In a blog post (http://macte.ch/aNf5T), Adobe Flash developer relations chief Mike Chambers has Apple’s unchanging stance against Flash has reduced Flash’s chances of becoming a widespread platform for in-browser mobile apps.
Another major factor was the rise of HTML5 on which Adobe is now placing more emphasis, he adds. Last week Adobe announced plans to cease developing Flash for mobile browsers to concentrate on HTML5.
“Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores,” an in-house Adobe email says. “We will no longer adapt Flash Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version or device configurations. Some of our source code licensees may opt to continue working on and releasing their own implementations. We will continue to support the current Android and PlayBook configurations with critical bug fixes and security updates.” (Read more at http://www.zdnet.com/blog/perlow/exclusive-adobe-ceases-development-on-mobile-browser-flash-refocuses-efforts-on-html5-updated/19226 .)
HTML5 — preferred by Apple over Flash — is a language for structuring and presenting content for the Web and is a core technology of the Internet originally proposed by Opera Software. Every new Apple mobile device and every new Mac — along with the latest version of Apple’s Safari web browser — supports web standards including HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.
“While there was some frustration around our dropping development of the Flash Player for mobile browsers, the main thing I saw was concern and confusion about how this would affect the Flash Platform as a whole. Were we still committed to it? Would we stop developing the Flash Player for the desktop? Is Flash really dead?” Chambers writes on his blog. “So, just to be very clear, contrary to what many have declared, Flash is not dead. It’s role and focus has shifted but we feel that it still fills important roles both on the web and mobile platforms.”
— Dennis Sellers
