Flash On Android Fails To Impress

snydeq writes "InfoWorld's Neil McAllister test-drives Flash Player 10.2 for Android 3.0 and finds its shortcomings too sweeping to be chalked up to beta status. 'The worst part is the player's inconsistent behavior. This gets really frustrating when there's lots of HTML and Flash content mixed on a Web page. The UI turns into a tug-of-war between the browser and the Flash Player, where each touch produces varying effects, seemingly at random,' McAllister writes. 'As far as I could tell, there was one thing and one thing only that the Flash Player for Android 3.0 accomplished successfully. On the stock Android browser, Flash content is invisible, so you don't notice Flash-based advertising. With the Flash Player installed, however, all those ads suddenly appear where once there were none, their animated graphics leaping and scuttling under your fingertips like cockroaches on a dinner tray — some achievement.'"

Comments

Were Apple right?

[Computershack]

Ever wonder why Apple didn't want to put Flash support on the iPhone? It would appear to have been a shrewd move.

Re:Were Apple right?

[pushing-robot]

It is perhaps ironic that Apple is the driving force behind the anti-Flash movement, since IMHO the biggest problem with Flash is that it caters to anal-retentive developers who want everything just so.

While HTML and CSS contort themselves to suit the browser and user, Flash was designed to be a window unto itself; a stage on which everything works exactly as the developer intended. At first, that may seem like a good thing—especially to developers. However, it conveys a false sense of conformity, causing developers to lose sight of the reason why HTML was made to be so flexible. The Internet is a diverse place where Flash's attitude of one-design-for-everybody breaks down:

Oh, you've got a small screen? Sorry, we didn't plan for that.
Oh, you want to translate the text? Sorry, we didn't plan for that.
Oh, you're using a touch interface? Sorry, we didn't plan for that.
Oh, you need large fonts? Sorry, we didn't plan for that.
Oh, you have a low-end CPU? Sorry, we didn't plan for that.
Oh, you use a screen reader? Sorry, we didn't plan for that.
Oh, you're on an unsupported/64-bit browser or OS? Sorry, we didn't plan for that.
And so on.

As handheld devices take off, the Internet is becoming even more diverse, and the notion that Flash can provide the same experience for everyone is becoming less and less plausible.

The sooner Flash is dead, the better

[DavidinAla]

Can't people finally start admitting that maybe Apple was doing the right thing -- for users' long term experience -- in trying to get rid of Flash for mobile devices? It's so bizarre how hatred of Apple and Steve Jobs drives some tech people to irrationally support a lousy and proprietary plugin that we CAN move beyond. Flash was a great thing earlier in the history of the web, but it's time to leave it behind. The only reason the Android crowd loves it is because Apple was the first to admit that it was time to leave it behind. It's become a badge of honor to be able to check that box as a feature -- even if we would be better off (long term for sure) without it.

Well at least I get the choice

[Reapman]

Do I make use of Flash on my phone a lot? Not really.. Am I glad that for the few times I need it that it's there? Yup.

Since I'm sure the comparisons will be made:
iPhone - Flash uses up 0% of CPU, works on 0% of Flash based sites - for some people this is ideal.
Android: Flash uses up CPU (potentially lots) when I allow it to (it's set to on demand), works on... 20% of Flash based sites? - for some people this is better then the above option.

I guess I'm in the camp that prefers to have the tools, even if they're far from perfect, then to not be allowed the choice. Each to their own really.

Re:Headline should say

[CharlyFoxtrot]

If Linux users copped this kind of attitude for Flash, they would be portrayed as RMS worshiping hippies with little grip on reality by the same exact Apple fanboys that get their hate-on for Flash.

It's like Linux users advocating that Microsoft port IE6 to Linux to be able to view websites that need it rather than to demand that webmasters code to standards.
Android users are so desperate for something to differentiate themselves from iOS they are fighting on the wrong side here.