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No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet

By | November 21, 2011, 3:30am PST

Summary: Is no-Flash in ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ a deal-breaker?

If you’re planning to grab a new Galaxy Nexus complete with the new Android 4.0 ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ then expect an Apple iOS-like experience as it will release without Flash support.

SlashGear has confirmation from Google that ‘Ice Cream Sandwich’ (ICS) will be Flash-less for the time being, but Google is passing the buck onto Adobe:

“Flash hasn’t been released for ICS yet so as far as we know, Adobe will support Flash for ICS.”

Notice two things in that statement:

  • No firm commitment that Adobe is on-board
  • No date

Adobe pulled the plug on any future development for Flash on mobile platforms earlier this month, signaling the company’s move to HTML5 and its AIR platform. Flash on mobile platforms seems like the latest technology to bite the dust as a result of Apple’s iOS platform.

[UPDATE: It seems that Adobe has broken its silence:

'Adobe will release one more version of the Flash Player for mobile browsing, which will provide support for Android 4.0, and one more release of the Flash Linux Porting Kit - both expected to be released before the end of this year.'

So, one more and you're done.]

Will the current lack of Flash support in ’Ice Cream Sandwich’ make you think twice about picking up a device running the OS, or is no-Flash no longer a deal-breaker?

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Topics

Android, Ice Cream, Flash, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
non-biased 28th Nov
@rhonin You may have found from your experience that Flash is very much alive and well and I will not dispute that. What I have found from my experience with the iPhone is that I have very little use for the web on my phone as the vast majority of times I have an app that gets me the info I am looking for far quicker than I could get it with a web browser, Flash or not.
View in thread
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Yes
rhonin Updated - 21st Nov
Once you leave the iOS world and move to Android w/ Flash you start seeing how much you were really missing.

No ICS unless it has flash.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
rdelfgou 21st Nov
@rhonin I am an Apple user (iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad) and I do disagree with you. Sure you miss out on some of the action, but generally speaking, not that much. More and more sites are without flash. So I believe that Flash will slowly become instinct. Wait and see.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
nogobo 21st Nov
@rdelfgou
"I am an Apple user (iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad) and I do disagree with you. Sure you miss out on some of the action, but generally speaking, not that much. More and more sites are without flash. So I believe that Flash will slowly become instinct. Wait and see. "

instinct huh?
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My experience has shown me otherwise
rhonin 21st Nov
@rdelfgou
I use MS, Apple and Android devices.
Flash is still very prevelant and needed on the web.

As an example: browse via an iPad2 and an Android tablet w/ flash side by side (I used a Transformer). Visit general web, searches, banking, investment, elearning, games and any other sites of interest.

You will find Flash is very much alive and well.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
mrxxxman 22nd Nov
@rdelfgou That's never been an issue. Everyone knows that Flash was not originally designed for mobile/low power devices, but since it was the most widely used protocol, it was adapted for the space.

Everyone accepts that Flash will eventually disappear from that space. The issue is the timing of when that will happen. Apple wanted to force the issue of abandoning Flash before users were ready. What users are saying is that they want a period of overlap where both HTML 5 and Flash co-exist. Once HTML 5 is more ubiquitous, Flash can die a quiet death.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
non-biased 28th Nov
@rhonin You may have found from your experience that Flash is very much alive and well and I will not dispute that. What I have found from my experience with the iPhone is that I have very little use for the web on my phone as the vast majority of times I have an app that gets me the info I am looking for far quicker than I could get it with a web browser, Flash or not.
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I use FF with Flash blocked by default and visit all kinds of sites
dderss 21st Nov
@rhonin: what do I miss, really?
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I have three I miss
rhonin 21st Nov
@dderss
For me and my kids: games and elearning sites. Some sites that provide Discovery type information have yet to convert from flash.

There are still some blogging and technology sites that still use flash (try CNET as an example - they have both Flash and some HTML5 that will not work on an iPad2).

Outsourced business activites - example: my busniess's HR activities are outsourced. All training and help functionalities make extensive use of flash. They do plan to convert to HTML5 by 2015.

There are more but these are the biggies that impact my activities I would use an iPad for.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
T-Wrench 22nd Nov
@dderss I AGREE 100% !
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
wright_is 21st Nov
@rhonin I haven't experienced any real difference between Android and iOS, regarding Flash.
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That can be true
rhonin 21st Nov
@wright_is

Depending on your persoanl use, you may not visit sites that utilize flash or may be unaware it is not visible on your iDevice or other non-flash device.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
non-biased 28th Nov
@rhonin In almost 4 years of being an iPhone user I can count on two hands, probably one actually, the number of times that the lack of Flash support was an annoyance let alone an actual issue.
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In case everyone forgot..
lenohere 21st Nov
Adobe has STOPPED developing flash for any FUTURE products and as far as I understand, ICS is a future product unless told otherwise. They will only support flash that is already out there and on current devices only by releasing patches or security fix.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
wright_is 21st Nov
@lenohere They have stopped developing the Flash PLAYER for MOBILE platforms.

The Player for the desktop will carry on as before.

That said, yes, I read their statement as ICS probably wouldn't be supported, because it hadn't been released at the time of the announcement.

Given the number of times I've used Flash my Android (0), I can't say I'll miss it.
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Check out the update
rhonin 21st Nov
@wright_is
'Adobe will release one more version of the Flash Player for mobile browsing, which will provide support for Android 4.0, and one more release of the Flash Linux Porting Kit - both expected to be released before the end of this year.
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You sure about that?
ScorpioBlue 21st Nov
The Player for the desktop will carry on as before.

@wright_is
For the most part, I doubt website developers will create two different versions of all those websites out there. A Flash version and a non-Flash version. It would double their costs.

No, it's gonna have to be something that's playable on both, like HTML5.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
wright_is 21st Nov
@ScorpioBlue apart from a lot of corporates are stuck on IE6/7, which means HTML5 is no an option.

It means a lot of sites will still need to be done twice, whether that means in HTML5 with clunker code inserted to get it to display on older versions of IE and Flash for multimedia, or an HTML5 and parallel a Flash site, it won't go away that quickly.

Also, with Flash tools being able to target Flash Player *and* HTML5, it makes dual sites a doddle, the HTML5 side might lose out on a bit of functionality to begin with, but for the dev, they can develop in Flash and not worry about which browser their visitors have.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
ScorpioBlue 22nd Nov
@ScorpioBlue apart from a lot of corporates are stuck on IE6/7, which means HTML5 is no an option.

Those browsers are near end of life support so they won't be around for much longer. I'd blame MS for that as much as the lazy corporates.

It means a lot of sites will still need to be done twice, whether that means in HTML5 with clunker code inserted to get it to display on older versions of IE and Flash for multimedia, or an HTML5 and parallel a Flash site, it won't go away that quickly.

Well then they'll have to pay twice now won't they?

Also, with Flash tools being able to target Flash Player *and* HTML5, it makes dual sites a doddle, the HTML5 side might lose out on a bit of functionality to begin with, but for the dev, they can develop in Flash and not worry about which browser their visitors have.

So what's the problem about ditching Flash here? Why is it everybody else is making it a big deal about Adobe ending development of it and you aren't? Hmmm?
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
wright_is 22nd Nov
@ScorpioBlue "So what's the problem about ditching Flash here? Why is it everybody else is making it a big deal about Adobe ending development of it and you aren't? Hmmm?"

You are mixing up two things here, the Mobile Flash Player and Flash the platform. Adobe are still pushing Flash, heavily, whether it is for the desktop player or using Air, native cross-compilation for the iPhone or generating HTML5 code, Flash is the tool which will do that.

That means, the developer develops in Adobe Flash, hits the button to generate a Flash object and hits the button to generate an HTML5 compatible site. All he has to do is add a bit of JavaScript in the page header to load the Flash object and ignore the rest of the HTML, if the incoming browser cannot cope with HTML5.

Many large corporates have invested too heavily in internal intranet based systems which are hard coded for IE6 to just abandon it, even if it is no longer supported.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
ScorpioBlue 23rd Nov
You are mixing up two things here, the Mobile Flash Player and Flash the platform. Adobe are still pushing Flash, heavily, whether it is for the desktop player or using Air, native cross-compilation for the iPhone or generating HTML5 code, Flash is the tool which will do that.

That means, the developer develops in Adobe Flash, hits the button to generate a Flash object and hits the button to generate an HTML5 compatible site. All he has to do is add a bit of JavaScript in the page header to load the Flash object and ignore the rest of the HTML, if the incoming browser cannot cope with HTML5.

Well then the Adobe fanboys have nothing to worry about, now do they? You should have told them all this 10 days ago when the status of Flash development was announced.

I never cared for Flash. It's buggy and even on desktops, it can be a strain with websites locking up all the time no matter which browser you used. I realize it's not going to go away anytime soon, but I for one would like to see a lot less Flash in the future.

Many large corporates have invested too heavily in internal intranet based systems which are hard coded for IE6 to just abandon it, even if it is no longer supported.

Well then that's gonna make them exposed to all kinds of vulnerabilities. They sound like the kind of cheap corporates I wouldn't want to work for. Even the place I work for has upped it to IE8 and FF 3.5
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Nope
wright_is 21st Nov
There again, of the top sites I am likely to visit on my 'phone, none of them use Flash, apart from advertising or the odd video - which I'm highly unlikely to bother watching whilst on the move anyway.
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Two sides on this
rhonin 21st Nov
@wright_is

WHile I may not utilize flash much on my phone, my tablet is a different issue.

I like my iPad2 for the smoothness of the interface.
I like my Transformer for it's full functionality.

Depending on the features in ICS, my iPad2 may be a family gift to someone.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
T-Wrench 22nd Nov
@rhonin Bull! All you ever do is trash the Ipad, and now you're trying to say you like it? What a liar!!!
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
Bates_ 21st Nov
"If you???re planning to grab a new Galaxy Nexus complete with the new Android 4.0 ???Ice Cream Sandwich??? then expect an Apple iOS-like experience as it will release without Flash support."

That's impossible, iOS is a solid stable OS, unlike the buggy crash-frenzy that is Android.
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Not my experience
wright_is 21st Nov
@Bates_ I have both here, I haven't experienced a single Android crash and I've had to restart the phone less often than my iPhone.

under iOS 4.3, the iPhone had a tendancy to corrupt my Audible collection, something which Android hasn't done, yet...
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Flash is on its way.
donnellb 21st Nov
This story should be updated.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/21/flash-for-android-not-quite-dead-yet-will-land-on-ice-cream-san/&category=classic&icid=eng_latest_art
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No big deal
theflash21 21st Nov
Apple has already destroyed the world of Flash (which is fine, I hate Flash) ... most web designers have already addressed their Flash-less visitors, so it will be less and less of an issue going forward. One more update is nice however, to "finalize" migration away from Flash.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
kevinvw2000 Updated - 21st Nov
saying that "I'm missing something because I don't have Flash" is as ignorant a statement as saying "I won't miss anything without Flash". Please, people, get over it. Flash is dead, but that doesn't mean it won't be missed. Some people never needed it and some people lived and died by it. I get annoyed all the time that my iPhone won't display Flash content. But that doesn't make me throw it out the window. I simply go to my PC if I absolutely need to visit a flash enabled site...
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
pldurand@... 21st Nov
Flash is EVERYWHERE. So, no flash, no buy.
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To be honest
Michael Alan Goff 21st Nov
I'd be alright if it didn't come, but it's cool if it does.
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You're confused.
tkejlboom 21st Nov
It's not about Flash. It was NEVER about Flash. It's about Apple telling me who I'm allowed to play with. It's about Apple thinking they are allowed to be in charge of my device. I get enough of that from the corporate IT department. I don't need it at home.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
ScorpioBlue Updated - 21st Nov
@tkejlboom
Then don't don't buy Apple. Good grief, is that so difficult?

Doh Doh
Clue? Clue?
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
T-Wrench 22nd Nov
@ScorpioBlue Yup, some people just can't handle it.
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RE: No Flash for Android 4.0 'Ice Cream Sandwich' just yet
jkohut 22nd Nov
While some others may not need it, being able to watch content on Comedy Central (DailyShow, Southpark, etc...) would be a big loss. I agree that things are likely moving toward HTML5, but guessing we won't significantly be there for 12 -18 months (too many older phones/devices that don't support HTML5 in a meaningful way yet.

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