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Your smartphone's and tablet's web browser will likely be Flash-free in the future, if it isn't already.

Adobe Systems Inc. said Wednesday that it is ending its development of the Flash Player plug-in for mobile devices and will instead shift its resources and third-party partners to its Adobe AIR software and HTML5 technologies for interactive websites, apps and video playback.

Word of the shift away from Flash on mobile devices was first reported by the website ZDNet and later confirmed in a company blog post by Danny Winokur, Adobe's vice president of interactive development.

"Over the past two years, we've delivered Flash Player for mobile browsers and brought the full expressiveness of the web to many mobile devices," Winokur said. "However, HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively. This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms.

"We are excited about this, and will continue our work with key players in the HTML community, including Google, Apple, Microsoft and RIM, to drive HTML5 innovation they can use to advance their mobile browsers."

Adobe will shift its resources toward giving Flash developers the tools to turn their Flash files into native apps for mobile operating systems with Adobe AIR.

"We will no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations (chipset, browser, OS version, etc.) following the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook," Winokur said. "We will of course continue to provide critical bug fixes and security updates for existing device configurations. We will also allow our source code licensees to continue working on and release their own implementations."

The changes will allow the San Jose-based company to increase its investment in HTML5 "and innovate with Flash where it can have most impact for the industry," he said.

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Firefox blocks Flash, and Facebook calls for its death

Adobe Flash, the much-loathed, bug-plagued relic of a browser plugin, just got a big nail driven into its coffin.

Mozilla blocked Flash by default in its Firefox browser late Monday night, a day after Facebook's (FB, Tech30) security chief called for Adobe to kill Flash once and for all.

The Flash-bashing picked up last week after revelations that the spyware giant known as the Hacking Team had been using Flash to remotely take over people's computers and infect them with malware. (That discovery took place after the Hacking Team was itself hacked. Documents revealed in the breach showed that the Hacking Team exploited two critical vulnerabilities in Flash's code.)

"It is time for Adobe to announce the end-of-life date for Flash," tweeted Facebook security chief Alex Stamos on Sunday.

Mozilla's support chief Mark Schmidt quickly followed suit by tweeting that all versions of Flash had been turned off in Firefox. That means Firefox users will not be able to turn on the plug-in to access Flash content -- they'll have to seek out another browser if they need to use Flash.

Adobe (ADBE) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The good news for Firefox users is that most won't notice a change. Just under 11% of websites use Flash, according to W3Techs, a technology survey company.

Flash is a type of software called "middleware," an add-on extension to the browser that allows rich content to be viewed. It had been widely used a decade ago, powering most of the Web's games, animations and videos. When YouTube launched in 2005, its videos were entirely Flash-based, requiring its audience to install the Flash plug-in software in order to watch YouTube media.

But the tide began to turn in 2010, when Steve Jobs wrote an open letter rant about Adobe's security, blaming the company's Flash player for being "the number one reason Macs crash" and citing Flash for having "one of the worst security records in 2009."

Jobs was right -- Flash does have a miserable security record, and continued to be bug-ridden long after publishing his open letter. It habitually tops Symantec's annual list of vulnerable plug-in programs.

The iPhone never supported Flash. Though Android smartphones originally supported Flash -- and used that fact as a selling point -- Adobe killed Flash support for all smartphones in 2011. YouTube has been experimenting with playing videos natively in the browser several years ago and officially parted ways with Flash in January 2015.

Despite the clear momentum against Flash, Mozilla said there's a chance that Flash will be re-enabled on Firefox some day.

"To be clear, Flash is only blocked until Adobe releases a version which isn't being actively exploited by publicly known vulnerabilities," Schmidt added.

So it's not the final nail, but we're getting closer to Flash's death.

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Mozilla's support chief Mark Schmidt quickly followed suit by tweeting that all versions of Flash had been turned off in Firefox. That means Firefox users will not be able to turn on the plug-in to access Flash content -- they'll have to seek out another browser if they need to use Flash.

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"To be clear, Flash is only blocked until Adobe releases a version which isn't being actively exploited by publicly known vulnerabilities," Schmidt added.

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It is Time to Get Flash Off Your Computer

Alphabet’s Google Chrome browser will default rich media in HTML 5 by default by the end of the year

May 17, 2016

Alphabet Inc. ’s Google is taking a major step in its long, drawn-out breakup with Flash.

By the end of the year, Google’s Chrome browser for Macs, Windows-based PCs and Chromebooks will render rich media such as videos and animated graphics in HTML 5 by default, instead of using Adobe Systems Inc. ’s long-maligned software. It is the latest step from the likes of Google, Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and others to embrace HTML 5, a set of technologies developed by an open, global community of programmers.

Calls to abandon Flash have been around for years. Now, HTML 5 is developed enough that you can heed the call.

The problems with Flash

The major complaints against Flash today are no different than in 2010, when Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said security issues, battery drain, poor performance and Adobe’s proprietary control would keep Flash off iPhones, iPads and iPods.

Flash is a common way PC users run into malware. Last year, Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox browser temporarily blocked the software over security vulnerabilities. Adobe issued a software fix, but later in the year Chrome began automatically pausing Flash video ads because of performance issues.

Facebook security chief Alex Stamos called on Adobe to stop trying to fix Flash and end support outright.

How Chrome users are affected

Google isn’t entirely ditching Flash. Adobe’s software will remain an option for Chrome—the most widely used browser on desktops and laptops—but you will have to opt in on a per-website basis. “If a site truly requires Flash, a prompt will appear at the top of the page when the user first visits that site, giving them the option of allowing it to run for that site,” Anthony LaForge, a technical program manager on the Chrome team, said in a note to developers explaining the changes.

Chrome’s prompt will ask for permission to run Flash. If permission is granted, Chrome will offer three choices: “run once,” “run always” or “never ask again.”

If a site gives Chrome the option of rendering an object using HTML 5 or Flash, Chrome will choose HTML 5, Mr. LaForge said. YouTube already defaults to HTML 5, for example.

Google is making exceptions

Google plans to bend its new rules. The 10 most popular sites still using Flash (as determined by Google’s internal metrics) won’t trigger the opt-in prompt for at least a year. Instead, the companies running those sites will get to choose the experience for users.

Google is making this exception “to reduce the initial user impact, and avoid over-prompting,” the company said. Those 10 sites are YouTube.com, Facebook.com, Yahoo.com, VK.com, Live.com, Yandex.ru, OK.ru, Twitch.tv, Amazon.com and Mail.ru, the company said.

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Flash & The Future of Interactive Content

Posted by Adobe Corporate Communications on July 25, 2017

Adobe has long played a leadership role in advancing interactivity and creative content – from video, to games and more – on the web. Where we’ve seen a need to push content and interactivity forward, we’ve innovated to meet those needs. Where a format didn’t exist, we invented one – such as with Flash and Shockwave. And over time, as the web evolved, these new formats were adopted by the community, in some cases formed the basis for open standards, and became an essential part of the web.

But as open standards like HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly have matured over the past several years, most now provide many of the capabilities and functionalities that plugins pioneered and have become a viable alternative for content on the web. Over time, we’ve seen helper apps evolve to become plugins, and more recently, have seen many of these plugin capabilities get incorporated into open web standards. Today, most browser vendors are integrating capabilities once provided by plugins directly into browsers and deprecating plugins.

Given this progress, and in collaboration with several of our technology partners – including Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla – Adobe is planning to end-of-life Flash. Specifically, we will stop updating and distributing the Flash Player at the end of 2020 and encourage content creators to migrate any existing Flash content to these new open formats.

Several industries and businesses have been built around Flash technology – including gaming, education and video – and we remain committed to supporting Flash through 2020, as customers and partners put their migration plans into place. Adobe will continue to support Flash on a number of major OSs and browsers that currently support Flash content through the planned EOL. This will include issuing regular security patches, maintaining OS and browser compatibility and adding features and capabilities as needed. We remain fully committed to working with partners, including Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla to maintain the security and compatibility of Flash content. [To see each partner’s announcement on this news, click on the links inside each partner name.] In addition, we plan to move more aggressively to EOL Flash in certain geographies where unlicensed and outdated versions of Flash Player are being distributed.

Adobe will also remain at the forefront of leading the development of new web standards and actively participate in their advancement. This includes continuing to contribute to the HTML5 standard and participating in the WebAssembly Community Group. And we’ll continue to provide best in class animation and video tools such as Animate CC, the premier web animation tool for developing HTML5 content, and Premiere Pro CC.

Looking ahead, Adobe will continue to provide the best tools and services for designers and developers to create amazing content for the web.

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