As of today, Adobe will disable new installs of Flash via the Google Play Store, marking the end of Adobe Flash on Android devices, and therefore shutting itself out from 85% of the mobile market.
The abandonment of Flash for mobile follows conflict between Adobe and Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs, who was famously dismissive of the plug-in and refused to allow the technology on the iOS platform. Instead, Jobs fought for the alternative HTML5 standard, which is beginning to replace Flash around the Web.
In 2007, Adobe said that, with Flash it had "passed a major milestone in bringing a desktop experience to mobile and transforming the wireless industry," and once claimed that Flash would enable "the full Web experience" on mobile devices. But, in 2010, Jobs wrote a public letter outlining his thoughts on Flash and its problems with "reliability, security, and performance".
In 2011, Adobe announced that it would stop developing Flash Player for new mobile device configurations, and said that HTML5 is the "best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms," signalling the demise of Flash for mobile.
"We are excited about this, and will continue our work with key players in the HTML community, including Google, Apple, Microsoft and RIM, to drive HTML5 innovation they can use to advance their mobile browsers."
In June 2012, Adobe released a statement that read: "We have not continued developing and testing Flash Player for this new version of Android and its available browser options. There will be no certified implementations of Flash Player for Android 4.1."
Microsoft is only planning to offer limited Flash support in Windows 8, which could be the final nail in Flash's coffin, reported The Verge.
IDG News Service