Adobe has reportedly told a number of developers it would be ceasing the development of its mobile version of Flash Player.
ZDNet retrieved a statement from Adobe which says that instead, its future work with Flash on mobile devices will focus more on packaging native apps with Adobe AIR for all app stores.
It will continue to provide bug fixes and security updates for Flash Player on Android and BlackBerry devices.
Adobe plans to increase its investments in HTML5. It will also focus on content for the desktop and on mobile apps.
“Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores,” said Adobe’s statement.
“We will no longer adapt Flash Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version or device configurations.
“Some of our source code licensees may opt to continue working on and releasing their own implementations. We will continue to support the current Android and PlayBook configurations with critical bug fixes and security updates,” said Adobe.
It’s a big step for Adobe for its mobile future. Apple previously created controversy after saying it would not support Flash for its iOS devices.
The late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs gave a number of reasons for this, including that Flash drained the battery life of mobile devices and was a proprietary-based web technology. He said that instead, iOS supports HTML5, CSS and Javascript.
Many Android OEMs, as well as the BlackBerry PlayBook maker RIM, used Flash Player support as a selling point, but this may no longer be a factor when Adobe publicises this news.
