ICS. The end of Flash Player Support!?!?!!

[euph_22]

I don't think so...

Head to

NWS radar image loop of Base Reflectivity from Mt. Holly, NJ

(NOAA weather radar loop for Phila., PA). I just ran that in Chrome 20.0.1132.47 and right-clicked on the radar presentation. It includes
Sure looks like Flash Player is running under Chrome...

We return you to your ICS Flash topic, already in progress.

I can't get that working on my phone. Other animated radar images work on NOAA's site, but those are actually animated gifs, and not flash.

 

[james98520]

Good thing we know it's the "RAZR" that is the problem especially since I tested another RAZR with GB and Flash Player 11.1.115.10 that worked just fine tonight. So I would hate to say that the problem lies within ICS and/or Flash 11.1.115.11.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Good thing we know it's the "RAZR" that is the problem especially since I tested another RAZR with GB and Flash Player 11.1.115.10 that worked just fine tonight. So I would hate to say that the problem lies within ICS and/or Flash 11.1.115.11.

Actually, I don't think it has anything to do with the Razr (Maxx). I was messing around with my Nexus (4.0.4) and it is doing the same thing on the same sites. I rolled it back to 4.0.2 and the sites worked. It really looks like Adobe just hasn't updated it to work with 4.0.4. They may in time or the may never. The only thing I can guess about some sites working is that they are either HTML5 encoded and people don't realize it or they are using an older version of Flash that is still compatible. Either way, I don't think the fault lies with the Razr, Motorola, Verizon or Google. I think this is all Adobe.

 

[james98520]

Actually, I don't think it has anything to do with the Razr (Maxx). I was messing around with my Nexus (4.0.4) and it is doing the same thing on the same sites. I rolled it back to 4.0.2 and the sites worked. It really looks like Adobe just hasn't updated it to work with 4.0.4. They may in time or the may never. The only thing I can guess about some sites working is that they are either HTML5 encoded and people don't realize it or they are using an older version of Flash that is still compatible. Either way, I don't think the fault lies with the Razr, Motorola, Verizon or Google. I think this is all Adobe.

Agreed. Which version of Flash are you runnin when you went back to 4.0.2? 11.1.115.10 or 11.1.115.11? Far as I know the Flash .11 is the latest and supposed to work with ICS .4 but as I can see on my phone it doesn't.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Agreed. Which version of Flash are you runnin when you went back to 4.0.2? 11.1.115.10 or 11.1.115.11? Far as I know the Flash .11 is the latest and supposed to work with ICS .4 but as I can see on my phone it doesn't.

Honestly, no idea. I was in the process of unrooting and re-locking the bootloader to send it back to Verizon and just figured I'd test it out once I rolled back to 4.0.2. The version that I had on 4.0.4 was the latest in the market and the same as I have on my Razr though. Since I rolled back to 4.0.2 and re installed flash it should have been the same version though.

 

[OfTheDamned]

This was posted just the other day.
The Impact of the Flash Player Unpublish Announcement on Android Video Delivery | Digital Media Blog

Rereading through some different sites I can see that there are a bunch of phones out there having this problem. Just about any phone that is updated to 4.0.4 is losing flash. They are trying to push everything via apps using Adobe Air.

 

[james98520]

This was posted just the other day.
The Impact of the Flash Player Unpublish Announcement on Android Video Delivery | Digital Media Blog

Rereading through some different sites I can see that there are a bunch of phones out there having this problem. Just about any phone that is updated to 4.0.4 is losing flash. They are trying to push everything via apps using Adobe Air.

Thanks for the link. Was interesting to read. Must say didn't like what they had to say...but who are we other than the pawns in their game. I understand running some things through apps, and in some cases the apps are more reliable, but seems everyone wants to charge for their apps so this is definitely going to suck on all levels for everyone.

 

[CincyGT2009]

This really makes me angry. SERIOUSLY angry. One of the MAIN reasons I buy Android phones is because I can have access to FULL internet-browsing capabilities on my smartphone. How DARE people act like this is not an issue. If I hear the "flash sucks anyway" crap one more time I'm going to scream. Like it's MY fault a significant portion of the internet still relies on flash video??? Until the entire world switches over to HTML 5, what the crap am I, as an end-user, supposed to do about it? MY phone no longer serves MY needs because of a decision that is beyond my control yet AGAIN. I truly am beginning to hate smartphones in general. Any technology over which I have such little control is endlessly frustrating. Someone else decides to upgrade MY equipment and in the process BREAK its functionality and I have no recourse.

 

[jroc]

^^ Agree 100%. Every website I use doesnt use an app or uses Youtube. Or HTML5 to my knowledge.

Example: Yahoo Sports.

I, we, some of us.... have to suffer because the rest of the web hasn't jumped on the HTML5 bandwagon yet?

 

[Gatman]

I think Adobe is screwing up enough things with flash that it is doomed now (if HTML5 wasn't going to do it in). I use Firefox for my browser, and a few weeks ago I was no longer able to view Youtube videos (or anything else flash) after an update. I searched around and found many others having the same problem. Luckily, I found a solution relatively quickly - but it was to disable some functionality of RealPlayer that was conflicting with flash. From what I read, there are some folks who still haven't been able to get videos working.

In December I picked up a Transformer Prime for me and an iPad2 for the wife. The main reason I picked the Prime was because of Flash and because I really loved my Droid Incredible. Unfortunately, I had a Prime that had issues and I returned it. I ended up getting myself an iPad because 1) there wasn't another Android tablet that I was that excited about, 2) I had a couple weeks to play with the wife's iPad and liked it, and 3) my office uses a couple pieces of software that are only available for the iPad at this time. I can tell you this - in the six months I've had the iPad, I can count on one hand the number of times I've hit a website that I couldn't display because of flash. And for those few times, whatever it was I was surfing to see wasn't something I wanted to see bad enough to get up out of the chair and go to the computer to view the site.

I watch a fair amount of video on the tablet, but mostly Netflix, HBO2Go, Cinemax2Go and the big network sites, so I'm not that wound up about flash since I've had almost zero problems doing what I want. For those of you that do frequent sites that rely on flash, I can understand your frustration.

The point my long, rambling story? I think the ire should be directed squarely at Adobe. They created this software, got it out there and it was heavily (?) adopted, and now that it appears to be going the way of the dinosaur with HTML5 coming, it sounds like they're dropping some support for it a little prematurely to suit many folks that rely on it. I say blame them, not Google, Motorola, or anyone else.

~Gary

 

[CincyGT2009]

Yeah, I do blame Adobe for it, but the others share blame too. I have never used an Adobe product that was not slow, buggy, and unreliable. The one time I really needed their customer support they declined to help me because I DARED to use Adobe Photoshop CS2, when CS3 was already out. They are a miserable company to deal with and I hope every one at Adobe who is responsible for their corporate culture ends up out of a job.

In the mean time, I am left unable to view embedded video on my device, which mere weeks ago I could do at will.

 

[jroc]

I agree with that too.. I think they are dropping support for it too soon.

But...its like the 64bit desktop OS scenario. A few years ago articles complained about ppl not adopting 64bit OS's more. The solution? MS starting shipping 64bit OS's pre installed on PC's.

Adoption rate went up alot more. I think thats what Adobe is trying to do now. Cuz bottom line....get rid of it overnight...and site makers that rely on it are gonna have to adapt faster to HTML5.

 

[Squatly]

Flash was a big Android selling point for me a couple of years ago. Still, my experience with it has been hit or miss. Sometimes it plays fine, but I'm never surprised when a flash video seizes up and/or gobbles up my battery. Also, I don't think I've ever heard an iOS user complain about not having Flash. Being baited and switched stinks, but it seems Adobe is saying that Flash is as good as it's going to get and it's just not good enough for the long run.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Adobe just issued an update in Google Play so it is working again on the 3 sites I tried it on.

 

[Admack]

Which sites did you try? I tried abc, nbc and crackle and couldn't get it working even with unistall and reboots.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Mostly I was looking at blogs that have non-youtube players like Engadget.

 

[Admack]

Gotcha. Engadget video loads for me but freezes the browser when it starts playing. I'll have to keep experimenting.

 

[OfTheDamned]

It is working in some places it didn't before. I just tried Syfy though and it will play the commercials, but not the show.

 

[Rachel A]

It is working in some places it didn't before. I just tried Syfy though and it will play the commercials, but not the show.

Ain't that just typical...

 

[CincyGT2009]

Stupid pile of trash still only plays the ads then freezes on youtube. It even shows the bar at the bottom indicating it is loading the video but it never plays. At that point, you cannot click any other links on the page. Worthless. I used my phone for browsing and checking out video clips all the time. Now I have to get out a laptop if I want to watch a simple clip.

 

[The_Superhoo]

To those saying Flash is outdated.... then why is it still the standard for embedded videos? It only becomes outdated when everyone switches to the new format. Hasnt happened yet.

Flash still doesnt work for me on any site after the new update btw.

 

[euph_22]

To those saying Flash is outdated.... then why is it still the standard for embedded videos? It only becomes outdated when everyone switches to the new format. Hasnt happened yet.

Because web developers are lazy people, content providers don't understand the value of updating to a superior format, and consumers don't bother to inform themselves on the benefit of the new format over the old.

Of course it would be best for consumers if every competing format worked equally well. It doesn't, and the onus is BOTH on the content providers to use formats that consumers can access and on Adobe/W3C/etc (the folks who maintain the format) to keep the viewers functional.

I can still send a telegraph, or use Western Union to send money. That doesn't mean they aren't outdated, and haven't been for years.

Flash still doesnt work for me on any site after the new update btw.

When one format doesn't work anymore while others do, it sounds like that format is out of date. Just saying.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Anyone saying that flash is not working for them at all, did you go into Apps and disable FlashRemoval by chance?

 

[Admack]

I switched to koa aokp and flash works now on abc cbs nbc southpark and crackle.

 

[carracerz14]

Anyone saying that flash is not working for them at all, did you go into Apps and disable FlashRemoval by chance?

I don't even see that listed in my all apps lost under settings