Flash Comes To the iPhone Via App

An anonymous reader writes "While the HTML5 and Flash standard debate rages, Apple, a major promoter of HTML5, has allowed its iOS devices to run Flash videos. Apple has given approval to an app developed by Skyfire that translates Flash code into HTML5. According to CNN, when a user clicks on a Flash video the Skyfire app downloads the Flash video on Skyfire's server where the video is decoded and then encoded in HTML5 and is delivered to an iOS device. The app is embedded in the Safari browser."

Comments

Flash *video* comes to iPhone

[MozeeToby]

Why do so many articles ignore the fact that there is more to Flash than video? Granted, most games aren't going to play well on a mobile device but there are lots of Flash based sites that work just fine. Being able to access those sites or not is a pretty big deal if your out and about and need to look up information on a nearby business.

Re:Flash *video* comes to iPhone

[stewbacca]

My industry (rapid e-learning and software simulation training) is nearly 100% Flash. There really is no other option. Even the rapid e-learning powerpoint plug ins are all Flash based.

And this isn't even a bad thing, because it's a great tool for this use.

Re:Flash *video* comes to iPhone

[nashv]

Because if you just factor in the traffic to YouTube, you'll realise that video IS the most used application of Flash. And just making video work without Flash will cause a huge drop in Flash usage.

Re:Steve Jobs Warned Us About This Horror!

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh dear.

The word you are looking for is principal.

Re:Lot of trouble

[delinear]

It's actually not a bad idea for video - and from Apple's point of view it helps gain traction for their supported flavour of codec - but unfortunately some of us still have to use Flash for non-video related functionality, whether it's building/maintaining sites that "those upstairs" insist have to have Flash embedded, or even using certain config/CMS tools that require Flash (one of the ones I regularly work with uses a Flex front-end). It's a bit misleading to say this is "Flash on the iPhone", by any stretch, it's not even Flash video on the iPhone, since the entirety of the conversion is handled by a third party before it even reaches the iPhone.

So very, very WRONG

[sootman]

"Apple has given approval to an app developed by Skyfire that translates Flash code into HTML5."

NO IT DOES NOT. As others are pointing out, all this does is use a server to transcode Flash VIDEO and serve it to you. This will not do ANYTHING ELSE with Flash--it certainly DOES NOT "translate Flash code into HTML5 [code]". Better description here.

Also worth noting: "Hulu has also blocked Skyfire to guarantee that users who want to watch the streaming TV service on the iPad have to continue to pay $10 per month for Hulu Plus."