When developing your web site it’s important to consider what platforms it will be accessible on and incorporating Flash typically means an exclusion of certain devices such as iPads and iPhones. Well, not anymore! It seems as though Adobe is attempting to do away with this issue by creating a new component that converts Flash to HTML5.
We all know that Adobe and Apple have been butting heads over lack of Flash on iOS devices for a while now and this announcement comes as a pleasant surprise to us. Rather than ignoring the issue Adobe is taking it head-on with this project in an attempt to make Flash viewable on all devices. Although this converter (Codenamed Wallaby) is still experimental it could be just the beginning of Flash converting software.
For developers and agencies such as ourselves, this could mean an easier way to develop mobile sites for our clients. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves because this software is only in the beginning stages and has a long way to go before it is widely adopted. Stay tuned.
iPhones, iPads, and iPods have taken over the world. Apple is everywhere, and as a leading digital agency we need to be prepared to shift gears toward developing web pages that can run on these devices. Add it to the list. It seems every client wants their site coded for IE6, but now want it to be viewed on an iPad. We do to. But, the only problem is your slick flash based website does not run on Apple devices. It’s unfortunate and it’s does not seem like Apple is going to change their possession anytime soon.
Apple has said that Flash is vulnerable to viruses and other malicious software and Symantec also highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. In addition, Flash uses software rather than hardware to decode video and therefore uses more power which is a serious downside for use on mobile devices. One of the biggest problems is the fact that Flash isn’t built around touch-based navigation. A lot of Flash requires hovering over an image for a menu to pop up and there is no concept of this with touch navigation. This would mean Flash would have to be re-written in such a way so as to be compatible with finger navigation.
So what can we do? Developers must consider HTML 5, CSS and Javascript as coding options so that more of the web is accessible to over 50M people (the number of iPhone users in the US). Here’s to hoping that Apple and Adobe can play nice in the future. If you need help give Squeaky a call and we can give you a hand.
