Adobe's iPhone Hail Mary

snydeq writes "Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister questions whether the move to port Flash to the iPhone isn't a last-ditch effort on Adobe's part to remain relevant in the quickly evolving smartphone market. By allowing developers to compile existing Flash apps into native binaries, Adobe believes it has found a way around Apple's requirements that no non-Apple API interpreted code may be downloaded and used in an app, a clause that has also prevented Sun from porting JVM to the iPhone. The resulting apps will be completely stand-alone, with no runtimes and no Flash Player required — if Apple lets Adobe get away with it, no small feat given how protective Apple has been about its app market. But as much as Apple has at stake here, Adobe may actually have more, McAllister writes. 'Already the idea of using Web languages and tools to build smartphone applications is taking hold. Palm has built an entire smartphone platform around the idea. Apple supports the use of Web technologies like AJAX to build applications based on the iPhone's Safari browser. And developers will soon even be able to build Web-based applications for BlackBerry handsets, thanks to a new SDK from Research in Motion. As late to the game as it is, what Adobe needs now is to convince developers that Flash is better than the other options — and that could be a tough sell.'"

Comments

That's a silly conclusion

[nahdude812]

It's not a "last ditch effort" to remain relevant. It's just Adobe continuing the tradition of ubiquity of their platform. Apple won't let them put a runtime on the phone, so they'll deploy native code instead.

Apple supports the use of Web technologies like AJAX to build applications based on the iPhone's Safari browser.

Sorry, but there's a big difference between an AJAX app and a native app. Try writing a browser based graphical game on the iPhone; it's going to fall on its face pretty quickly.

for BlackBerry handsets, thanks to a new SDK from Research in Motion.

Hmm, convince developers to learn a whole new SDK for a single platform, when they can stick with a mature language and toolset they already know, deploy it in the browser, on the desktop (via Air), and on basically every phone on the planet that can run custom apps, including the BlackBerry?

Sorry, this whole article is bunk. Adobe isn't struggling with relevance, they're just making sure it doesn't start to slip, as Apple is so strongly trying to make it. In fact, this probably backfired on Apple a bit - Flash apps running as a native binary will probably have access to device functions which the normal Flash runtime wouldn't have.

Adobe needs now is to convince developers that Flash is better than the other options — and that could be a tough sell

I'm guessing this sale has already been made. A lot of developers like working in Flash. Actionscript is a surprisingly elegant language. Based on the number of Flash apps which already turn up all over the web, a whole new segment of developers are seeing this as access to a development platform which was previously closed to them.

Re:That's a silly conclusion

[mdwh2]

Indeed. Whilst Flash and Java may have some drawbacks, the advantage of cross-platform applications is huge. With desktop computing, we had to go through the painful ordeal in the 80s and 90s where every platform were incompatible, making it a pain both for developers and users. Finally we've got to a stage where most platforms run the same code - but only due to having a monopoly platform of Windows, running on only Intel CPUs or clones; not because of any standardisation (well, PC hardware is now standardised, with even Macs now being simply another brand of PC, but the OS still makes a difference, and there is no standardisation there).

Mobile computing today is much like computing of the 80s - so called "smart" phones are ubiquitous - all but the cheapest phones are now Internet enabled phones that can run applications. There are many hardware manufacturers, with hundreds of different models, all running different (often custom) OSs, with different hardware. Yet, the vast majority of them are compatible, thanks to Java.

When I got my first smartphone in 2005, a Motorola V980, I marvelled at how I could download an application from any webpage, and have it run, even if it wasn't made with my phone in mine.

And then along comes the Iphone, and puts a spanner in the works. Yes, let's go back to the dark ages where an application has to be coded natively for that phone, and things like Java or Flash aren't allowed! Let's even make it so that applications can only be installed with Apple approval. It's great for Apple of course - people make applications specifically for the Iphone, generating extra publicity, and the media and fans spin the "app store" as being a good thing.

It's sad that even on places like Slashdot, people would prefer either 80s style computing where every platform is incompatible - or a possible future where compatibility is achieved only through a single Microsoft-like company dominating all of mobile computing (and what if that's a different company to Microsoft, as is likely? We'll have the absurd situation where mobile handheld/phone devices are incompatible with netbooks and desktop devices...). As opposed to having true standardisation and cross-platform applications, which had been achieved by a billion or two Java smartphones, before Apple start to put a stop to it.

Re:That's a silly conclusion

[beelsebob]

The whole premise of the article is bullshit too. The article seems to be suggesting that apple are trying to restrict the APIs you write apps with, what they're actually trying to do is to stop you downloading random malicious code and running it, without it going through their checks.

I'm pretty sure apple will be rather happy about the fact that now *even more* developers can write apps for the iPhone.

Re:A Flash animation writer wouldn't be far off

[TheRaven64]

The Flash specification has been open for people writing authoring tools, but not people writing players, for over ten years. There are a few other flash authoring tools besides the Adobe ones. Hardly anyone uses them, because Macromedia / Adobe Flash is much better, and for most Flash developers / artists it doesn't cost much in terms of hourly rate (and can be offset against income for tax purposes anyway).

Flash is in the same sort of market as Photoshop. The GIMP does more than the average user needs, but it doesn't do what the person willing to pay $500-1000 for a piece of software needs. There will almost certainly be open source things for creating flash apps (there are a few things that output flash already), but none are in the market where Adobe is and wants to be.

Article completely misses point.

[Anonymous Coward]

"A tough sell." Really? Lets see. Write the same app for 4 different phones, then one for general web, or write it once with flash via a great toolset.

Not noted above is Adobe's announcement that flash 10.1 will be out in a few short months. The speed improvements and memory management are astonishing. Also most if not all smart phone OS will be using it except iphone. They demo'd watching movie trailers, playing games and video conferencing directly from android and existing web sites. Being able to save down to iphone app is great, and lowers barrier to entry (who wants to do objective C?) but the larger topic is how iphone was leader of pack and is about to get outpaced by Android (as per many reports predict). Hell even RIM is getting on the flash bandwagon.

The holy grail is for us to not have to worry about what the damn phone is. Instead we can write great apps and they can be used anywhere the screensize makes sense. Computers (in browser and desktop app), phones, set top boxes for TV's, netbooks, appliances, etc. This is what Flash is about to let us do. Theoretically anyway.

And no HTML5 can't do everything Flash can do YET. Least not write once and run on many OS, platforms and browsers. HTML5 will be great when it is a viable option no doubt, but it isn't. Not yet and not in the next few years due to fighting amongst the browser decision makers.

Re:PHP for mobile phones

[Dr. Zim]

I think someone needs a hug

Certainly worth a read.

[jcr]

The author of that blog, BTW, is an ex-Apple engineer, and one of the smartest people I met when I worked there. He's one of the people I'd go to if I need help with Shark or other performance tools.

-jcr