About Flash Player. Adobe Flash Player is a computer software, distributed as freeware, that has allowed users to play Adobe Flash content. The content has often included multimedia content, internet applications and streaming audio and video. It was once a common format for web games and animations. Flash Player has most commonly been run as a.
'Thoughts on Flash' is an open letter published by Steve Jobs, co-founder and then-chief executive officer of Apple Inc., on April 29, 2010. The letter criticized Adobe Systems' Flash platform and outlined reasons why the technology would not be allowed on the company's iOS hardware products, specifically iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. The letter drew immediate attention, with Adobe's CEO Shantanu Narayen firing back at Apple, stating that one of the issues in the criticism was due to Apple's own operating system rather than Flash technology, and other criticism was false. At the time, various media publications had different opinions on the topic, with some citing business motivations rather than technological, hypocrisy in the letter despite agreeing with Jobs, and outright accusations of lying. However, retroactively, more publications have agreed with Jobs,[1] with notable mentions[2] of poor performance of Flash on Android devices.[3]
That month, Apple had revised its iPhone Developer Agreement, adding new developer restrictions, particularly that only 'approved' programming languages would be allowed on the App Store. The change affected companies that had developed tools for porting applications from their programming languages into native iPhone apps, such as Adobe's 'Packager for iPhone' tool. The policy was criticized as anti-competitive, and in May 2010, there were talks about which US government agency would launch an antitrust investigation into the matter. The following September, Apple again revised its policy, removing restrictions on third-party development tools. In November 2011, Adobe announced that it was ceasing development of its Flash Player plug-in for mobile web browsers, and instead shifting its focus toward building tools for developing applications for mobile app stores. The company announced in July 2017 that it would stop supporting Flash by the end of 2020.
On April 29, 2010, Steve Jobs, the co-founder and then-chief executive officer of Apple Inc., published an open letter called 'Thoughts on Flash' explaining why Apple would not allow Flash on the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. He cited the rapid energy consumption, computer crashes, poor performance on mobile devices, abysmal security, lack of touch support, and desire to avoid 'a third party layer of software coming between the platform and the developer'. He touched on the idea of Flash being 'open', claiming 'by almost any definition, Flash is a closed system'. Jobs dismissed the idea that Apple customers are missing out by being sold devices without Flash compatibility by quoting a number of statistics, concluding with 'Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content.'[4][5][6]
The letter drew immediate attention. In response to Jobs' accusations, Adobe's CEO Shantanu Narayen described the open letter as an 'extraordinary attack', and, during an interview with The Wall Street Journal, called the problems mentioned by Jobs' 'really a smokescreen'. He further fired back at Apple, stating that computer crashes were due to Apple's operating system, and that allegations of battery drain were 'patently false'.[7][8] Various publications had different opinions on the topic. Wired's Brian Chen had in a 2009 article claimed Apple would not allow Flash on the iPhone for business reasons, due to the technology being able to divert users away from the App Store.[9] John Sullivan of Ars Technica agreed with Jobs, but highlighted the hypocrisy in his reasoning, writing; 'every criticism he makes of Adobe's proprietary approach applies equally to Apple'.[10] Dan Rayburn of Business Insider accused Steve Jobs of lying, particularly the sentiment that most content on the Internet is available in a different format.[11]
Retrospectively, more publications have agreed with Jobs. Ryan Lawler of TechCrunch wrote in 2012 'Jobs was right', adding Android users had poor experiences with watching Flash content and interactive Flash experiences were 'often wonky or didn't perform well, even on high-powered phones'.[12] Mike Isaac of Wired wrote in 2011 that 'In [our] testing of multiple Flash-compatible devices, choppiness and browser crashes were common', and a former Adobe employee stated 'Flash is a resource hog [...] It's a battery drain, and it's unreliable on mobile web browsers'.[13] Kyle Wagner of Gizmodo wrote in 2011 that 'Adobe was never really able to smooth over performance, battery, and security issues'.[14]
In April 2010, Apple announced changes to its iPhone Developer Agreement, with details on new developer restrictions, particularly that only apps built using 'approved' programming languages would be allowed on the App Store. The change impacted a number of companies that had developed tools for porting applications from their respective languages into native iPhone apps, with the most prominent example being Adobe's 'Packager for iPhone', an iOS development tool in beta at the time.[15][16][17]The New York Times quoted an Adobe supporter alleging the policy to be anti-competitive.[18]
On May 3, 2010, New York Post reported that the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) were deciding which agency would launch an antitrust investigation into the matter.[19][20]
In September 2010, after having 'listened to our developers and taken much of their feedback to heart', Apple removed the restrictions on third-party tools, languages and frameworks, and again allowing the deployment of Flash applications on iOS using Adobe's iOS Packager.[21][22]
On November 8, 2011, Adobe announced that it was ceasing development of the Flash Player plug-in for web browsers on mobile devices, and shifting its focus toward building tools to develop applications for mobile app stores.[23][24][25]
In July 2017, Adobe announced its intention to discontinue Flash (including security updates) altogether by the year 2020.[26][27] As of December 31, 2020, Flash support has ended. Adobe blocked Flash content from running in Flash Player beginning January 12, 2021.[28]
UPDATE: Adobe Flash Player has finally seen the end of its life. It is no longer updated or supported. Adobe recommends that you uninstall it now!
This won’t happen every day, but rarely you may come across an old website that asks you to install Flash on your Mac. Without it, you cannot view the video, audio, multimedia, retro browser game, etc. on that webpage. If this happens, you will be prompted to get Flash Player. So, let us know more about it and then show you how to download and install Adobe Flash Player on Mac.
Flash had privacy and security concerns. But the actual utility saw installation on over billion devices and is a genuine, useful tool of yesteryear.
However, now many sketchy websites show popups or colorful animations asking you to download Flash before you can make use of their services like free movies, or games. Most of the time, these are malware that can be extremely harmful to your computer. When you click on them, you may be taken to an external site that has viruses or other wicked software disguised as Flash Player.
Many times even after uninstalling this malware, they might leave traces like folders, trackers, etc. So, it is essential to proceed with caution. Remember, you can download a legitimate version of Flash only from Adobe, who is its owner/developer.
Now you may be asking, are all websites that request Flash installation wrong? Well, no! Suppose you are on a legacy school or university site that has not been updated in years. Or you are on a website that genuinely lets you enjoy retro game titles, etc. They will ask you to download and install flash before you can view their rich audio-video content. There is no harm in using Flash for such usage. Now that we have a basic idea about the topic, let us see how to get Flash Player on Mac.
/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player
/Library/Caches/Adobe/Flash Player
For this from Finder press and hold the Option key and click on Go from the top menu bar. You will see the Library. Click on it, and then find and delete the above two folders.
That’s all, mate!
This was all the basics about installing and uninstalling Flash on Mac. If you have a question or query, please put that in the comments down below. Finally, Google has a helpful page explaining Flash for Chrome, that you should give a glance if needed.
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