By Well guys, it’s officially official – Adobe is shutting down their Flash for Mobile operations as we know it, a very sudden change of events that actually saddens us. While we recognize flash isn’t the most stable technology out there for mobile devices, a lot of us still depend on it for websites which don’t provide alternative viewing options for flash videos and for playing flash games.
Adobe today announced the last feature release for Android (and other mobile platforms) – version 11.1. As we expected, Flash will continue to live in the Android market, but Adobe will not be bringing the latest features to it as they will instead focus on HTML5 and, by extension, Adobe Edge.
The least we could hope for is continued security support, and Adobe has committed to just that. Upgrades will come for critical issues and security upgrades, but beyond that it’s pretty much the end of the line. We’re at least glad they gave Flash for Mobile a chance and that the Android market will forever have the plugin for those on new devices to download.
Don’t forget that Adobe’s giving the development community and OEMs the opportunity to take Flash for Mobile into their own hands, so OEMs likely won’t stop putting Flash into their handsets and we could even see new features added through third-party community development. That’s a bit much to ask for right now, but it’s comforting to know the possibilities. Farewell, Flash. [Adobe Changelog via Engadget]
how about galaxy nexus flash player? i hope it ice cream sandwich support flash player
wtf
To be completely honest, I’m not too surprised. As much as I hate Apples position on flash on the iOS, the mobile enviroment was really never flash friendly to begin with. While Flash can make websites fun and pretty, it is pretty resource heavy. With CSS and HTML5, most web designers will not use flash anyway, as it comes with some heavy costs.
Putting it into normal peoples terms: flash is a fun tool, but there exist better tools.
True, but the only thing that worries me is where is the conversion going to be? I mean to use the browser on mobile using CSS/HTML5 how will it convert from what is only Flash now? I know Skyfire already converts non Flash phones to be able to play videos, so the tech is already there to completely replace Flash. Just how fast will it happen with the Devs on all Flash sites?
If google ported Chrome broswer to android, would that contain Flash? Seeing as the desktop version of Chrome has Flash, would that allow for android to have access to flash through chrome?
Why is Adobe trolllolololooling everyone?
Is this that super-improved version they were talking about? With that 3D engine?
molehill api will still be available through flash player in the air platform. can’t wait to try to built some bad ass experiences with it. i hope air secures it’s place in mobile. the tooling for html is not there yet. see http://www.adobe.com/products/air.html for more info about air runtime.
Who cares about an update? Shouldn’t everyone just uninstall flash from our phones at this point?
If flash is now going open source, I almost bet we will see more updates than what Adobe ever was capable of delivering, look at all the open source software out there and the mass of developers working on them.
ICS will built in flash, maybe flash from google. like chrome browser
Adobe is also putting most of their effort into focusing on AIR for Android, iOS, and so on. So making Flash run better outside of the browser where there’s no sandbox or constant influx of browsers all trying to do their on thing. It’s not just HTML5, which is hardly ready for prime-time and for certain areas, not even a real alternative to Flash.
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They’ll continue to make sure Flash plug-in works on Android for years to come. And just to comment on the tEh DOOOM that’s been spewed by the sheep, Flash is not dead. Most of the editor stating that were writing out their hyperbole on an iPad while referencing Jobs’ talking points as their experience with Flash.
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Anyways, nothing has really changed. We still have access to the same content that exists now. So a ton of shit(good and bad shit) that does not work on my iPad, or my other development iOS gimped devices. Flash actually works on mobile devices despite the mis-information from a dead-raging-CEO.
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Given the direction Flash is going on the desktops — which is beyond what’s possible in a mobile browser right now — and as noted every mobile browser is doing its own thing — focusing on AIR allows Adobe to step out of that area to the OS, where they can bring back the same features as the desktop; and of course they’re not tied to a certain browser’s release schedule. They can also look at where trends are going, so if and when there are clear winners amongst mobile browser, they can adjust accordingly.
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And people that assume Flash is a resource hog, then go on to mention HTML 5 really don’t know anything about development, let alone why something uses more resources than something else. HTML5 is still years off from being where Flash was years back. The only thing it’s doing well now, is digressing the web and segregating it.
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@Quentyn Kennemer,
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I wouldn’t rely on Engadgnet as a viable source for anything Adobe when it comes to information. You’re better off getting the info from the developer that actually build the players and so on — the ones that didn’t get axed…