It looks like Apple has won the long
drawn out battle against Flash. Adobe announced yesterday that it was
discontinuing the use of Flash in mobile devices. Adobe also laid off
750 people from the Flash team, as part of their restructuring effort.
In case you did not know, all Apple devices sold to date were sold without a default flash plugin. Though one can install plugins to incorporate iphone flash compatibility, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was a fierce opponent to flash technology being used in mobile phones like the iPhone. The primary reason why Steve Jobs and the rest of Apple were against iPhone flash compatibility was because Flash was considered to be a power hog, draining the battery of the iPhone and iPad quite drastically. So, if you were expecting to see flash compatibility in the iPhone 5, you can forget about it as Flash might not even be around when the iPhone 5 is released!
Let us take a look at the whole iPhone Flash compatibility fiasco and also look at how it has ended and how the future will go.
Why iPhone Flash compatibility was always an issue?
Steve Jobs never allowed Flash support on any of his mobile devices because he strongly believed that Flash was designed for desktop computers and not mobile phones and tablet PC’s. Jobs was so opposed to flash that he had actually convinced the CEO of Google, at one point, to make you tube videos available in a H.264 format that was friendly towards the batteries in Apple products.
Jobs also openly stated that iPhone flash compatibility was not a possibility as he felt that Flash did not support touch interfaces and also did not blend in with open web standards. Flash is a technology that constantly uses proprietary technologies of Adobe. Jobs was never a big fan of that. Though he has passed on, it would be safe to assume that he would be smiling down at the way the iPhone Flash compatibility fiasco has ended.
Will Android devices continue to offer flash support?
Google have not released any statements or opinions on future flash support. So, it is not clear if Andoird phones will continue to offer flash support. But, we have to believe that even Android and Blackberry phones are now going to be dropping flash support like hot potatoes. The reason is because web developers are developing their site in such a way that it will appeal to mobile browsers. Since more and more people are browsing the web with their phones, it just does not make sense for web developers to incorporate flash design into their web pages that can’t be seen on mobile devices. So, flash usage is eventually going to die out in desktops as well.
What will replace Flash in mobile devices?
This is where a new technology called HTML 5 is going to come into action. In fact, this technology has already been around for some time. It actually became very prominent in April 2010, when Steve Jobs released a letter called “Thoughts on Flash”. In that letter, Jobs stated that Flash was outdated and that it was only a matter of time before it is replaced by new technology called HTML 5.
HTML 5 has been making some slow progress since 2004, when it was first developed. But, with this announcement that Flash is going to be discontinued, HTML 5 is going to come hurtling into the forefront as a lead substitute for Flash in mobile devices. As of now, 35% of the websites in the world use some kind of HTML 5 coding and analysts are predicting that this number is going to double or even triple in the coming years.
In case you did not know, all Apple devices sold to date were sold without a default flash plugin. Though one can install plugins to incorporate iphone flash compatibility, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was a fierce opponent to flash technology being used in mobile phones like the iPhone. The primary reason why Steve Jobs and the rest of Apple were against iPhone flash compatibility was because Flash was considered to be a power hog, draining the battery of the iPhone and iPad quite drastically. So, if you were expecting to see flash compatibility in the iPhone 5, you can forget about it as Flash might not even be around when the iPhone 5 is released!
Let us take a look at the whole iPhone Flash compatibility fiasco and also look at how it has ended and how the future will go.
Why iPhone Flash compatibility was always an issue?
Steve Jobs never allowed Flash support on any of his mobile devices because he strongly believed that Flash was designed for desktop computers and not mobile phones and tablet PC’s. Jobs was so opposed to flash that he had actually convinced the CEO of Google, at one point, to make you tube videos available in a H.264 format that was friendly towards the batteries in Apple products.
Jobs also openly stated that iPhone flash compatibility was not a possibility as he felt that Flash did not support touch interfaces and also did not blend in with open web standards. Flash is a technology that constantly uses proprietary technologies of Adobe. Jobs was never a big fan of that. Though he has passed on, it would be safe to assume that he would be smiling down at the way the iPhone Flash compatibility fiasco has ended.
Will Android devices continue to offer flash support?
Google have not released any statements or opinions on future flash support. So, it is not clear if Andoird phones will continue to offer flash support. But, we have to believe that even Android and Blackberry phones are now going to be dropping flash support like hot potatoes. The reason is because web developers are developing their site in such a way that it will appeal to mobile browsers. Since more and more people are browsing the web with their phones, it just does not make sense for web developers to incorporate flash design into their web pages that can’t be seen on mobile devices. So, flash usage is eventually going to die out in desktops as well.
In
November 2010, Adobe announced that it would be retiring Mobiel Flash
Player Support - This could essentially mean the end of Flash everywhere
This is where a new technology called HTML 5 is going to come into action. In fact, this technology has already been around for some time. It actually became very prominent in April 2010, when Steve Jobs released a letter called “Thoughts on Flash”. In that letter, Jobs stated that Flash was outdated and that it was only a matter of time before it is replaced by new technology called HTML 5.
HTML 5 has been making some slow progress since 2004, when it was first developed. But, with this announcement that Flash is going to be discontinued, HTML 5 is going to come hurtling into the forefront as a lead substitute for Flash in mobile devices. As of now, 35% of the websites in the world use some kind of HTML 5 coding and analysts are predicting that this number is going to double or even triple in the coming years.
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