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Adobe pulls the plug on iPhone, ceases all Flash and AIR development
It seems the camel's back has finally snapped: Adobe's Flash department has curtailed all Flash and AIR development for the iPhone OS platform. Citing the recent change in Apple's developer license, Adobe no longer believes the iPad or iPhone to be a safe or worthwhile investment. The ability to target iPhone and iPad in Flash CS5 will still exist, but no further work will be made by Adobe to update or support that feature.I hope Apple and the Great Jobs knows what they're doing. Such movement by Adobe is indicative of a much greater problem: a lack of trust in the Apple platform. Mike Chambers, Adobe big-wig and master of all things Flash, speaks frankly on this blog about the atrocious state of affairs: "I think that the closed system that Apple is trying to create is bad for the industry, developers and ultimately consumers, and that is not something that I want to actively promote... We are at the beginning of a significant change in the industry, and I believe that ultimately open platforms will win out over the type of closed, locked down platform that Apple is trying to create."
It's good news for everyone else that hasn't chomped down on Apple's red pill though! Adobe has now shifted its efforts towards Android and the upcoming Android-based tablets. Both Flash Player 10.1 beta and Adobe AIR 2.0 beta for Android will soon be available. Chambers also mentions, no doubt with a slightly smug twinkle, that iPhone developers are having absolutely no problem porting their Flash apps to Android, or indeed every other mobile platform that supports Flash -- in fact, they don't even need porting. Cross-platform compatibility, gentlemen, is a good thing.
Comments
23
Subscribe to commentsothernetApr 21st 2010 10:41PM
Give me a break! All this Adobe whining that they can't play in iPhone's playground is bad for "us"? I don't see a short of great apps in the current iPhone ecosystem without Flash. As for Flash coming into the system and increasing developer options? What? More fart apps?
And for those whining about closed systems... to paraphrase Jobs, "what's the big deal?" You buy Palm and it runs WebOS. You buy WinMobile and it runs Win Phone 7. You buy Verizon, you get Verizon network. You buy a seat on JetBlue, you get JetBlue routes.
Aren't those a closed system either? And to paraphrase Jobs again, "get over it!"
JordanApr 22nd 2010 12:55PM
People expect some level of closed-ness, but not the amount that Apple is requiring. If Jobs wants that much control over everything I do and tells me to "get over it", I will tell him to "fuck off".
othernetApr 23rd 2010 12:11AM
Well, I am sure Jobs would have dropped a few F bombs before, but I can paraphrase him since it hasn't been officially published. But you are right. The beauty of democracy (and options) is if you feel Apple is so controlling you that you need to eff them, you should. So, to a hypothetical paraphrase from Jobs, yes please do "fuck off".