Adobe’s Flash Has the Thumbs Up From Apple…Sorta
Adobe’s widely used Flash format has finally gotten some approval from Apple. Apps made with Flash and compiled in the format for iOS should be allowed onto the devices as long as they do not download any additional code from the internet. Apple did not specifically name Adobe or its Flash format in its newly announced app guidelines, but unless it singles Flash out, Flash is in. Don’t get your hopes up quite yet though.
This does not mean that streaming Flash videos will work. Nor does it mean those Flash based games you love so much will work. In fact, the only thing that this means, is that it is easier to develop apps for the iTunes store. Apple really has not given up any of its control over what gets on the iPhone or its iOS siblings. It simply has said that developers can use Flash to make programs that get installed on your device after passing iTunes App Store inspection.
It looks like HTML5 is still Apple CEO Steve Jobs choice for streaming video. Or you could just go with his newly launched iTunes service for streaming television rentals. Yeah, he knows how to squeeze the money out everyone. That is why Apple makes so much of it and literally has billions of dollars in cash sitting around to use at its whim. Regardless of where you stand on the Flash issue, this means that quite a few more apps should be showing up on iTunes in the next few months.
This also shows Jobs wants to keep the app momentum going. Apps are projected to pass music downloads by the end of the year on iTunes, but Android OS is quickly closing the gap with its own app store doing surprisingly well. The BlackBerry App World store just passed the 10,000 mark this week, but seems to be gaining a little bit of momentum.
We will have to wait and see if this means Apple will eventually reconsider its ban on Flash website content, but lets keep our fingers crossed. If Adobe can get Flash working well on mobile devices, then that is a good thing. It will give HTML5 some serious competition and make both platforms better in the long run. Okay, I admit, I just really want my streaming video.
Drop a comment and let me know what you think Apple’s decision means for iOS and HTML5
Tags: ios, iTunes App Store, Apple, apps, adobe flash
First of all, I’ve just realized the first comment is spam
blog.guya.net/2010/02/10/flash-vs-html5-vs-adobe-vs-apple/comment-page-1/#comment-19165
MikeFm, your suggestion is ridiculous in so many ways, mainly because html5 still can’t do all of what flash can.
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I have an impression of adobe that it can play any videos with different video format, in opposite, html5 supports h.246 (According browser publishers’ will) someone thought html5 should take 10 years before replacing adobe in the areas like games, desktop widgets, e-learning interactivities and many applications that require advanced animation API or techniques. As ifunia lists in their official website, html5 can’t replace adobe at once, because “74% of the web can’t be seen on the iPad” (that means you have to convert videos by 3rd-party video converter like ifunia and handbrake), ipad needs help, let alone html5, now! So, adobe is necessary for our digital life all the same.
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So long as the Flash is compiled to HTML5 or some native format and works well then great. So long as Adobe fails to provide a decent Flash player though I really hope Apple never allows native Flash to run on iOS.
Why doesn’t Adobe offer a proxy server that will convert Flash to HTML5 on demand for users that want to run Flash without developers needing to recompile for HTML5?
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