You may have encountered the text “Adobe Flash is not supported” while browsing. What does this message mean, and what is it exactly? This is why Adobe Flash Player is not working on your iPhone and iPad.
Adobe Flash Player: Everything You Need to Know
Flash Player from Adobe is a program that can be used to create animations, videos, games and websites. Virtually all browser games from the past used Flash, as did website banners.
The animation program used to be extremely popular, but nowadays it is almost non-existent. Games are made with special programs and many websites have switched to newer techniques. You have never been able to use Flash on iOS devices.
Why is Flash not working on your iPhone?
There are several reasons why iPads and iPhones cannot work with Adobe Flash Player. The late Steve Jobs even once had one special letter dedicated to it. He cites six reasons why there is no cooperation.
1. Flash is a ‘closed’ system
Flash Player is wholly owned by Adobe, which puts the company in control of development, costs and so on. Apple believes in open systems and therefore uses other programming languages, such as JavaScript and HTML.
2. Apple does not need Flash
Back in the day, Adobe Flash Player was a dominant player. When the first iPhone came out, 75 percent of all videos on the web used the animation technique. This changed with the arrival of H.264, a different and better way to play videos. As a result, Apple saw no profit in Flash Player.
3. Reliability
Adobe Flash Player lacks security and has regularly crashed Macs in the past. This while iOS is praised for its security and reliability. Jobs therefore believed that Apple and Flash are not a good combination.
Also read: 8 important basic tips for securing your Mac
4. Battery life
Fourth, Adobe Flash Player is anything but economical for your battery. Videos need twice the power of competing formats. Because of this, the choice for Jobs was made quickly.
5. Not ready for the future
Adobe Flash Player was created when websites were only visited via computers. As a result, the program does not take touchscreens into account, which is quite problematic when virtually all internet traffic nowadays takes place via smartphones.
Bad for the App Store
The last – and according to Jobs the most important reason – is that Adobe Flash Player hinders the development of iOS apps. When developers would build animations, games and videos in Flash, they would be dependent on Adobe from then on.
If Adobe does not update its program, the developers cannot continue, and the quality of apps will fail. Jobs already feared this in 2010 and therefore decided not to allow Adobe Flash Player on iPads and iPhones.
Also interesting: 10 years of the App Store: Dutch app makers about Apple’s app store
This is how you get Flash to work
Despite all this information, do you still want to visit websites that use Adobe Flash Player? Then download Photon browser. This is a special app to visit the internet in which Flash applications do work. The app costs 4.49 euros.