The Verge - Adobe ends mobile Flash development, will focus on HTML5

Flash for Android dies today, long live the 'full web experience'

2012-08-14T16:12:20Z

In November of last year, Adobe made a surprising about-face on its popular Flash plugin, announcing that it would stop development of Flash for mobile devices. Today, Adobe will disable new installs of Flash on Android, effectively cutting it off from the future of the mobile web — despite the company's historical assertion that Flash would enable the "full web experience" on mobile devices. Instead, Adobe surrendered the major mobile battlegrounds and pledged allegiance to HTML5.

Adobe, 2007: With Flash, "we've passed a major milestone in bringing a desktop experience to mobile and transforming the wireless industry."

Adobe had grand plans for mobile Flash, but the company met a sizable early wall when Apple refused to adopt it....

Flash won't be supported in Android 4.1, new installs to be disabled on August 15th

2012-06-29T04:18:04Z

In the wake of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean's announcement this week, Adobe has issued a note saying that it hasn't been developing and testing Flash against it and there won't be any "certified implementations" offered — in other words, the age of Flash on smartphones is effectively drawing to a close. The company had previously opted out of supporting Chrome for Android — the heir apparent to Android's built-in browser — so this announcement comes as little surprise now that Chrome has come out of beta. If you still want to install Flash on your phone, now is the time to do it: Adobe says that it will be disabling fresh installs from Google Play on August 15th, meaning you'll only be able to update after that point if you already have...

Adobe releases Flash roadmap, narrows focus to gaming and 'premium' video

2012-02-22T11:33:32Z

Adobe swallowed a lot of pride in conceding defeat and abandoning development of Flash Player on mobile devices last year, but that doesn't mean the company is ready to completely give up on its still ubiquitous rich media web format. Today sees the first publication of a new roadmap document for the development of Adobe Flash runtimes, setting out where Adobe's priorities lie and how it intends to continue supporting Flash.

Future bug fixes and developments will be prioritized around two key areas: gaming and the deployment of so-called premium video. Relying on its nearly universal distribution, Adobe hopes to see Flash maintain its position as a leader in browser-based games (something that Google is actively challenging with its C...

Chrome for Android won't support Flash, Adobe confirms

2012-02-07T22:08:24Z

When we took a look at the Chrome for Android beta, we mentioned that Flash wasn't supported on the software. Now, Adobe has reiterated that decision, stating that the lack of Flash support is consistent with its position to stop developing Flash Player for mobile devices. Instead, Adobe stressed its partnership with Google to advance HTML5 and noted a couple of Adobe technologies, like CSS Regions, that did make it into the browser.

While Flash is still supported on Android's current default browser, Google plans to eventually replace that browser with Chrome, effectively signaling the end of mobile Flash Player. However, Adobe says that these changes won't spill over into its continued support for Flash on PC or mobile apps.

Adobe updates Flash for Android 4, Galaxy Nexus owners can use it now

2011-12-15T23:35:24Z

Flash is now playing on Ice Cream Sandwich. Adobe just released an updated version of the soon to be abandoned app on Android Market that offers compatibility with Google's latest OS. It arrives just in time for those new Galaxy Nexus owners on Verizon Wireless here in the US — though those carrying the GSM device have had to endure a bit of a wait. A couple nagging issues remain: the on-screen preview will not change when scrubbing through a video, and some videos are experiencing playback trouble. Hit the release notes below for the full details. Other improvements include the standard bug fixes and stability improvements that you might expect. The update awaits you in Android Market now.

Ice Cream Sandwich lacks Flash support, will have it eventually

2011-11-21T08:15:24Z

We're not sure you'd necessarily consider this a bad thing, but Google's new world-beating Android phone, the Galaxy Nexus, comes without a preinstalled Flash Player and offers no option to download or install it from the Market. This is because, says Google, Adobe needs to update the software for Ice Cream Sandwich, which has yet to happen.

That puts us in rather a tricky situation since Adobe recently halted development of Flash for mobile platforms, although SlashGear — who first spotted the issue — has a statement from Google saying that "as far as we know, Adobe will support Flash for ICS." So Ice Cream Sandwich will likely still get the rich media capabilities that Flash provides, though we imagine it'll be the last new...

Occupy Flash calls on users to remove Adobe's player from their computers

2011-11-21T00:42:04Z

Adobe may have discontinued development of its Flash Player for mobile devices and hinted at backing away from Flash on the desktop, but an anonymous group calling itself Occupy Flash wants action now. Focused primarily on desktop Flash, the group is asking the world to boldly uninstall the multimedia player from desktops and laptops. It argues that as long as Flash — a proprietary "fossil," in its words — is ubiquitous on computers it will continue to see development, despite the availability of open standards like HTML5. It holds up the years-long dominance of Internet Explorer 6 as an object lesson, and acknowledges that while users may have to go without certain websites or Flash games in the short term, "the more of us who...

Adobe donates Flex SDK to Apache Software Foundation, moves further away from Flash

2011-11-18T16:54:03Z

Adobe killed Flash on mobile last week after realizing it couldn't compete with HTML5, and now it looks like it's taking a step away from Flash on the desktop. The company has announced that it's donating the Flex SDK, which is used to develop Flash-based internet applications, to the open source Apache Software Foundation, where it will continue on as an independent project. We've also been hearing whispers that the move is part of a broader refocusing that will ultimately see Flash on the desktop canceled as well, but we can't confirm anything yet. We'll see what happens — it seems as though Adobe is making some hard decisions.