"Flash Support" ... Do you know what it is?

[messenger13]

First of all, let me state up front that I'm not the leading expert in Flash. But every day (or so it seems), I see comments in several threads regarding "Flash support". And it's really starting to get ... umm ... old.

Comments like:
"I hope that 2.0.1 supports Flash."
"I hope that 2.1 supports Flash."
"I wish that browser supported Flash."
"I was hoping the DROID supported Flash." ... and so on.

Somebody correct if I'm wrong, but until Adobe Labs releases a version of Flash for Android phones, we're not gonna have it people! Supposedly, Adobe

 

[superdesi]

Yea I'm under the impression that adobe is going to release flash support for android NOT Google. Which means it might not be coming in 2.1 and might take longer than we think :-/

 

[Telexen]

Get comfortable. Adobe is a very pathetic company. They have a long history of lagging behind when it comes to Flash support in anything but Windows. ESPECIALLY Linux. They've always been a version behind in Linux...now throw mobile phones that run a Linux variant into the mix? Don't expect it to be the same version desktops are using.

 

[ParadingLunatic]

It's funny that you say that Telexen. The only 64bit native version of Adobe's Flash that is out right now is for Linux only. It's actually been out for quite some time and runs a heck of a lot better than the 32bit release.

But to stay on topic, no one knows when Flash will be released for android devices. If you go to Adobe - Adobe Flash Player in the browser on your android phone (for me Droid) it tells you "Adobe Flash Player 10.1 is coming to Android 2.0 and future releases in the first half of 2010". That is the best answer you're going to get unfortunately. With how long they've had the Linux 64bit in "alpha" and nothing to show for Windows for a couple or more years now, I wouldn't hold my breath at the and of the first half of 2010.

 

[jmccarthy14]

First of all, let me state up front that I'm not the leading expert in Flash. But every day (or so it seems), I see comments in several threads regarding "Flash support". And it's really starting to get ... umm ... old.

Comments like:
"I hope that 2.0.1 supports Flash."
"I hope that 2.1 supports Flash."
"I wish that browser supported Flash."
"I was hoping the DROID supported Flash." ... and so on.

Somebody correct if I'm wrong, but until Adobe Labs releases a version of Flash for Android phones, we're not gonna have it people! Supposedly, Adobe

 

[vincentp]

You're basically right. Our phones do support Flash. It's up to Adobe to act on that support. We can't have anything until they decide to release it to us. Knowing Adobe, something tells me that the performance of the plugin is going to be vastly disappointing.

 

[messenger13]

Not Entirely true. See some HTC phones.

See what you're saying though.

Which is why I say I'm not a leading expert. "Flash" is a tad bit of an elusive topic, especially regarding smart phones. The iPhone owners waited years, didn't they? Does the 3GS have full Flash support currently? And those HTC phones you speak of ... those aren't Android phones, correct?

 

[vincentp]

The performance of Flash on the phones that have tried to implement it is terrible. It's basically unusable.

 

[jmccarthy14]

Which is why I say I'm not a leading expert. "Flash" is a tad bit of an elusive topic, especially regarding smart phones. The iPhone owners waited years, didn't they? Does the 3GS have full Flash support currently? And those HTC phones you speak of ... those aren't Android phones, correct?

HTC Hero: The first Android device with Flash | Adobe Developer Connection

 

[colnago]

The performance of Flash on the phones that have tried to implement it is terrible. It's basically unusable.

Nokia N900 owner begs to differ. Full Flash support for v9.4...though until it can utilize the hardware graphics processing, supposedly in 10.x release, some content may be laggy. However navigating general Flash based sites are fine (e.g. speedtest.net).

 

[messenger13]

HTC Hero: The first Android device with Flash | Adobe Developer Connection

OK ... some now I am really confused as to why the DROID doesn't have Flash. Confused ... and a little miffed!

 

[d-man]

and the web is better off without it.

'nuff said.

 

[vincentp]

Nokia N900 owner begs to differ. Full Flash support for v9.4...though until it can utilize the hardware graphics processing, supposedly in 10.x release, some content may be laggy. However navigating general Flash based sites are fine (e.g. speedtest.net).

I didn't consider Maemo devices when I wrote that. I wouldn't really call them well known or widely used. Perhaps Flash runs well on those phones, but to be fair that operating system is more like a desktop OS than most phones'. I know the N900 isn't enormous, but Maemo devices are sort of on the line between a phone and a tablet.

 

[eclipsed4utoo]

Which is why I say I'm not a leading expert. "Flash" is a tad bit of an elusive topic, especially regarding smart phones. The iPhone owners waited years, didn't they? Does the 3GS have full Flash support currently? And those HTC phones you speak of ... those aren't Android phones, correct?

The IPhone does not have Flash(web) and will probably never get flash.

 

[colnago]

I didn't consider Maemo devices when I wrote that. I wouldn't really call them well known or widely used. Perhaps Flash runs well on those phones, but to be fair that operating system is more like a desktop OS than most phones'. I know the N900 isn't enormous, but Maemo devices are sort of on the line between a phone and a tablet.

I only mentioned the N900 as I thought that Android was "Linux-based", as is Maemo...with Maemo being closer to "desktop Linux". If true, then there could be the possibility that full Flash is "doable" on Android. Again, it works really well on Maemo, but some embedded media on Flash sites don't always work, or work smoothly (Video on Hulu.com plays audio fine, but video only gets 1 frame every few seconds...XM Radio online loads up fine, until you get to the actual player).

 

[vincentp]

Poor Hulu performance is pretty disappointing That's really the only thing I was looking forward to Flash for on my phone - aside from random embedded videos that are not from YouTube. I really don't browse too many Flash sites. I wonder if the poor performance on Maemo is due to the fact that Adobe has poor support for Linux in general. The hardware should be able to handle it. Maybe a dedicated Flash for the Android platform will be better, at least one would hope.

 

[colnago]

From what I've read, aside from Maemo being "new", basically the version of Flash "isn't optimized to use the hardware (graphics accelerator) to its fullest"...I mean the 900 has 1GB of RAM, that "should" help.

 

[vincentp]

Seeing as Flash works just peachy on a Windows XP computer with 256MB of RAM, I'd think it should be able to handle it.

Adobe is just slow and lousy when it comes to anything other than Windows. I know these phones are capable of handling Flash video. It's not the most demanding thing in the world. YouTube plays in a snap and in high quality with no problems. I blame Adobe. I hope they get this right.

 

[yzingerr]

Its just irratating that so much of my web based useage requires flash. Cant even watch hulu or listen to my favorite internet radio! Hell, my old palm treo that was 3 years old could do it!

 

[barry99705]

From what I've read, aside from Maemo being "new", basically the version of Flash "isn't optimized to use the hardware (graphics accelerator) to its fullest"...I mean the 900 has 1GB of RAM, that "should" help.

Maemo has been around longer than Android.

 

[colnago]

Maemo has been around longer than Android.

Maemo 5, "and" the n900 with Flash support, longer than Android?

 

[Travisstdmn]

Poor Hulu performance is pretty disappointing That's really the only thing I was looking forward to Flash for on my phone - aside from random embedded videos that are not from YouTube. I really don't browse too many Flash sites. I wonder if the poor performance on Maemo is due to the fact that Adobe has poor support for Linux in general. The hardware should be able to handle it. Maybe a dedicated Flash for the Android platform will be better, at least one would hope.

I have to totally agree with ya on this. I want flash so I can watch hulu vids...nothing else right now.

 

[messenger13]

Well ... even though my website isn't a "Flash site" (Audio Tattoo), I do use it for our demo player, and our photo gallery. It sux that these won't play on my DROID.

 

[mihalich]

I remember reading somewhere, probably on the motorola site for the Droid phone, that it says the built in browser is "flash ready" when Flash 10.1 comes out.

It is not an Android OS version issue per se...at least for 2.x. I don't know if the Flash 10.1 will support pre 2.x OS versions though.

There are increasingly more and more sites that are moving to Flash/Flex based development because of the Rich UI capabilities, and not having to deal with the stupid cross browser compatability issues.

Hopefully 10.1 will support the majority of the Flash API so most sites will work normally. If they don't, it will be a total waste.

I mean there are so many sites out there that use the flash format to deliver/stream video/audio now. That alone will give us a lot more streaming capability.

Whether you like flash or not, the added functionality to the android OS, and the fact that Flash will likely never be released for the iPhone due to apple's continued incompetence, will make android that much more superior.

-Joe

 

[barry99705]

Maemo 5, "and" the n900 with Flash support, longer than Android?

Well now you're getting nitpicky! That's like saying Android 1 or 2. Maemo as a whole has been around for three or four years. Though it's still a relatively unknown os.