Should Windows Phone support Adobe Flash?

[bilzkh]

Microsoft could enable Flash for white-listed websites, e.g. cable network websites and other legitimate and verified content.

 

[z33dev33l]

Microsoft could enable Flash for white-listed websites, e.g. cable network websites and other legitimate and verified content.

Except Adobe won't support it and like someone stated, Flash is back doored monthly.

 

[T Moore]

When did Adobe stop with mobile flash? Long ago.
It is an Adobe product. No one else can or will do mobile flash.

 

[bilzkh]

Except Adobe won't support it and like someone stated, Flash is back doored monthly.

Hmm... Metro IE has Flash built into it, I believe it's updated/maintained by Microsoft. There's a black-list for barring malicious content. Why would this solution be a problem for Windows Phone when Microsoft's other ARM product (Windows RT) has it? Is there any proof to suggest that the IE Metro has opened Windows RT to critical security problems?

 

[anon(7900571)]

flash always crashed my ie 11 on my windows 8.1 machine ,I compared the cpu usage from task manager and the results were :- when the flash was turned on cpu usage was at 88-95% with ram almost 70% used (just playing a video from YouTube in ie 11) , when I disabled it and turned on html5 from YouTube settings the results were :- cpu usage 35-40% , ram usage 40% , flash player is a resource hog and windows update keeps on throwing flash layer updates every month .
conclusion :- I don't want a buggy , outdated/not supported feature on my windows phone , even apple (ios) does not flash player , they discontinued it in 2009 I believe.

 

[bilzkh]

flash always crashed my ie 11 on my windows 8.1 machine ,I compared the cpu usage from task manager and the results were :- when the flash was turned on cpu usage was at 88-95% with ram almost 70% used (just playing a video from YouTube in ie 11) , when I disabled it and turned on html5 from YouTube settings the results were :- cpu usage 35-40% , ram usage 40% , flash player is a resource hog and windows update keeps on throwing flash layer updates every month .
conclusion :- I don't want a buggy , outdated/not supported feature on my windows phone , even apple (ios) does not flash player , they discontinued it in 2009 I believe.

I never had any problems using Flash on IE Metro with my Surface Pro *nor* with my Surface 2.

 

[anon(7900571)]

I never had any problems using Flash on IE Metro with my Surface Pro *nor* with my Surface 2.

you have a surface pro 2 ( a beast in specs) but I have a 2009 , dual core processor with 2 gb ram

 

[TechAbstract]

I hope IE11 on WP8.1 has Flash built in. The reason my sister is using Surface over iPad because IE in Windows RT has built in Flash. Wouldn't hurt to have an option to it turn on or off.

 

[maclancer]

I hope IE11 on WP8.1 has Flash built in. The reason my sister is using Surface over iPad because IE in Windows RT has built in Flash. Wouldn't hurt to have an option to it turn on or off.

I doubt that Windows Phone 8.1 will come with flash. Not single smartphone out there support flash (Android, iOS and Windows Phone)

 

[bilzkh]

you have a surface pro 2 ( a beast in specs) but I have a 2009 , dual core processor with 2 gb ram

Then I'm not sure how your example is relevant. To be honest, if we are going to compare fairly, then wouldn't ARM-based Windows RT devices be a closer measure? After all, they're closest to Windows Phone (same CPU architecture, OS built on ARM, etc). Yes, the 1st gen Surface RT has problems with IE Metro, but we can't pin it to just Flash, what about the fact that Surface RT is just an underpowered machine? Even Office would give Surface RT some trouble, it doesn't mean Office is inherently bad. As far as I stand, right now, I'm having zero problems with my Surface 2 with Flash on IE Metro.

Let's not skirt around and dismiss Flash. The *REALITY* is that Microsoft has produced a solution for ARM-based devices via Metro Internet Explorer. With up-to-date hardware, it seems to work just fine. Moreover, opponents to this idea have yet to produce any evidence indicating that Flash on IE Metro has resulted in malware, corruption, etc. on Windows RT machines.

If Windows RT machines (with current hardware) aren't exhibiting any problems due to Flash on IE Metro, then on what grounds are we dismissing a similar solution on another Windows on ARM product, i.e. Windows Phone?

Honestly, I just think Microsoft should give people the *option.* It should be a thing we can enable/disable via some Settings tab or something, but added options won't hurt.

 

[unstoppablekem]

Wait, doesn't BlackBerry 10 have an option for Flash in their browser? And wasn't the BB10 browser the fastest in HTML5 tests? So flash slowing down the phone makes no sense, if BB10 still has the fastest mobile browser and it has flash enabled.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Wait, doesn't BlackBerry 10 have an option for Flash in their browser? And wasn't the BB10 browser the fastest in HTML5 tests? So flash slowing down the phone makes no sense, if BB10 still has the fastest mobile browser and it has flash enabled.

BlackBerry used to be the most secure platform too. However, this might not be the case with Adobe Flash vulnerabilities. BlackBerry 10 Haunted by Adobe Flash Vulnerabilities | SecurityWeek.Com

 

[bilzkh]

BlackBerry used to be the most secure platform too. However, this might not be the case with Adobe Flash vulnerabilities. BlackBerry 10 Haunted by Adobe Flash Vulnerabilities | SecurityWeek.Com

This is the first sentence in the article, don't you think Microsoft's whitelist (or blacklist) efforts (with IE Metro) help prevent this? What if Flash on WP only worked with legitimate content providers such as television networks, e.g. CBS? Or the current solution with IE on Windows 8.1 where a number of sites are blacklisted and prevented from fully working on the Metro browser?

"According to a BlackBerry advisory, a malicious hacker could booby-trap Adobe Flash content and lure users into visiting rigged Web pages or downloading Adobe Air applications."

 

[Laura Knotek]

This is the first sentence in the article, don't you think Microsoft's whitelist (or blacklist) efforts (with IE Metro) help prevent this? What if Flash on WP only worked with legitimate content providers such as television networks, e.g. CBS? Or the current solution with IE on Windows 8.1 where a number of sites are blacklisted and prevented from fully working on the Metro browser?

It's too easy for hackers to impersonate legitimate sites. I doubt if Microsoft would be able to keep up with all potential vulnerabilities if Adobe Flash were enabled on all devices. It would turn into a "whack-a-mole" type scenario, trying to stay one step ahead of the hackers.

 

[bilzkh]

It's too easy for hackers to impersonate legitimate sites. I doubt if Microsoft would be able to keep up with all potential vulnerabilities if Adobe Flash were enabled on all devices. It would turn into a "whack-a-mole" type scenario, trying to stay one step ahead of the hackers.

That's possible, but has it happened against Microsoft's model on Windows RT?

 

[Laura Knotek]

That's possible, but has it happened against Microsoft's model on Windows RT?

That might be due to the low market share of RT. There was basically no malware for OS X either, until Flashback trojan in 2012. That was mostly because Mac OS X had such little market share that it wasn't worthwhile for hackers to exploit.

 

[bilzkh]

That might be due to the low market share of RT. There was basically no malware for OS X either, until Flashback trojan in 2012. That was mostly because Mac OS X had such little market share that it wasn't worthwhile for hackers to exploit.

But there are always people doing something, even for the sake of just exploring for vulnerabilities and reporting them back to Microsoft. We hear about it with Windows Phone, so why would Windows RT be different? In fact, it's not just RT, but wouldn't those vulnerabilities leak over to Windows 8 proper because IE Metro is delivered on every Windows 8 tablet/laptop/all-in-one?

 

[Laura Knotek]

But there are always people doing something, even for the sake of just exploring for vulnerabilities and reporting them back to Microsoft. We hear about it with Windows Phone, so why would Windows RT be different? In fact, it's not just RT, but wouldn't those vulnerabilities leak over to Windows 8 proper because IE Metro is delivered on every Windows 8 tablet/laptop/all-in-one?

Windows 8/8.1 x86/x64 has basically the same vulnerabilities as Windows 7/Server/etc. No, it is not as vulnerable as XP. However, each Patch Tuesday Security Bulletin generally has patches for almost identical things in all supported forms of Windows (desktop/server).

 

[yehuda92]

Looks to me like Flash gets back-doored monthly.

Zing!

 

[Steve Adams]

I think WP should have flash support. There is no movement in the general public to sway from flash on websites unlike the magical fairy land that apple lives in where the future is html5. That may be in like ten years. Right now most sites are useless on mobile platforms except android. You can still download flash support for it. Please WP add flash support.