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Adobe crowbars Flash onto the iPhone

By Barry Collins and Reuters

Posted on 6 Oct 2009 at 08:14

Adobe has devised an unofficial way to make Flash programs run on Apple's iPhone - a move that could dramatically boost the variety of applications for the device.

Programs written with Flash currently cannot run on Apple's smartphone or iPod touch. Adobe has spent several years trying without success to persuade Apple to make technical changes to the device's software that would make it possible for Flash programs to run on the iPhone.

In the absence of an agreement with Apple, Adobe has announced that it will introduce a tool called Flash Professional CS5 developer tool, which lets programmers easily convert Flash software into code that will work on the iPhone.

The news comes just a day after Adobe announced that it was bringing a full version of Flash to every major smartphone operating system, except Apple's iPhone OS.

The new option will allow developers to create a second piece of software that they can distribute through Apple's App store. "It's basically an export capability," says Adrian Ludwig, a manager with Adobe's Flash group.

The ball is in Apple's court at this point. We've been very blunt about what we need and what we are requesting

There are limitations with Adobe's iPhone hack. Video will not run on the iPhone because of restrictions imposed by Apple. Flash software will also have to be written in ActionScript 3 to be compatible with the new tool.

Ludwig admits that Apple has yet to agree to work with Adobe to clear two key technical hurdles that would enable Flash applications to run natively on the iPhone. "The ball is in its court at this point. We've been very blunt about what we need and what we are requesting," Ludwig claims.

Apple was unavailable for comment.

Adobe will release a public trial version of the Flash Professional CS5 developer tool later this year.

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User comments

Monopo-what?

Apple won't have flash on the iPhone/iPod touch because it gives developers a platform that they don't control and cannot collect the rent from.

By cheysuli on 6 Oct 2009

Given the amount of crud that appears on web pages in Flash, surfing without is a great experience.

I have it disabled on my desktops, so not having it on the iPhone (or my WM phone) isn't really an issue.

By big_D on 6 Oct 2009

I Agree with cheysuli - Apple will no doubt issue an update and there will be another war on Apple's doorstep such as Palm's access to iTunes.

By nicomo on 6 Oct 2009

amount of crud?

I take it you mean ads?
Imagine surfing without the ads, it would be bliss for you wouldn't it?

Sites showing ads have to cover bandwidth costs.
When we started our site we were naive and later paid the price with a £1200 bandwidth bill.

So what do you suggest in lieu of ads?

Limit access to a site (say 1000 visitors a day) or charge for subscription?

Would you be prepared to ferry people around in your car for free?

Will put this on my todo list: Ban iphone useragent

By SimFlash on 7 Oct 2009

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