Emanuele Feronato

Talking about Flash.

Take it as a rumor, but probably tomorrow Adobe will make an announcement saying they will stop working on the Flash player for mobile browser, focusing their efforts on HTML5 development and native mobile apps based on Adobe AIR.

According to a report by ZDNet, the full announcement is as follows:

« 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. 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. »

The company is expected to make it official tomorrow, but as of now, mobile Flash is no longer being developed. Although phone makers who have themselves licensed the technology from Adobe may continue to offer modified versions of it on their phones, it will no longer be officially supported by Adobe.

Does this mean Flash is drawing to an end, as announced by most web developers?

In my opinion, Flash in web design should be replaced by HTML5 or even by jQuery or similar frameworks.

Honestly, I always hated those useless animations and splash screens web developers used to put in their pages in the past decade. It’s just a cheap abuse of the Adobe technology, probably even cheaper than the background filled with animated GIFs annoying me through all 1990’s.

Let developers use HTML5 and jQuery-like frameworks for menus and image transitions.

So, what about Flash in game design? There’s no way for it to be replaced in the short run. No way. Although most of us have a mobile phone, we still work, study and surf from desktops or laptops. And we will continue playing Flash games on such computers, soon powered by Stage3D (former “Molehill”)

Moreover, Adobe has the technology to let us produce native apps with AIR, and I think they will focus on this feature to let us make mobile games, as at the moment if you try to make a complex game in HTML5 and play on your mobile device, it will blow the browser (and the battery) in a quick.

I am sticking with Adobe. People hoping for Flash to be replaced by [some alien technology name here] are people which never tried to do something more interesting than turning a red square in a blue circle.