If there was one issue that has plagued iPhone, iPad and iPod touch since their inception, it has to be the incompatibility with Adobe Flash and particularly Flash based content. However now that has finally ended as Adobe finally brings Flash support to iOS devices.
Adobe made the announcement at IBC trade show in Amsterdam earlier today by announcing Adobe Flash Media Server 4.5 and Adobe Flash Access 3.0. These new products will be released to publishers who can then use them to deliver their content on millions of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices all around the globle.
Apple has never added Flash support to iOS. All iOS devices to date do not have support for Flash based content. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was thought to be one of the biggest opponent of Flash support on iOS devices. It was his view that Flash is buggy and causes problems for the operating system. He also said that Flash drastically reduces the battery time of devices, something that Apple surely wouldn't have wanted for their devices. Due to these differences, Apple has never allowed Adobe's Flash to be supported by the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Users have complained about this as most of the websites have Flash based content and the surfing experience is obviously compromised as mobile Safari does not support Flash.
Using Adobe's new products, publishers will now have the chance to deliver their Flash based content including but not limited to videos, streams and video experiences, to a whole new market which they previously did not have access to. Adobe Flash Media Server is priced at $4,500.
However, there's a little catch. Even though Adobe's new products will allow Flash support on iOS devices, this does not mean that your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch will be 100% compatible with Flash based content on the internet. Your device will be able to run Flash content of publishers who create it using these products. Nevertheless, its better to have something than nothing at all and we're sure that publishers will quickly start creating their content using Adobe Flash Media Server as no publisher would want to miss out the opportunity to finally promote their brand, product or service to millions of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users around the world.