Whether it’s on a smartphone or a tablet, the quality of the online browsing experience is critical to the success of any mobile device. Chrome for Android aims to become the optimum browser for Android devices. However, as we pointed out in our previous article, Chrome for Android comes without Flash support in its Beta state, and none is planned.
This development (or lack thereof in this case) was also commented on by Adobe. They mentioned continued development of the PC-based Flash product, and their contribution to HTML5. That in effect is a surrender to the market shift away from their long-standing plug-in.
Is it such a big deal that this browser is throwing the towel in so early? After all, even the stock browser supports Flash, and we made a tongue-in-cheek video pointing this out when comparing it to the iPad. Today we could very well re-shoot that video, only this time with two Android tablets: one running the stock browser and the other running Chrome for Android that doesn’t support Flash.
No, this is not an iPad screenshot, it's a Transformer Prime showing the world that Chrome for Android comes without Flash support.
When we step away from the issue and look at it a little more objectively, Flash is still very much reliant on localised drivers and plug-ins to provide an online experience. In this day and age that combination does seem to be a little old-fashioned. With all things moving to online storage, cloud services and less dependence on the specs of notebooks (take Ultrabooks) and tablets (which are stripped down compared to any PC of note), HTML5 seems to be the best solution.
Chrome for Android comes without Flash support, but will enable HTML5 authors and developers to create rich, interactive environments that will be transferable to any device, regardless of their plug in. After all, why should we need to download an app for Adobe Flash Player just to see a website in its entirety on an Android device?
The very nature of the functionality of Chrome for Android is to connect seamlessly with your desktop experience. With no plug-ins and instant access to open tabs, the shift is very much in the favor of HTML5, the fact that Chrome for Android comes without Flash support seems to be a short term issue.
Apple did indeed bring this topic to a head. It’s encouraging to see the entire mobile platform converging on a single standard for the benefit of all mobile browser users, regardless of which ecosystem they have invested in.
So… will you be updating your website to use HTML5 so your great videos can be viewed if using the Chrome for Android browser?
I think you put out some of if not the best video reviews and was one of the reason I bought my Transformer Prime. Keep up the great reviews.
Thanks for the kind words, and happy to have helped you with your purchase. Yep, I think we need to start looking at HTML5 implementation to ensure all our mobile readers have the best possible experience – especially those on Android ICS 🙂
Hi Ritchie,
As you use a Youtube channel to publish your videos, I am sure using the new iframe embed code from youtube you can update all your existing videos to be HTML5 compatible. This will still keep the flash support intact.
Cheers,
Atif.
Hello, Atif, yes we are looking at that as we speak, however we’ve had some issues using the iframe code from YouTube and are trying to sought through that…hopefully it will be good to go soon. 🙂
HEY GUYS JUST WANTED TO KNOW I HAVE A GALAXY 10.1 AND THE FLASH THROUGH YOUTUBE WORKS FINE BUT ON FACEBOOK VIDS THE SOUND COMES OUT BUT I CANT SEE THE ACTUAL VIDEO SO IF THERES A WAY PLZ LET ME KNOW THANKS AND GREAT POSTS RITCHIE THANKS