Adobe has finally shut the door on all future Flash for mobile operations. The software company today announced the last feature release (version 11.1) for Android and other mobile platforms. This without a doubt is horrible news for those of you out there who depend on this functionality for websites which don’t provide alternative viewing options for things like videos and for playing games. I hate to beat a dead horse, but Apple was right all along.
We must keep in mind that Flash isn’t entirely dead, as Adobe plans to keep the service in the app ecosystem, just without any major updates to the browser plug-in. Instead, the software maker plans to put all of its time an energy into HTML5 and Adobe Edge. Discussing the transition to HTML5 on mobile devices, the company on its blog said:
“We will continue to leverage our experience with Flash to accelerate our work with the W3C and WebKit to bring similar capabilities to HTML5 as quickly as possible, just as we have done with CSS Shaders. And, we will design new features in Flash for a smooth transition to HTML5 as the standards evolve so developers can confidently invest knowing their skills will continue to be leveraged.”
What may be overlooked in all of this is how Adobe is letting loose, allowing the development community and OEMs the opportunity to take Flash for mobile into their own hands. RIM has already dedicated themselves to supporting Flash in the BlackBerry PlayBook with or without Adobe. This can get interesting if one of these OEMs or third-party developers can actually get the experience to work in a way Adobe couldn’t.
[via Phandroid]