mobile field, so as others have said it really does not matter.

All the matter is the winner in the mobile OS field, Android, has access to Flash.

For having an avatar of Live Free or Die, you make a rather freedomless proposition. Freedom means that Apple may regulate its products however it damn well pleases. And the consumer may choose to buy that pruduct, if they want, or not. No one has a "right" to Flash on their iPhone any more than they have a right to Windows phone 7 on their iPhone. I'm not mindlessly defending Apple, the same would apply to Microsoft, I am unequivocally defending freedom.
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[ChrisTX]

If flash is really all that big of a deal to you, then got buy another device that supports it. Engadget showed a Nexus One using flash and it was terribly slow. I'm fine without flash on my iPad, and iPhone.

 

[cjhunter]

REALLY?!?! yeah, you must be right, iPhones are barely selling. as a matter of fact they even had to lower the price because they cant get the damn things off the shelves. seriously, think before you type.

Statements like this (including the preceding one by Full of Win) will be largely speculation until the two systems are really set on even ground. I admit I don't know the competitive market in Europe, but in NA the whole ATT/Verizon mess confounds any attempt to say who's winning. If Verizon gets an iPhone in January, then we'll really see. Some pundits are saying that would cannibalize the Android sales, while others think it will have no effect.

Clearly both systems are selling well right now. The fact that MS and Apple have been able to co-exist for decades should show us that there's no reason some healthy competition in mobile systems can't last a long time. Nobody has to 'win'...for that matter, history shows that most of the time a winner means that consumers loose in the end!

 

[John.B]

"The investigation could last another four to six months, the source said."

At which point, there probably still won't be a viable version Flash for mobile devices.

 

[Crzyrio]

Apple wants to deliver 'quality products'. If flash was part of their product it wouldn't function as well. The every day normal person dosent know anything about this tech info. They would assume it is the iphone and hate it. That is why apple has such a loyal fan base cause they are starting to get a lot of everyday uneducated (in the tech detail) to buy their products. And these people love them because they have no worries. They dont need to go through pages of settings o turn off unnecessary add ons in order to get the best of their phone. Their phone is running at its best right out of the box.

The same goes with the ipad. Not everyone likes looking through the os like most tech people. These people just want a quality product they can use without hassel, and so far thats what my macbook, itouch and iphone have been for me, hassel free. If i want flash, ill go and jailbreak it but i really dont see the need of flash on an iphone, people are jus being cranky.

I can understand flash on the ipad but do you really want tall those adds aswell on an ipad? If flash ads are able tto slow down a decent computer these days imagine the effect on an ipad

 

[0098386]

Very good to hear. I doubt it'll have any impact or go anywhere though.

I would love Flash on my iToys, I really would. I'd love to be able to use iPlayer just like the computer version (selectable quality for one), I'd love to be able to properly use Youtube. I'd love to play Flash games and watch Flash animations.

Apple doesn't want me too yet it's funny how people call the iPhone/iPad a computer. If it was a computer I'd have the option of installing Flash. They do make it very hard to continue buying from.

 

[amt2002]

Good. The sooner we get flash on the iPad the better.

I find the browsing experience massively curtailed without it.

 

[cmaier]

EC regulators love their flash porn sites, after all...

 

[adztaylor]

Some of us would love to have Flash support on our idevices. What's wrong with having a choice? It's not like you won't have the ability to turn it off if you don't like it. Why should the haters decide if we can have flash support or not? Because the Steve said Flash is bad?

You DO have the choice, you have the choice to go and get an Android that does support flash. Everyone knows Apple's stance on this by now and if you don't like it then why do you have these iDevices?

The EC shouldn't be getting involved in issues like this.

 

[Gasu E.]

Some of us would love to have Flash support on our idevices. What's wrong with having a choice? It's not like you won't have the ability to turn it off if you don't like it. Why should the haters decide if we can have flash support or not? Because the Steve said Flash is bad?

Flash would completely change the user experience for all apps, not just the ones using Flash, since battery life would be destroyed. I suppose Apple could make you click on a "waiver" (like an EULA form), in which you agreed that you understood that Flash would make your iPxxx suck. I'm sure people would complain anyway about their reduced battery life.

"Apple, you need to make an iPhone that can run Flash AND have good battery life".

 

[roland.g]

The day that Apple is forced to bring Flash to an iOS device is the day I choose not to upgrade. Sorry, but all my ESPN video and other content loads just fine on my iPhone and iPad without Flash ads slowing down the load time.

That would be a big f.u.adobe.

 

[likemyorbs]

You DO have the choice, you have the choice to go and get an Android that does support flash. Everyone knows Apple's stance on this by now and if you don't like it then why do you have these iDevices?

This. It's not as if apple used to allow flash on the iphone and then they took it away from us after we were already locked into iOS. it was NEVER there to begin with, and everyone knew that. if you dont like it stay away from iDevices

 

[Full of Win]

REALLY?!?! yeah, you must be right, iPhones are barely selling. as a matter of fact they even had to lower the price because they cant get the damn things off the shelves. seriously, think before you type.

As they say... the trend is your friend. The trend for iOS is down and up for Android. Sure Apple is having healthy sales now, just like AOL and their walled garden did ten years ago. In a few years time, iOS will be a marginal player in the field.

 

[Matt-M]

i guess this is more about Apple not allowing developers to use Frash transcoded to native iOS Apps than about not allowing native Flash on the iPhone.

If this is the case than I'm with the EC because the transcoded Apps are native iOS apps and it's not Apples business how developers made them (through C++ or through transcoding). It was expected that this will piss off the EC.

It is Apple's business what tools developers are using.

If developers have to use XCode, Apple can roll out new iOS features simultaneous with support for them in XCode. If, on the other hand, developers are primarily using third-party tools, then support for new iOS features lies in the hands of third-parties and out of Apple's control. It is harder to move quickly and stay competitive if all the tools are lagging the OS by several months or years.

 

[Icedog]

I can't decide if this is Apple being clever, and blaming issues on Flash, or if Flash truly does suck.

Flash CONSTANTLY crashes Safari on my iBook, and it blames Flash 10. I could be here browsing MacRumors, and a banner causes a slow script.

It never used to do this before the big feud. Interesting timing? Not sure...

I have this exact same issue and have noticed the timing as well. While I'm not a fan of flash, I can't say that the timing issue hasn't crossed my mind a time or two.

 

[supmango]

REALLY?!?! yeah, you must be right, iPhones are barely selling. as a matter of fact they even had to lower the price because they cant get the damn things off the shelves. seriously, think before you type.

Please ignore the trolls. It only encourages them.

But seriously, I don't have flash on my mac at all. I don't use Flash on my Android phone, mainly because of battery life issues (hmm). I really don't find it a necessary part of my web experience. I also don't use it in any websites I build.

All Apple has said is that they will not invest any resources into making Flash work (well) on the iPhone until Adobe decides they want to invest some resources into making it WORK PROPERLY!! It will be interesting to see how people think "Frash" does on the jail broken iPhones.

 

[Lestdog]

I don't even understand what the argument is. Apples product / Apples choice. Personally I wish they did support flash but I bought an iPhone anyway and that was my choice.

 

[Crzyrio]

As they say... the trend is your friend. The trend for iOS is down and up for Android. Sure Apple is having healthy sales now, just like AOL and their walled garden did ten years ago. In a few years time, iOS will be a marginal player in the field.

The android is gonna be the next Windows. They are just pushing it out on everything now. I know a lot of people who have an Android phone and dont even know or care that it is Android. They just needed a cheap phone.

You cant compare the os. Compare individual phones if you wish.