Remember the time when Steve Jobs addressed all the critics regarding his reasons behind iOS’s lack of Adobe Flash support? This gave open Web standards like JavaScript, CSS and even HTML5 a huge leg up and after Adobe removed its Flash Player app from the Android Market, it appeared as if Steve was right – Flash doesn’t simply belong on mobile devices. But with more people using iPad devices and modern Android tablets to browse the Internet, would it be wise to focus more developer resources on HTML5 then Flash? Before that question gets answered, let’s check out some of the current facts related to Adobe Flash right now.
- Adobe Flash Player for Windows and Mac continues to developed (currently version 12 at the time of writing).
- Adobe Flash is still a key part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite.
- Sites that live and breathe Flash content like Newgrounds and Congregate are still alive and booming.
- Most of the highly animated and interactive advertisements and games are powered by Flash.
- Many sites including YouTube still offer Flash support for video streaming.
- Flash has its offline uses too.
On a developer’s standpoint, Adobe Flash should really be a last resort if a strong combination of CSS, JavaScript and HTML5 cannot do the job. It isn’t enough though to consider Flash as a dead platform because HTML5 still hasn’t reached recommendation status and support can vary depending on your Web browser. Just remember that Flash content will most probably never be seen on an iPad so it is important that you don’t use Flash to develop key elements like splash screens and navigation menus. Once you mastered these open standards, you can optionally dive into Adobe Flash Professional CC and take advantage of extra HTML5 implementation features.