Flash Plug-in For iPhone Coming Soon?

gifford said:
I hope Apple come out with their own 'flash killer' , like microsoft has with flashlight. Not to actually kill flash, but to provide some sort of dumbed down way of writing powerfull app's that run in a sandbox and on osx.
Click to expand...

Apple could have done this, even pre-empted Flash. Quicktime has offered interactivity ("wired sprites") for eons. They never picked up on this as a tool for the internet, and never gave wired sprites very much functionality. You can jump to another URL, move around within an movie, but not much else. Quicktime even supports vector graphics although I've never seen anyone use them.

Quicktime really is an amazing format. It's too bad Apple never pushed its flexibility. Most people think of it as just a video format, but it's quite a bit more.
 
bignumbers said:
Quicktime really is an amazing format. It's too bad Apple never pushed its flexibility. Most people think of it as just a video format, but it's quite a bit more.
Click to expand...

I seem to remember Apple adding the ability to play Flash inside of Quicktime at one point. I wonder what happened to that?
 
Scottgfx said:
I seem to remember Apple adding the ability to play Flash inside of Quicktime at one point. I wonder what happened to that?
Click to expand...

Yes - Quicktime can play Flash. But it's an old version of Flash, and as of a recent Quicktime update it's off by default. System Preferences->Quicktime->Advanced.

This was really nice if only because Mac users didn't need a separate Flash plugin, and any Quicktime-aware app could open/play a .swf file.
 
w00master said:
Perhaps *YOUR* school of sites, and *YOUR* personal choice. But for most 98% of us, without flash it ain't the *REAL INTERNET*.
Click to expand...

Flash is a necessary evil for the iPhone.

I develop web sites, and many are Flash-only (or Flash-centric) at the client's demand. I used to be able to convince clients to create a non-Flash mirror site, but the best I can do these days is a single non-Flash page. I wish it wasn't true, but it is. (Funny thing is they eventually come around when they find their lame non-Flash page is what shows up in the search indexes...) Flash has become a de-facto standard internet format. Not a formal standard mind you.

I'm hoping a decent Flash plugin for the iPhone will come out soon. I'm also hoping people realize Flash is used for many idiotic purposes and stop using it just because it's there.
 
Yes!!

my iPhone actually came about an hour ago, i ordered online on apple's website, it was shipped on the fourth and reached here only a day later, but my dad wont allow me open the box he still isn't sure if he's gonna allow me to keep it.....:(

....and he happens to be in a bad mood
 
Scottgfx said:
You claim to speak for 98% of the entire Internet? How megalomaniacal of you.
Click to expand...

Apologies if I sounded a bit "megalomanical," but seriously, flash is so much more than just "ads" which is what the "I don't care about flash" camp keep harping about. Many sites just do not function without Flash. In addition because of the widespread use of the flash plugin (98% remember), *most* users *especially* the target audience of the iPhone simply do not separate flash from the browser. It's simply a part of the overall web experience.

Again, I believe Walt Mossberg's story. I'm almost certain flash is coming for the iPhone, but it should have been there from the beginning.

w00master
 
Fwink! said:
Wait, so it was a better plan to get YouTube to re-encode it's whole library, than for Apple to get a flash plug-in working in the first place?
Click to expand...

I remember hearing somewhere that Youtube is moving to H.264 because it supports high-def video at better compression rates than flash.

If apple didn't help nudge them along I think they may have done it anyway.
 
w00master said:
Apologies if I sounded a bit "megalomanical," but seriously, flash is so much more than just "ads" which is what the "I don't care about flash" camp keep harping about. Many sites just do not function without Flash. In addition because of the widespread use of the flash plugin (98% remember), *most* users *especially* the target audience of the iPhone simply do not separate flash from the browser. It's simply a part of the overall web experience.
Click to expand...

here's some figures for you, straight outta my arse: 50% of people don't know they have the flash plug-in installed on their computers and wouldn't care if it wasn't there. 90% of websites don't use flash for anything crucial to the experience.

meanwhile, somebody get w00master a flash plug-in for his damn phone so he'll shut the hell up about it.

love, another web developer who hates flash
 
tj8212 said:
If you want to be using third party apps on the iPhone, you should be rejoicing with this news. As a Flash Developer i can tell you that Flash developers will create the most amazing web apps for your iPhone that will not only match but sometimes exceed the ui experience you see now on the iPHone
Click to expand...

oo, more figures: 1% of flash apps are amazing. 99% of them suck and will not compare well to the iphone UI.
 
Without flash, Youtube has a monopoly on streaming video on the iPhone. Sometimes I want to browse Break or any of the other streaming video sites.
 
bignumbers said:
Flash is a necessary evil for the iPhone.

I develop web sites, and many are Flash-only (or Flash-centric) at the client's demand. I used to be able to convince clients to create a non-Flash mirror site, but the best I can do these days is a single non-Flash page. I wish it wasn't true, but it is. (Funny thing is they eventually come around when they find their lame non-Flash page is what shows up in the search indexes...) Flash has become a de-facto standard internet format. Not a formal standard mind you. I'm hoping a decent Flash plugin for the iPhone will come out soon. I'm also hoping people realize Flash is used for many idiotic purposes and stop using it just because it's there.
Click to expand...


What types of websites did those people want? I find that the majority of flash-only websites are those that serve the perpose of just identifying a business or being a protfolio website. It seemed that flash-only websites had faded away but in the past few years they seem to have come back. I don't know why. Maybe it is that the last of the old small businesses are finally getting on the web and they remember seeing some "cool" interactive flash site like 7 years ago, and they want theirs to look like that too.

I truly don't know of any useful flash-only websites that supply a service, such as news, social networking, or e-commerce. Most useful web applications are "Web 2.0" and don't use flash.

I don't think many people are going to browse to the types of sites that tend to be flash-only on their iPhone edge network.

Where it would make a big difference is for people who want to play flash games and watch videos that use a flash player. Many sites have switched to using flash video files to display their video content because the flash-plugin to have a larger install base than windows media player or quicktime. They only have to supply one video format (.flv) as compared to two or three.

And some sites only use flash for their menu navigation on their website, which is just sad and distasteful. I don't feel bad for those websites at all.

But hey, I'm all for adding more stuff to the iPhone. Even if Apple does add a Flash-plugin, I'm sure they will give you an option to disable it. Just like they let you disable javascript. So for those of you who don't care about flash, don't sweat it. I would just turn it on if I was at a website that had a flash video that i wanted to watch. Then I would turn it back off afterwards.
 
crees! said:
I assume Flash Lite. I have not worked with it myself, but I'm sure there are initial reason why Apple didn't incorporate any bit of Flash from the start.
Click to expand...

yeah, to keep your links off the iphone for as long as possible.
 
aria505 said:
What types of websites did those people want? I find that the majority of flash-only websites are those that serve the perpose of just identifying a business or being a protfolio website. It seemed that flash-only websites had faded away but in the past few years they seem to have come back. I don't know why. Maybe it is that the last of the old small businesses are finally getting on the web and they remember seeing some "cool" interactive flash site like 7 years ago, and they want theirs to look like that too.

I truly don't know of any useful flash-only websites that supply a service, such as news, social networking, or e-commerce. Most useful web applications are "Web 2.0" and don't use flash.

I don't think many people are going to browse to the types of sites that tend to be flash-only on their iPhone edge network.

Where it would make a big difference is for people who want to play flash games and watch videos that use a flash player. Many sites have switched to using flash video files to display their video content because the flash-plugin to have a larger install base than windows media player or quicktime. They only have to supply one video format (.flv) as compared to two or three.

And some sites only use flash for their menu navigation on their website, which is just sad and distasteful. I don't feel bad for those websites at all.

But hey, I'm all for adding more stuff to the iPhone. Even if Apple does add a Flash-plugin, I'm sure they will give you an option to disable it. Just like they let you disable javascript. So for those of you who don't care about flash, don't sweat it. I would just turn it on if I was at a website that had a flash video that i wanted to watch. Then I would turn it back off afterwards.
Click to expand...


http://www.stickam.com uses flash for the cam player.
 
Smart, we know it is not a "baby" version of the net... I can't belive he really said that...
 
aria505 said:
What types of websites did those people want? I find that the majority of flash-only websites are those that serve the perpose of just identifying a business or being a protfolio website. It seemed that flash-only websites had faded away but in the past few years they seem to have come back. I don't know why. Maybe it is that the last of the old small businesses are finally getting on the web and they remember seeing some "cool" interactive flash site like 7 years ago, and they want theirs to look like that too.

I truly don't know of any useful flash-only websites that supply a service, such as news, social networking, or e-commerce. Most useful web applications are "Web 2.0" and don't use flash.

I don't think many people are going to browse to the types of sites that tend to be flash-only on their iPhone edge network.

Where it would make a big difference is for people who want to play flash games and watch videos that use a flash player. Many sites have switched to using flash video files to display their video content because the flash-plugin to have a larger install base than windows media player or quicktime. They only have to supply one video format (.flv) as compared to two or three.

And some sites only use flash for their menu navigation on their website, which is just sad and distasteful. I don't feel bad for those websites at all.

But hey, I'm all for adding more stuff to the iPhone. Even if Apple does add a Flash-plugin, I'm sure they will give you an option to disable it. Just like they let you disable javascript. So for those of you who don't care about flash, don't sweat it. I would just turn it on if I was at a website that had a flash video that i wanted to watch. Then I would turn it back off afterwards.
Click to expand...

So...:confused: ....you don't visit a lot of sites, do you?
 
I agree that most uses of Flash on the Internet are not really needed and I hate ads as much as the next guy. But I would love to be able to create apps for the iPhone using Flex.
 
aria505 said:
What types of websites did those people want? I find that the majority of flash-only websites are those that serve the perpose of just identifying a business or being a protfolio website. It seemed that flash-only websites had faded away but in the past few years they seem to have come back. I don't know why. Maybe it is that the last of the old small businesses are finally getting on the web and they remember seeing some "cool" interactive flash site like 7 years ago, and they want theirs to look like that too.
Click to expand...

Most of the sites I work on are for the creative community - photographers, ad agencies, or those marketing to that category of business. Some narrow product categories, where demonstration of the product is significant. I can understand their reasons for wanting Flash, and that's fine. My biggest problem is there's the assumption that everyone has Flash, high-speed internet, etc. That isn't true. The first time they try accessing their sites from their nifty new iPhones I know I'll get phone calls.

I do think Flash has a good purpose, and is quite useful in many circumstances. Overused, definitely.

I'd much rather do most of these sites in HTML/AJAX/whatever, but it's either do the sites or let someone else take their money. I happen to be a good Flash programmer so business is good. (The worst part of the job is creating damned Flash banner ads. I feel like I'm selling my soul to the devil. And I'll never admin to a client I use ad blockers!)
 
Stile said:
I agree that most uses of Flash on the Internet are not really needed and I hate ads as much as the next guy. But I would love to be able to create apps for the iPhone using Flex.
Click to expand...

Needed or not. Unless you have flash installed, you cannot view the web page correctly. What's the point of spending $600 on this iPhone device with a full internet browser that Apple was advertising and you can't view embedded flash.

Apple took away some developers from the Leopard project and delayed it for the iPhone. And in the end, it's still missing featurers and capabilitities. Shame on you Apple!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top