All Aboard for Flash 10.1... With One Exception

[Paul Daniel Ash]

image via psyked.co.uk

As noted in multiple online forums, including our very own, Apple remains aloof from the Open Screen Project, an Adobe-sponsored initiative to ensure access to "rich Internet experiences seamlessly across any device, anywhere."

Research in Motion, Nokia, Palm, Google and Microsoft, among others, announced their support for the effort to bring Flash 10.1 to their mobile devices. "We are excited about the broad collaboration of close to 50 industry leaders in the Open Screen Project and the ongoing collaboration with 19 out of the top 20 handset manufacturers worldwide," said Adobe's David Wadhwani, in an amusingly fat shot across the bow of handset manufacturer #20: Apple, Inc.

Apple's own terms of service for the iPhone SDK prohibit self-executing code, as revealed by WikiLeaks:

An Application may not itself install or launch other executable code by any means, including without limitation through the use of a plug-in architecture, calling other frameworks, other APIs or otherwise... No interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an Application except for code that is interpreted and run by Apple’s Published APIs and built-in interpreter(s).

So as much as the industry may be moving in a Flashy direction, Apple has pretty much locked itself out by its own actions. However, one thinks it unlikely that this is keeping them up at night in Cupertino: in addition to the often aggressive independence we have come to expect from One Infinite Loop, there are engineering reasons to be cautious.

Flash introduces a whole potential slew of vulnerabilities, from memory leaks to security holes and draining the already leaky iPhone battery. Developers will continue to use other open standards to deliver video and rich content to the iPhone. It will remain to be seen how much business is lost by this decision, either to other platforms or to non-authorized apps running on jailbroken phones.

[TheOnlyest]

Hopefully one of our brilliant devs will find a way to get this onto jailbroken iPhones!

[ebl4287]

highly unlikely

[pacmac]

How long did we have to wait to get a real mms? Hmmm..

Let's see about this one...

[interstink]

I feel flash will come in time. Im sure a highly "sand-boxed" version of flash player... but flash will come.

[ebl4287]

we will most likely see something by june

[jomo25]

Adobe trying to enable Flash for iPhones.
UPDATE 1-iPhone will be able to run some Flash programs | Markets | Markets News | Reuters

[ecd5000]

yes a jailbroken version would be nice and probably come first but either way this is good news for all, i just hope they all can get along during this and hopefully apple doesnt sandbag everyone afterwords!

[TheArthurShock]

Of course apple aren't going to go along with this. That would be giving it's customers what they want. why would that be a good idea?

-_-'

[The Maestro]

they probably have it ready but will save it for 4.0, i cant imagine what else they would introduce in that update

[RonHC]

*Puts gun into mouth while crying*

[AutumnBoard]

I don't want flash on the iPhone. The only thing it's truly useful for is video. But we've got open standards people! H.264, mp4, etc., etc. And I know what everyone will say: "Why not just turn if off if they do get flash?" The problem will be that developers will go to flash and open standards will just be ignored- so I'd be locked out. The only other things its useful for are games, which the iPhone SDK handles much better then flashed ever could, and advertising- annoying flash advertising. I hate flash ads with a passion. No need for that, thank you very much.
Besides, flash is buggy, slow, a cup-hog, and a massive battery-drain. No thanks...

[sami4021]

Wow @autumboard, your lame. Flash will bring the iPhone new technology. If they do release flash, i bet youd be the first to get it. So stop declinin it LOL!

[plcrules]

i bet $100 that apple will put it for the next gen iphone/ipod only
guessing that they intergrade it with there safari web browser

[JStraitiff]

they will not shut out adobe because of a rule in their public software development terms of service. they will make a private deal with them as they did with google to include flash in webkit. i dont see why they wouldnt. flash is a pretty big business oprotunity, apple isnt stupid.

[AutumnBoard]

Wow @autumboard, your lame. Flash will bring the iPhone new technology. If they do release flash, i bet youd be the first to get it. So stop declinin it LOL!

Please explain what new technologies it would bring to the iPhone? We already have tons of awesome games. We already have noticeable advertisements. Flash video is the only thing left. And we already have YouTube. If YouTube, which has over 12 terabytes worth of videos, can get most of their videos converted to work on the iPhone, I think the rest of the web can to. The only reason I would personally even think about getting flash is Hulu- the idea of watching The Daily Show on my iPod Touch is very tempting. However, it would be much better to push Hulu to adopt open standards for video so that they can be iPhone-compatible. Why? 2 reasons. Number 1: They're open! Anyone can use them, no company has control over them, and they're free to everyone. Number 2: Flash has caused more crashes for me then almost anything else I can think of. Apple even walled it off from Safari in Snow Leopard. Why would they want people to think MobileSafari is buggy? Why would they want iPhones crashing?
Anyway, saying "Flash will bring the iPhone new technology." just show that you can't think of anything specific.
If the iPhone did get flash, I wouldn't even think about installing it until I could get (or, if one's not available, learn to write one) an SBSettings toggle to turn flash on/off on the iPhone.

PS: Please, at least try to be articulate

[Happy Noodle Boy]

I agree with AutumnBoard, flash is a horrible thing that needs to die. A lot of what Flash does can be done through HTML5 which Safari on the iPhone already supports.

Seriously, Flash is the worst thing the internet has ever spawned.

[toxicpenguin]

Flash enabled iPhones.... sure... we will see them in June 2010! - Introducing the iPhone 3G-SF(square) .... now with Flash and Camera Flash!! Available at your favorite at&t and apple store!!

[frankydabull]

I'm surprised of the amount of REALLY GOOD answers that I'm seeing in this post. No sarcasm at all, people giving answers beside "ApPlE sUx GiB uZ FlAsH!" actually makes me happy. There are a few here...

Any way, from apple side, there definitely is a great logic. Apple is very picky about the standards of their product, and i remember having 1.0.2 and thinking "No Flash?" and the official response was that apple wasnt happy with quality of flash in mobile devices. Still holds true

Apple doesnt want a device that has a major bug, or bugs that would overshadow the positives of the iphone. The philosophy is if they can't do it in a way that blows away everyone else, then they wont do it at all. Ever wonder how the iphone is THE standard for a touchscreen? Web-Enabled phone? Apples got that name by supporting SOLID apps. Flash is a whole can of worms nobody wants to open.

Like said before, yes, 100% yes, open formats are the way to go. WAY easier to manage, and gives the end user more control over their data opposed to a flash app for playing a single file.

Apple has blurred the lines of what a cellphone and computer is. But when they did that, they set a standard, and flash just isnt up to par. Sorry

[mikerlx]

I could see flash being a positive thing in a new firware in the higher speed 3GS model but not supported in the original iphone. When would this happen at least 2 years from now. Apple is proven slow on adding features and all the high expectations.