Adobe’s Mobile strategy nothing more than a Flash in the pan

Adobe has finally conceded that they have lost the battle to be the dominant video player on the mobile web. Earlier today the Flash player for Android was removed from the Google play store. Adobe will continue to develop Flash for desktops, but have   acknowledged that HTML 5 had become ”the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms”

Flash has never been part of Apples iOS platform and the late (and great) Steve Jobs famously (and correctly) said that Flash would compromise the reliability, battery life and security of Apples mobile products, iPhone & iPad.

We have been big fans of HTML5 and have all our clients on the platform but what are your options if you have Flash video on your site without HTML5 fallback?

1.)  Leave it as it is, Mobile doesn’t matter. (not recommended)

• In 2014 mobile internet is expected to take over desktop internet use
• Half of all local search are performed on mobile
• 86% of mobile internet users use their mobiles while watching the telly
• 200 million views on YouTube are on mobiles

2.)  Convert Flash video to .mp4 (recommended)

There are a number of programs, which can do this. The program I’m going to demo is HandBrake.

Below is a screenshot of Handbrake for Mac set to the Apple universal settings. These are compatible, full resolution settings for all current Apple devices: iPod (6G and up), iPhone, AppleTV, and Macs.

If you need more convincing about the importance of Mobile I recommend you watch this video.