∞ Apple fires back at Adobe in Flash debate

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Adobe on Tuesday said it would abandon efforts to allow developers to create iPhone apps in Flash CS5 because Apple essentially banned developers from using the technology. However, Apple fired back on Wednesday, making its position perfectly clear.

“Someone has it backwards — it is HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and H.264 (all supported by the iPhone and iPad) that are open and standard, while Adobe’s Flash is closed and proprietary,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said in a statement.

Adobe’s Mike Chambers said while the feature will ship with CS5, the company is “not currently planning any additional investments in that feature.” Adobe is convinced that Apple will reject any apps created with its technology and believes any apps that have been accepted will be removed from the App Store.

Apple has said all along it didn’t believe Flash was a good mobile technology and resisted supporting it since the first iPhone was released.

As part of its promotion of the iPad, Apple has even gone so far as to promote Web sites that use HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript, showing users what can be done with open technologies.


  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Adobephile Adobephile

    It makes total sense to me that Apple is maintaining positive control over the development of the third-party software which runs on its products. They have absolutely no obligation to accommodate interlopers in order to appear "fair." What IS fair is Apple's iPhone developer program which offers yet a lot of freedom within its defined boundaries for developers to be creative and to make some decent money, all while enhancing the value and desirability of its products.

  • Eric

    I can’t help but think we are the losers in this fight. I understand Apple’s position on the issue – I think. But I also think Adobe has a point as well. There are things Flash can do that HTML/CSS3/Javascript can’t do.

    On the other hand, Cocoa and XCode can do way more than Flash could ever dream of doing. Apple loses if Adobe wins. Adobe doesn’t lose if Apple wins. They just switch to different tools for the web that are already in place. Dreamweaver/Illustrator/Photoshop all fit into this picture.

    This is really a good take on the topic:

    http://counternotions.com/2010/04/22/google-flash/

    • http://twitter.com/daveedvdv @daveedvdv

      "There are things Flash can do that HTML/CSS3/Javascript can't do. "

      Anything in particular? (A sincere question. I suspect you may be right, but I just don't know. The Flash applications I've used lately seemed well within the abilities of H5+C3+JS though.)

      • huxley

        The welcome animation for Safari 4 is a good example of some of the fancy things you can do with HTML5+CSS3+Javascript … since the scripting language for Flash is ActionScript which is based on Javascript/ECMAScript, it's hard to believe there will be much that Flash can do that HTML5+CSS3+Javascript can't, especially once IE9 and IE10 start wearing away at the legacy versions of IE.

        If Adobe actually cleaned up the code mess that Flash has become it might be able to leapfrog web standards, but my confidence in Adobe (aside from some of their Photoshop people) is pretty darn low.

      • Ron

        Just off the top of my head:
        - Font independence (flash files are not dependent on fonts in the user's system)
        - Size vector animations are many, many times smaller than pixel animation
        - Write once, play anywhere (you don't have to worry about which browsers support what and how they might render a file – it looks exactly the same on all browsers)
        - File sizes – if a file is done in vector the size will be many times smaller than a pixel based file
        - File management – one file can contain the whole ad/animation/site/etc. instead of multiple folders and files any of which are hackable.
        - Mature development environment. There is no HTML5 development tool or app that comes within a mile of Flash in terms of ease of use. Time=money.

        Those are just for starters – haven't even touched on effects, animation tools, etc. etc. Always take with a bucket of salt those who say that HTML5 can take the place of Flash. Flash is more than just videos – it just happens to be the most high profile part.

  • Ruben munoz

    Why is everyone talking about Flash on the iPhone when there are no other smart phones that are running Flash yet? Why can't a company control what is used to develope and what iapps are run on thier system just like the xBox, PS3 and Wii? They charge you more than 99/yr and absoluty tell you what to do.

  • Dru Richman

    I find it interesting that Adobe is bemoaning the fact that they have to play by Apple's rules if they want to sell their products in Apple's store.

    Years ago Adobe made a poor business decision – writing off Apple as dead and moving their focus to the Windows platform – and they're making another one now. It is, however, reassuring that Adobe and it's cadre of Flash programmers can afford to walk away from 100 million potential customers. Only time will tell if that decision is the correct one.

    Daring Fireball says: Whether you agree with Apple’s steadfast refusal to allow Flash on its mobile devices, the lack of Flash doesn’t appear to be hurting Apple device sales. Even without Flash support, Apple recently reported it has sold a total of 50 million iPhones and in only a few days, 500,000 iPads, not to mention a vast number of iPod touch devices (85 million). Some consumers do refuse to buy a Flash-less Apple device, but I’d wager that they’re in the minority.

    Number of iPhones with Flash Player: 0.
    Number of competing phones with Flash Player: 0.

    We keep hearing that the second number is going to change. If and when it does, we’ll see whether it’s a competitive problem for the iPhone and iPad.
    And for what it’s worth, I still haven’t seen a definitive answer as to whether Google plans to make Flash Player a standard component for Android, even when Adobe releases it.

    • Grapho

      One more point is if you are an advertising agency, would you rather deploy in Flash and miss out in a huge segment of the market, or would you rather adopt HTML5 and cover all devices? Wether Adobe realizes this or not, Flash has been depreciated to a very large extent, and there isn't a dam thing they can do about it.

  • http://gabby.co.cc Manish

    Bottom line…Apple is just too restrictive with everything they do.

    • Eric

      All generalizations are false! :p