Whether it made you weep or shout with glee, you’ve undoubtedly heard the buzz – Adobe Flash, longtime king of video and animation, has pulled the plug on the mobile market. The change comes as a reaction to the switch to HTML5, which will soon be nearly universal and offers consumers a better experience. Still, there are many customers sad to see the old standby go.

Adobe Flash

Some industry forecasters are seeing recent events as the end of the Flash era. Although desktop PCs and laptops will still use the platform, as of August 15th no new upgrades or installs were available for Android users. Pulling out of Google Play and avoiding upgrades on existing models leaves Flash without a huge 85% piece of the mobile market. A few Blackberry models still support it, and existing users will be able to receive updates, but that’s the end of the road. Apple has long been avoiding Flash.

What if You Still Have Adobe Flash?

Android users who still have and use Flash on their mobile phones are understandably confused by the decision. If you’re one of them, there are a few things this change means for you.

No new installations or upgrades are allowed anymore – no questions asked. The app is forever gone from the Google Play store. You will continue to receive updates (how long is unclear). No new phones will be shipped with Flash capabilities. As more users purchase and upgrade to handsets featuring Android Jelly Bean, this will become less of an issue as consumers become familiar with HTML5.

If you currently have an Android handset with Flash, which includes platforms from the prehistoric but delicious Eclair to the still-fresh Ice Cream Sandwich, you’re in a bit of a limbo period. Users aren’t expected to see any performance issues, but as technology speeds ahead, you’ll undoubtedly be ready for the full switch to HTML5.

If you’re attached to Adobe Flash, and believe us, we know the feeling, it’s important to remember this – do not upgrade. By upgrading your handset to Jelly Bean, you will be disabling Flash forever. Personally, we wish there was a bit more wiggle room on this one, but there isn’t – sorry, folks. You can upgrade to Jelly Bean or you can keep Flash, but you can’t have both.

Should You Switch?

Despite some issues and Steve Jobs strict avoidance of the platform, we’re sticking with Flash as long as we can. Not necessarily because it’s the best, but because it’s familiar and there are still plenty of HTML5 kinks to be worked out. We’ve traditionally been against early adopting, and this is no exception – let somebody else pull their hair out dealing with HTML5′s growing pains, then switch over when everything’s running smoothly. Given the rush and hype surrounding the entire issue, we’re sure that it won’t take long.

Update…
Within minutes of writing the above I came across an article on another well established tech blog entitled Adobe Flash Still Runs On Jelly Bean, With A Little Work so maybe if your a little technical and know your way around an APK file there is the possibility of getting Adobe Flash to work on Jelly Bean.

Give it a go and let us know how you got on!


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