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March 5, 2008
Apple Refuses Flash Player on iPhone: The Real Reason?
Posted At : March 5, 2008 1:30 PM | Posted By : Aaron West
Related Categories: Adobe General,iPhone,Flash,Mobile & Devices

The proclamation from Steve Jobs that the iPhone will not support the Flash Player, either in it's full desktop player form or Flash Lite, has led many to examine the motivations behind Apple's stance.

Personally, I think this is all just saber-rattling. The most compelling argument I've seen thus far - on why Apple doesn't want Flash on the iPhone - has nothing to do with the security of the Flash player or it's robustness on a mobile platform. Apple wants to control and protect the development channels on the iPhone. They want a say in who builds applications and what those applications are. Furthermore, they have no interest in proliferating the Flash Player's reach within the mobile and devices space. That wouldn't help the advancement of Silverlight at all now would it?

For more on this topic see the links below (posted in no particular order).

CNN's coverage (w/ comment from Ryan Stewart):
http://tinyurl.com/2nxrap

Marketwatch's coverage:
http://tinyurl.com/2zhuwk

Robert Scoble on Apple/Job's declaration of no Flash on iPhone:
http://scobleizer.com/2008/03/05/apple-stabs-adobe-in-the-back/

John Gruber on this topic (more detail on Apple protecting the iPhone dev environment):
http://daringfireball.net/2008/02/flash_iphone_calculus

Ryan Stewart says the Flash Player is coming to iPhone (background info only):
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Stewart/?p=241

Larry Dignan on Apple vs. Adobe iPhone Spat (background info only):
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=8061

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The quote I saw specifically mentioned Flash Lite only as not being an option.

http://www.infoaccelerator.net/index.cfm?event=sho...
# Posted By Andrew Powell | 3/5/08 1:48 PM
Hi, whatever the reason(s) behind Apple not using Flash I don't think it's because they want Silverlight to be successful! That's something I wouldn't want on the iPhone / iPod Touch!
# Posted By Rick Curran | 3/5/08 2:41 PM
If you take care of browsing to any web sites that uses Flash, using any device with FlashLite onboard, you would know the answer: the vast majority of web sites will redirect you to a version of the site that has been specifically designed for mobiles and do not contain any kind of Flash (Lite or full), so mobile web is already WITHOUT Flash. Safari on iPhone do not disguise itself as a mobile browser, but rather as a full one, receiving access to web site designed for desktop and, when used, with full Flash content. iPhone/iPhone Touch DO NOT have the power necessary to run the full version of Flash, so the experience would very pitiful. Furthermore, Flash 9 and FlashLite do not support what people are buying iPhone/iPod Touch for: gestures. Every Flash content rely on the presence of a mouse to input events; touch screen devices do not send mouse over events, making 99% of interactive Flash content out there unusable. Also, Flash 9 sites rely on fast connection and throw hundreds of KB of data even for the most basic content: anything made with Flex has a minimum payload of 273KB and thats before you start to put any of your code on it. While it is fine when Im at home with flat rate, IT IS NOT good when Im on portable device with non flat rate or worse Im roaming outside my home networks. Thats something Im not willing pay on my bill, just to please some flashers. And thats probably what Steve is talking about.
# Posted By Emanuele Cipolloni | 3/5/08 3:10 PM
I'll bet you dollars to donuts that there's nothing you could do in Flash on the iPhone that you won't be able to using the SDK. Especially since Flash is supposed to be a "platform independent" layer that essentially ignores the hardware it's running on.

As such, there's no "secret conspiracy" to "control and protect the development channels on the iPhone".

http://www.iSights.org/2008/03/the-secret-cons.htm...
# Posted By Michael Long | 3/5/08 11:57 PM
there was an interesting (and long) discussion about this in aral balkans blog last year http://aralbalkan.com/977
# Posted By sakri | 3/6/08 5:44 AM
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