War Between Flash and HTML5 is Over: HTML5 Has Won

The debate over whether supporting the Adobe Flash plug-in on mobile devices is a better way to support content apps, instead of using HTML5, seems to be over. Adobe is abandoning its work on Flash for mobile.


"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. We will no longer adapt Flash Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version or device configurations," Adobe says. Flash, HTML5 war is over

Instead, the company will refocus its efforts on mobile apps and desktop content, and “aggressively contribute to HTML5.” It’s not just that HTML5 is a great opportunity for Adobe. There are some very basic reasons why the company changed course on its mobile Flash.


In particular, Flash suffers a performance hit as video resolution grows. 

YouTube Adds HTML5 Site

YouTube is launching a new mobile site optimized for HTML5, m.youtube.com, as well as a new mobile app pointed at the site.

The web app apparently has superior video quality when compared to native applications on the iPhone and will soon feature more content as well. Both iPhone and Android devices will get the new app.

Apps or Mobile Web? It is Going to be a Toss Up

Today most mobile applications for smartphones are downloaded from “app stores.” According to ABI Research data, in 2009 consumers downloaded some 2.4 billion applications from such stores, and the download rate will accelerate over the next few years until in 2013 smartphone downloads are expected to peak at just below seven billion.

So you might be wondering whether this implies a decline of interest in mobile apps. Not really. What the forecast implies is that there will be other ways to get and use applications, namely using a mobile Web browser.

After 2013, smartphone download rates from app stores will start a slow decline, although total downloads from all sources will probably continue to grow, ABI Research believes.

ABI argues that more and more people will start visiting mobile websites authored using HTML5, which will mean applications can be run natively from inside Web pages where today external apps might be required.

Moreover, handset makers and service providers will pre-install apps on their products, such as social networking apps and some mobile office suites, removing the need for downloading those kinds of applications.

“App stores aren’t going away," says ABI Research Senior Analyst Mark Beccue."Following the 2013 peak in demand, the number of downloads in 2015 will have decreased only seven or eight percent."

But users will be able to gain the value of apps using their browsers.

Also, it is conceivable that mobile network operators will host their own app stores. Many observers think such efforts will enjoy only modest success, but there is one notable area where huge success could be possible.

If operators concentrate on providing downloadable apps to feature phones, that could be a big factor in newer and developing markets where smartphone penetration is lower.

A Skirmish in the Apple-Google Fight

It's a small skirmish, but Android will be supporting Flash natively in version 2.2 of the operating system, though Google appears to think highly of HTML5 as well. Apple, of course, does not support Flash for the iPad.

Adobe demonstrated Flash running on Android about 10 months ago, it seems, and HTC devices do support Flash on at least some "Sense"-capable devices.

Putting Flash support into Android does not mean Google will not also support HTML5, but the decision seems at least partly a stake in the ground in the growing battle over video playback standards for the mobile Web.