Adobe recently announced that it is halting any future development for the mobile Flash Player. The company has stated that it intends to focus on its AIR-based and HTML5 apps for the smartphone market. Work will still continue though on the conventional Flash Player for PCs.
Market analysts are now predicting that this is a sign of the beginning of the end for the Flash Player. The smartphone market is where all the action is. Billions of dollars are made from developments for smartphones and this keeps the technology fresh and evolving at a phenomenal rate. With the Flash Player out of this dynamic marketplace it is only a matter of time before it fades away.
Desktop Computing
Although people still use the desktop for everyday computing, this marketplace just doesn’t have the same drive as the smartphone or notepad market.
- When you look at a PC you can see that there hasn’t really been any significant new developments for a number of years.
- All the real innovation is now in the smartphone and mobile device market and this means many applications that were once king on the PC are now getting left behind.
- By leaving the Flash Player out of their smartphone development line-up Adobe are effectively wiping it off their drawing boards.
- Mobile devices and desktop functions are rapidly becoming more and more synchronized. With the iPad and Android supporting a greater range of PC hardware and software, the traditional PC could become more or less obsolete in the next 5 to 10 years.
- It is unlikely that the desktop Flash Player will be able to compete with future applications that have had the benefit of intense consumer driven development.
No Future for Flash
Adobe are trying in vain to portray a positive outlook for the Flash Player over the next few years. The company has stated that the desktop version will see improvements with HD 3D video and fast play gaming. However these features are already available on the HTML5 and AIR-based apps for smartphones. If Flash Player cannot bring anything new to the table then it will quickly be ousted by higher-performing alternatives.
- Windows 8 is due for release in the next 12 months and sources are saying that the touch-friendly version will not even allow compatibility with the Flash Player.
- With Windows still dominating the global market for operating systems this would deal a severe blow to any investment in the development of Flash.
- This could be one of the compelling reasons why Adobe have taken a step back from Flash and started focusing on their more ‘future-proof’ alternatives.
By abandoning the Flash Player from the smartphone development market Adobe has effectively stunted its future.The Flash Player has become part of our daily routine for some years, but now it looks as though this familiar app no longer has what it takes.
Want to learn more?
If you’d like to become an expert in UX Design, Design Thinking, UI Design, or another related design topic, then consider to take an online UX course from the Interaction Design Foundation. For example, Design Thinking, Become a UX Designer from Scratch, Conducting Usability Testing or User Research – Methods and Best Practices. Good luck on your learning journey!
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