It’s official (at least as official as anything ever is): there is definitely no Flash coming to iPod, iPhone and iPad devices. The decision is not primarily business-driven, but is rather based on technology issues, Apple’s Steve Jobs says in a critical letter about why Flash is not appropriate for mobile.
The mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards - all areas where Flash falls short, Jobs writes. And Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or to consume any kind of web content. Jobs cites the variety of media outlets offering their content for Apple’s mobile devices, including Vimeo, Netflix, Facebook, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN, NPR, Time, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, People, National Geographic, and many more.
Despite the fact that 75% of video on the web is in Flash (per Adobe), almost all that video is also available in a more modern format, H.264, and viewable on Apple’s mobile devices, Jobs counters, saying that YouTube, with an estimated 40% of the web’s videos, “shines” in an app bundled on all Apple’s mobile devices, with the iPad offering “perhaps the best YouTube discovery and viewing experience ever.”
Another Reason: “Open”
While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, they are not “open,” since they are controlled entirely by and available only from Adobe. Apple believes all standards pertaining to the web should be open. “Rather than use Flash, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript, all open standards. Apple’s mobile devices all ship with high performance, low power implementations of these open standards. HTML5, the new web standard that has been adopted by Apple, Google and many others, lets web developers create advanced graphics, typography, animations and transitions without relying on third party browser plug-ins (like Flash). HTML 5 is completely open and controlled by a standards committee, of which Apple is a member.”
Reliability, Security, Performance…
Jobs also believes Flash will not perform well on mobile devices. “Adobe publicly said that Flash would ship on a smartphone in early 2009, then the second half of 2009, then the first half of 2010, and now they say the second half of 2010…. we’re glad we didn’t hold our breath. Who knows how it will perform?”
Jobs says Flash is the number one reason Macs crash, and points out that Symantec recently highlighted Flash as having one of the worst security records in 2009.
Flash, too, requires for the most part an older generation decoder that is not implemented in mobile chips. That means it must be run in software, rather than in hardware - and decoding in software uses too much power. “On an iPhone, for example, H.264 videos play for up to 10 hours, while videos decoded in software play for less than 5 hours before the battery is fully drained.”
Flash was designed for use with a mouse, not a touch screen. Many Flash websites rely on rollovers, which touch interfaces do not use. Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices. And, if developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, “why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript?” Jobs writes.
And, Most Important…
Adobe wants developers to adopt Flash to create apps that run on Apple’s mobile devices but, says Jobs, “We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform…. We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers.”
Speeding Mobile Ad Industry
Some analysts have said that the iPad will speed the adoption of mobile advertising. Because the iPad does not support Flash, many marketers will have to develop brand new types of ads instead of repurposing existing web ads. This could potentially lead to an influx of new, innovative ad types that may be less invasive and pack more of a punch on mobiles.
An online video environment built on HTML5 may eventually benefit the entire industry - not just Apple, according to the Economist. Eventually HTML5 will be able to handle audio and video internally, without the need for browser plug-ins such as Adobe’s Flash or Microsoft’s Silverlight and Oracle’s JavaFX, it said.
