Flash on the iPhone? Never say never... but for now: no.

Below is an article written in February 2010, when yours truly was truly certain that the next wave of the web would involve millions of Flash developers making their creations for the iPhone platform. Of course, Flash will now be responsible for making apps for the other mobile platforms out there. Flash Player 10.1 is awesome and many a mobile OS will support it, as do most browsers. However, I do believe it is a blow to the interactive industry as a whole, and specifically to Flash developers, that Apple has decided to lock out Flash as development platform for the iPhone eco-system as well as player in the browser (Safari) on the iPhone.

Perhaps this state of affairs will result in Android – and any device running Flash Player 10.1 – usurping the iPhone’s position in the market. Only time will tell. In the short term, some of us Flash folk are bummed out. We’re locked out of the current audiences that are adopting the iPhone and iPad. We’ll have to make do.

So, perhaps as you read on below, you can replace any mention of the iPhone with the generic: “mobile devices”. As always, Flash and Adobe help us create media that can be ported to almost any platform. Cross-platform compatibility!

Some say this is the end for Flash… nonsense. Other say it is the beginning of the end for Apple… always hogwash. One thing is for sure. For now. And that is this: There is no Flash on the iPhone. You cannot (are not allowed) to make iPhone apps with Flash.

Imagine what could have been…

(February 23, 2010)

Moving Stories on the (new)Web

Why Flash, Why Now?

Today Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform. It is a set of authoring tools, an environment, a framework for developing interactive applications. It is the player, a plug-in that enables browsers to view SWF content. It is a programming language: AS3. Flash is an animation tool. It is a style of animation, too. What is Flash? 
 Development and engineering, that is programming, play the leading role in the movie that is Flash. Animation and storytelling have been relegated to merely a a supporting role, with many lines being cut as well as salaries and gift baskets shrinking, to extend the metaphor… quite publicly (nod, wink, nudge coders)!

In the beginning, by which I mean the 1990s, Flash made possible all that we now consider viral, social, and interactive… cartoons and games, mostly. What would the web be without Flash? And what will the new web be with Flash?

On April 3, 2010, Apple iPads will be available for sale, moving the next evolution of the web along. With its promise to do for books and magazines what the iPod and iPhone have done for music, the iPad, and devices like it, is where the web is moving.

On April 12, 2010 Adobe will announce the release of Creative Suite 5, which will include Flash CS5 and the iPhone Packager. Flash developers will be able to publish their content as iPhone applications. With the click of a button, you can automatically publish your movies and applications as native iPhone applications.

A new era begins soon. Will millions of experienced Flash artists, designers, and developers take advantage of this opportunity? Only time will well.

I am predicting that in the next few months we will see Flash once again up-end our idea of interactive media, and the web itself, by being the tool with which creative producers make the content that will go viral and transform how we interact with each other and our information.

Flash will do this as an authoring tool this time around. Lately, we have seen Flash dominate as a video platform. In the next few months we will see iPhone apps created by designers using Flash.

Same as it ever was. We are simply using our skills, adapting them and updating them to new technologies, to create compelling media experiences that move and connect human beings. As usual, this means story telling.
In the late 90s, Flash made it possible to deliver compelling, high-quality animation to the web. Television shows such as Ren & Stimpy also benefited from the low production costs and professional drawing tools available in Flash.
Cultural memes such as the Joe Cartoon Fog in a Blender, and the Jib Jab political cartoons were made possible with Flash. Music videos and even feature films have been made using Flash.

It is no exaggeration to say that the entire media landscape as we know it today has been greatly influenced by Flash. Youtube would not have been possible without the Flash Player video capabilities. Casual gaming might not have taken off as it has without Flash. Flash has made life on the tv screen and computer monitor much more interesting and enjoyable.

In the mobile space, Flash has not done quite as well. From 1999, Flash Player 4, and on, we’ve had Flash Lite, however Flash content has never really made it onto mobile devices with any significant success.
And now, the web seems to be moving onto these mobile devices. The iPhone has brought millions of people the web in their pockets, inspiring competition from others. The app has been the unit of Will Flash move too, as the web evolves? Adobe is certainly doing it’s best.

In the next version of Flash, CS5, developers and animators can package their creations into an iPhone app. This fact alone suggests that Flash will continue to be a prominent technology in the creation of new media.
Flash CS5 represents a huge potential for a growing number of developers who have been honing their skills in AS3 and on the platform as a whole.

Flash offers a global community of content creators the tools and means to start another digital revolution as people become accustomed to Rich Media experiences on their mobile devices.

The iPad is the device that might bridge the gap for Flash. If, and that’s a big ‘if’, developers can create compelling iPhone applications and then iPad experiences as well. Flash may not make it onto the Apple platform as a player soon, or dare I say ever, but Flash may yet become a very significant authoring tool in the creation of the media consumed on the new web.

There is an amazing opportunity here to, once again, create the future. And I’m talking about the immediate, tangible future here. Not the science fiction reality of five years from now. What is happening this year? What will be commonplace next year? Things move fast in the interactive industry. And they only get faster. But the mainstream, and the limits of bandwidth and firewalls other everyday concerns, moves a little more slowly.

Sure, we’ve had discussions and research about ubiquitous and ambient computing. And augmented reality is certainly a fascinating area of innovation. However, we are still bound to hardware devices.

As strong as Flash has been as software and as a runtime, it has relied for the most part on its player being pre-installed in most modern web browsers. Only recently, in the past 2 years with AIR, has the Flash platform become more than content that runs in a plug-in in our browsers.

There are certainly some distinguished examples of software created with AIR, but the iPhone has been where all the real action is. And that locked-down system is about to be broken wide open with Flash CS5.

As experienced developers publish and package their apps for the iPhone and new designers and developers learn to use the tools, Flash will make a mark !

Interestingly, Read Write Web lists AIR and the iPhone as top ten products for 2009. I consider both to be platforms. Although Adobe and Apple have failed to play well together in the past, this probably won’t stop creatives and publishers from doing whatever they can to bring their content to market. There is much (Flash) talent and content poised to flood the (iPhone) App stores this Spring.

a(nother) paradigm shift

How will Flash animation and interactive content make a difference for the new web? The web that we all access from our mobile devices?

There is a lot of circumstantial evidence pointing to the next coming shift in the media landscape. The new browser from Google, Chrome, the Nexus phone, the introduction of the Droid from Motorola, the proliferation of all sorts of mobile devices and applications. However, the most compelling hard evidence to date is the introduction of the iPad from Apple and Flash CS5 from Adobe.

Specifically, I expect to see original content made in Flash and packaged for the iPhone and iPad making huge waves in the interactive space in the next year.

The iPad is much more than a new ebook reader, although that use alone will probably upend the magazine and book industries. The iTunes app store and the new iPad device represent a bigger shift in the evolution of platforms.
Digital agencies, such as Big Spaceship, and independent artists, like Joshua Davis, now have the brand equity as well as the skills, content and tools to leverage towards this effort. The experts and the and audiences are ready to move the web forward into the palm of our hands and embed it in our lives in an even more intimate and integrated way than before.

The Flash movie changed the web. The iPhone app has changed it again. Combined, these two promise to offer people a whole new level of interactivity, collaboration and content.

Of course, the web is constantly changing and moving. Morphing and metastasizing.

Systems become Platforms which spawn Apps which change Behaviors…

Since we make “websites” and stuff for people, we’re used to learning new tools and techniques all the time. Well, here’s another chance. Use whatever tools you can to make the best experiences you can. Be technology agnostic. Get the job done, Make it work. That’s how I started using Flash in the first place. Tired of animated gifs and inspired by the timeline and the ‘tell target’ command, I made animations more quickly and was able to add interactivity too.
Making sure those experiences are consistent across browsers, systems, platforms, devices, etc. has been a real challenge for web designers and developers. The iPhone packager in Flash CS5 offers content creators a chance to make stuff for an audience of millions on a platform that is stable and growing. It is a platform that people use for fun, for work… for everything! This is the biggest chance for glory that Flash designers and developers have had for a long time! Carpe diem, people!

The magazine re-imagined for the iPad, Games, Useful applications… Most of all, I wonder: what will be the next big viral hit? A stupid time-waster that somehow captures the imagination of an entire society… Will it be on the iPhone? Will it be made with Flash?

My bet is: Yes. It will.

Yes it will! Yes it will! Okay, not as catchy as other chants out there. But the future is once again now, people.

Strike while the iron is hot.

Links:
http://www.appolicious.com/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2362911,00.asp

http://www.mikechambers.com/blog/2010/04/20/on-adobe-flash-cs5-and-iphone-applications/

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/flashstandards/

http://gskinner.com/blog/archives/2010/02/my_thoughts_on.html
http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2010/02/open_access_to_content_and_app.html
http://www.bigspaceship.com/blog/labs/will-all-the-flash-devs-please-stand-up/
http://www.zeldman.com/2010/02/01/flash-ipad-standards/
http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/10/flash-developers-iphone/
http://techcrunch.com/2010/02/05/the-future-of-web-content-html5-flash-mobile-apps/
http://cs5.org/?p=477
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/03/23/adobe_to_officially_unveil_creative_suite_5_for_mac_april_12.html
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashcs5/appsfor_iphone/
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flash/

http://laflash.org/2010/04/23/flash-cs5-and-iphone-packager-presentation-files/

Today’s Apple announcements about the iPhone OS4 do not bode well for Flash on the iPhone, iPod or iPad universe. Neither as a player, or a compiler, it would seem… or would it!?

I feel like I’m watching a game of chess. The iPad is obviously brilliant. And Flash is effin’ awesome! Will Apple and Adobe continue to do battle in this way or will they break down in each other’s arms, dashing the chess pieces aside and melting in a sweet love-fest of interactivity and functionality?

This game is not over yet. But I thought I might be able to get out of learning Objective-C. Now, I’m not sure.

Stay tuned to this channel for more news on the matter.

LA.FO’s April 14 online meeting will hopefully enlighten, educate and entertain. In the meantime…

Daring Fireball has a good articleabout how the new iphone developer agreement bans thrid party code compilers.

And here are a few links from a forth-coming article:
Finding apps through Appolicious
Great overview
Grant Skinner’s take
The argument framed…
Big Spaceship’s perspective
Tech Crunch article
http://cs5.org/?p=477
Apple Insider says April 12 is the big day
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashcs5/appsfor_iphone/

The language from Section 3.3.1 of the iPhone Developers Agreement that we’re all talking about:

“Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).”

Appolicious Curated List of iPhone Apps for and by Flash

Check out Lee’s video here: Lee Brimelow Explains the iPhone Packager in Flash CS5

And they call it sex positive.

Posted via email from timworks’s posterous

• http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2010/02/open_access_to_content_and_app.html
• http://www.gskinner.com/blog/archives/2010/02/my_thoughts_on.html
• http://blog.fitc.ca/post.cfm/html5-flash-and-the-future
• http://gizmodo.com/5461711/giz-explains-why-html5-isnt-going-to-save-the-internet
• http://blog.digitalbackcountry.com/2009/05/html5-versus-flash-versions/
• http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/html-5-could-it-kill-flash-and-silverlight-291

10/GUI from C. Miller on Vimeo.