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Chrome for Android will not support Flash, ever

By on February 8, 2012 at 8:51am in Mobile News


In a move no one didn’t see coming, Adobe has confirmed that Android’s new hot browser, Chrome, will not support Flash. Ever.

It’s not surprising considering that the company has ceased development of the mobile plug-in, and is only supporting it on an as-needed bug fix basis. While the regular Ice Cream Sandwich browser will continue to support Flash, it seems that future versions of Android will not be so lucky. Instead it will focus on improving HTML5 support through the WebKit standard, like what iOS is doing with the Safari Mobile browser.

In another development, it would seem that Google will integrating Chrome for Android into future versions of the operating system, but as a stand-alone “Google App” and not as a part of the core operating system. This could mean that users building Android from source, via the Android Open Source Project, could be without a stock browser unless they have access to the “GAPPS” bundle that comes with Marketplace certification.

Source: Adobe
Via: The Verge

Related posts:

  1. Adobe Flash and AIR support coming to Galaxy Nexus by year’s end
  2. Adobe Flash arrives for Android 4.0 and the Galaxy Nexus
  3. Hands-on with the Chrome for Android beta (Video)
  4. Update: Adobe to stop future development of Flash for mobile

Discussion

23 comments for “Chrome for Android will not support Flash, ever”

  1. Really glad we’re moving away from flash.
    More-so though, I’m just glad that Chrome will be on Android, even if it’s only on ICS right now.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 1

    Posted by Rich | February 8, 2012, 9:06 am
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  2. Not terribly surprising. Flash is a dead end, at this point, with everyone throwing support to HTML5.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Dan | February 8, 2012, 9:06 am
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  3. I guess I can live without Flash, but the times when I need to such as visiting actiontrip.com (gaming website), I just use the stock browser on Android or Dolphin in desktop mode which works even great.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0

    Posted by EmperumanV | February 8, 2012, 9:07 am
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  4. Okay, here goes my rant on mobile Flash…

    I was a bit shocked when Adobe announced that they were discontinuing mobile Flash. I knew that it was coming, but not so soon. HTML5 definitely does have its advantages, it’s an open standard, and unlike Flash, its code isn’t extremely long and cumbersome. HTML5 definitely is the future, but for right now, Flash still has a huge place in both the desktop and mobile market.

    90% of the graphic intensive sites on the web right now are based off of Flash. Sure, some of the sites have begun to make the switch, but many haven’t created an HTML5 version of their site yet. You could argue that you don’t need Flash because lots of graphic heavy content can be accessed through its dedicated app, but many sites still don’t have an Android or iOS app, and must be accessed through the browser. Another example where Flash can come in handy, is a Flash game that isn’t in the Android Market or App Store, or perhaps a Flash video that couldn’t be played otherwise.

    My HP TouchPad plays Flash pretty well, and although I’d rather use the faster and all around better HTML5, the majority of the web hasn’t yet switched over. I watch TV and movies online with my TouchPad using Flash player every day, because those sites don’t support HTML5 or don’t have a dedicated app on any platform. Don’t get me wrong, I like HTML5, but it’s simply not time to totally toss Flash out the window.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 21 Thumb down 2

    Posted by EvanK | February 8, 2012, 9:09 am
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    • I agree 100% – Yes, it would be great if everybody adopted HTML5 tomorrow and we never had to use flash again, but realistically we’re going to be stuck with it for quite some time to come. And the discontinued support for it is really quite baffling to me.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

      Posted by Ryan | February 9, 2012, 3:35 pm

  5. I’ve had surprisingly good experience with Mobile Flash on both Android and the BB Playbook, so this kinda sucks. I hope that the Flash sites I currently view support HTML5.

    So this basically means that when my RAZR is upgraded to 4.0 (ahem, any time now Moto) I will lose Flash? will the Stock Browser support Flash? Seems like a bit of a downer…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1

    Posted by JB | February 8, 2012, 9:12 am
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    • I’m guessing that you’ll get support in the stock browser and most 3rd party browsers, but not in Chrome.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0

      Posted by EvanK | February 8, 2012, 9:16 am

    • Your not loosing flash support in ICS (Android 4.0), your also NOT loosing the default browser. Chrome is still in Beta right now. I’m pretty sure there will be a couple versions of ICS at least before the Chrome Browser is ready for prime time. There is even a good chance that it won’t get bundled till Jellybean.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0

      Posted by Orillian | February 8, 2012, 12:12 pm

  6. We’ll see about that.
    I don’t see Adobe not supporting Flash on tablets and TVs… if so, why Adobe is still developing Flash for “desktop”?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1

    Posted by Mathieu | February 8, 2012, 9:16 am
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  7. Not a huge concern for me. If I encounter a website that has flash, and I *really* want to see it, I’ll just use one of the several other browsers (stock, Dolphin, etc…) that support flash.

    This will likely become more uncommon as time goes on, as flash content slowly decreases over time. So all in all, not that big of a deal. We still have options to view Flash content, even if it requires another browser.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0

    Posted by MXM4K | February 8, 2012, 9:37 am
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  8. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 24

    Posted by Alex | February 8, 2012, 10:03 am
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  9. “This could mean that users building Android from source, via the Android Open Source Project, could be without a stock browser unless they have access to the “GAPPS” bundle that comes with Marketplace certification.”

    Note that Chrome too is open source. Actually, I believe that the only part of Chrome that wasn’t open source was Flash…

    People are free to do anything they want with Chrome browser or OS.

    So, it would be a separate build process, but the people who distribute AOSP could bundle Chrome with it.

    That’s one reason that WebM was important – so they could have something open-source and freely distributable that even included codecs.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 2

    Posted by Tom | February 8, 2012, 10:18 am
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  10. Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 15

    Posted by sakuman | February 8, 2012, 10:23 am
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    • @sakuman WP7 has never had Flash support, and likely never will.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 2

      Posted by daguy | February 8, 2012, 10:42 am

  11. hahahah. and I laugh and I continue to laugh.. All of the Droid Monkeys loved Flash. Oh how could Apple Cripple their devices and leave Flash Out. We welcome all you ex Flash addicts. HTML. Ill hand out your 30-60-90 day Flash anonymous Fobs…lol

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 15

    Posted by mike | February 8, 2012, 10:42 am
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  12. I never had any battery or other problems with flash video on my Samsung Omnia 2

    FUk APple and their fascious ways

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 6

    Posted by hobo_life_engadget | February 8, 2012, 10:45 am
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  13. Without Flash on so many new devices, hopefully this will give the push everyone needed to pursue HTML5.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2

    Posted by Quinn | February 8, 2012, 10:51 am
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  14. Flash support is still a must for me at this point. So I won’t use any browser that doesn’t support flash.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1

    Posted by Gort911 | February 8, 2012, 11:59 am
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  15. So because one browser in beta testing, avaliable on only 1% of the phones, sates intentions to no longer support flash, you guys start laughing that you killed mobile flash?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1

    Posted by annon | February 8, 2012, 12:42 pm
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  16. @daguy, no kidding? I had no idea (insert sarcastic eye roll). The only reason I had android was for flash support. A windows phone running a 1ghz 512 ram runs much smoother than any android I’ve tried. If I have to choose between phones that DO NOT support flash I would choose WP7. That should have been somewhat clear for the average person to undertand from my previous post.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 3

    Posted by sakuman | February 8, 2012, 1:44 pm
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  17. You can still use flash on other Android browsers, so relax.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Erik | February 9, 2012, 10:45 pm
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  18. I’m using Chrome Beta right now and my only major objection with it is that I can’t save pages. This wouldn’t be as much of a problem if it would keep loaded tabs in memory but this browser like most requires frequent reloading (for unclear reasons… sometimes one can exit the browser and come back without having to reload but often not).

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Brian Dell | February 11, 2012, 5:35 pm
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  19. that we don’t all bfneeit from the large install base of standards-based Android browsers (ignoring their support for Flash!) compared to the horror that was IE on the desktop. Microsoft was able to stall development of the

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0

    Posted by Vido | February 23, 2012, 3:57 pm
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