Why no Flash or Java on WP?

[johnmcd348]

OK, this has been an minor annoyance to me since moving out from WM, but it was something that I was pretty well able to deal with. Today though, was kinda my last straw I think.

I really wanted to see Felix Baumgartner jump from 120,000ft to break the high altitude and speed record. I downloaded the RedBullTV app from the marketplace but alas, unlike the Droid and iOS app, it did not allow for watching the live feed. I searched YouTube and found nothing. The only way to watch it for me today was my phone and I needed Java in order to watch it. Thanks to Windows lack of support, I was unable to view a very historic event.

I know that HTML5 is supposedly the next, newest, bestest way to do thing on the web and everybody is going to move to it in place of Flash and Java, ad nauseum. But, it seems the WWW has not gotten this message and have still been programming in ways that are not functionally viable for our phones. Will WP8 begin to bring this back into the realm of reason since it is based on the old Desktop kernel?

This, to me is just unacceptable. Yes it's a geeky kind of rant but I cannot believe I am the only one who feels this way(other than the trolls who just look for a reason to complain).

OK, rant over. I'll get over it eventually. Hopefully my DVR caught the telecast so I can watch it when I get through at work.

 

[zeronoise]

Adobe themselves have dropped flash support from mobile devices so there's no way we'll be seeing flash for any mobile platforms. As for java I seriously doubt that oracle has a java platform in development for mobile devices. The desktop version of either will not work bc they are designed for x86 and most mobile devices use arm

 

[johnmcd348]

Back in the days of WM devices, I had Java and Flash on my Axims and iPaqs and I really don't recall having the issue with my TP2.

 

[zeronoise]

back then adobe(and macromedia) supported the mobile platform. The only reason iphone didn't have it was because apple said no. Since then adobe has dropped support. I don't know what the story on java is

 

[VagrantWade]

Pretty soon noone will use flash;

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

 

[jdevenberg]

Adobe pulled Flash from the Android Market, so now it isn't available on any mobile platforms. Even if you went and bought a brand new Android today, you couldn't download it. This seems like it was a very specific/rare problem. I have never gone to a webpage on my phone and needed Java. Flash yes, but those sites are getting fewer and further between.

 

[articandy97]

You know, I agree 100% w/ JohnMcD348... I was up on National and Local Weather Forecast, Hurricane, Radar and Report, and I saw the ad for the live stream of the man that was sky-jumping. Naturally, I pressed on it. Then what happens??? A big box pops up saying "you do not have flash player downloaded onto your device. Your device isn't comparable with adobe flash." man was I pis**d

 

[jdevenberg]

I really don't see why people are ticked at MS when a big event like this uses flash. The IT guys in charge of the stream know a few facts:
1. More people are relying on mobile devices for their web connection and videos than ever before
2. No mobile platform supports Flash. Not a single one
3. Adobe doesn't make Flash for mobile devices any more
Yet they choose Flash knowing all of that. How is that MS, Apple, or Google's fault? People doing the web streams for these sorts of events should use a mobile compatible standard. If you're mad at anyone, it should be the IT guys that put together the web stream.

 

[articandy97]

I gotta give it to you, you bring a valid point to the table. They really should know by now that everyone is looking at stuff on the go. Whomever deals w/ building these sites with flash-requirements ought to know that by know. Someone should have a serious sit-down with the head-honchos, and fix this mess. I mean, YouTube seems to be the only web streaming site that's got it together.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Flash needs to die completely, including on the desktop. It is nothing but a resource hog and security problem.

The real problem is lazy web developers who have not transitioned sites from Flash to HTML5. It is not the fault of Microsoft, Google or Apple.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I have a friend who has a Mac. I also happen to run Linux more than I run Windows.

My friend was complaining that his Mac was running slow. I told him to open the terminal and check "top" to see what process was hogging his system. The culprit was Adobe Flash.

 

[articandy97]

My thoughts exactly. But you know why they won't squash Flash? Think about it. If everyone just used their cell phones to go online, and everything else, then there wouldn't be much market for desktop computers! That way, when you do want to watch a live stream, or anything, well, you gotta go on your computer. That's all it pretty much is. Otherwise, when Apple came out with the first iPhone, or windows came out with their first phone, or whatever, flash woulda been history. The The only thing that gets me is: My brothers android powered phone can watch pretty much anything online, even if it is flash. Why doesn't Microsoft build offa that? Or apple? Or anyone who makes the sites???

 

[Laura Knotek]

My thoughts exactly. But you know why they won't squash Flash? Think about it. If everyone just used their cell phones to go online, and everything else, then there wouldn't be much market for desktop computers! That way, when you do want to watch a live stream, or anything, well, you gotta go on your computer. That's all it pretty much is. Otherwise, when Apple came out with the first iPhone, or windows came out with their first phone, or whatever, flash woulda been history. The The only thing that gets me is: My brothers android powered phone can watch pretty much anything online, even if it is flash. Why doesn't Microsoft build offa that? Or apple? Or anyone who makes the sites???

Your brother obviously is not running the latest version of Android. Flash is no longer supported in Jelly Bean.

As more people adopt mobile devices, rather than desktop PCs, web developers will have to change their sites from Flash to HTML5.

Flash will be dead eventually. How long it takes until it meets its demise is another question. Flash Player demise on desktop inevitable, but years away, say analysts - Computerworld

 

[jdevenberg]

People on versions if Android earlier than 4.1 who downloaded flash before it was pulled by adobe on August 15, can still use it. Anyone on the newest Android out who didn't have flash intakes on August 15 cannot use flash

 

[articandy97]

Well, what an article... The kicker was this, though:

"As the market moves to HTML5, the Flash [Player] runtime will have to transition, too," said Al Hilwa, an analyst at IDC. "And that's exactly what they're doing, trying to transition from Flash to HTML5. But transition is always disruptive."
Keeping Flash Player alive on the desktop will "work for a while," said Valdes, but eventually it too will be supplanted by HTML5, the loose collection of standards that let browsers render the kind of sophisticated content now relegated to Flash.
"Flash Player won't go away anytime soon," argued Valdes. "But HTML5 is the future of the Web."
That future will be years down the road, Valdes and Hilwa predicted.
Looking at the trend lines and the accelerated pace of HTML5 adoption by browsers and websites, Hilwa estimated that it will take until 2015 before 90% of desktop browsers are HTML5-capable.
"On the desktop, the need for a Flash browser plug-in continues," said Hilwa. "I see it continuing until 2014 or 2015, depending on how Windows 8 takes off and how touch-based interfaces compete against traditional desktop interfaces."
Microsoft, for one, has already said it will block the Flash Player plug-in from being installed on the touch edition of Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) within next year's Windows 8.[/HL]
Yah know, the feeling that I get from this article is that everyone wouldn't really be too sad if adobe flash disappeared, but they are scared what it would do to them. I mean, come on, even Microsoft is blocking it? Now that's pretty sad. They should just, like, make a whole nother version of flash, one that is comparable with everything, any OS, Any mobile platform, anything. But who knows.

 

[Laura Knotek]

It wouldn't hurt Adobe if Flash Player were discontinued. Adobe makes lots of money on PhotoShop, Dreamweaver and other really expensive software.

 

[articandy97]

Oh, how truly right you are. My college classes can't afford the dang stuff, because it costs too much. So, you probably right on that one.

 

[articandy97]

I just skimmed through this article, but it looks like they are already coming up with other 'flash' players...and cross platforms, too:
10 HTML5 Video Players as Alternatives to Flash Player | Template Monster Blog

 

[mmacleodbrown]

It is the same for most people Im afraid, my missus couldn't watch it on her Nexus7 as flash isn't supported in Jellybean. We are in that transition phase where we are waiting for HTML 5 to catch up and for webmasters to recode their apps. It is the same for bbc iplayer in the UK which is very popular and still flashed based, they are planning to do something about it, but these things take time..

 

[articandy97]

yea, but it is time that we don't have. everyone is doing their own thing, and they want to be able to watch what they want to watch, without having to go to a desktop computer. In my opinion, it is truly ridiculous that we can't. i'm telling you, someone is gonna come up with a fast but simple solution, and adobe is gonna be kicking themselves in the a** for not thinking about it.