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Flash CS 5 to have iPhone App Packager - A sign Flash will be supported soon?

eezing

eezing

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 29, 2008
377
3
Flash CS 5 packager:

"The new support for iPhone applications included in Flash Professional CS5 will not allow iPhone users to browse web content built with Flash technology on iPhone, but it may allow developers to repackage existing web content as applications for iPhone if they choose to do so."

-Adobe FAQ's

The statement above clearly states that users can't browse Flash built web content, but is the App packager a sign that Safari in iPhone OS 4.0 will support Flash?

We know for a fact that the iPhone can technically run Flash. We don't know if it can run in Safari. We also don't know if Apple is willing to support Flash from a business ($$$) standpoint.

What do you think?
 
I think you're just reading too hard into what you want to see.

It's saying that there's a workaround available, because the iPhone will not be able to support Flash. Sounds to me it's actually reaffirming the notion that flash will never be supported on iPhone.

Why would they provide a workaround solution if they think Flash will be available on the iPhone in the near future?
 
CocoaPuffs said:
Why would they provide a workaround solution if they think Flash will be available on the iPhone in the near future?
Click to expand...

So one can monetize via the app store. It's NOT a "workaround solution". The App Packager is a way for people with flash content to make money from it.
 
eezing said:
So one can monetize via the app store. It's NOT a "workaround solution". The App Packager is a way for people with flash content to make money from it.
Click to expand...
It is a workaround solution if they're converting Flash into objective-c iPhone Apps. They're basically re-packaging ActionScripts and hopefully translate it successfully into app-ready objective-c codes. This will only result in more crappy non-native apps in the app store, and certainly not a sign that flash will be supported by iPhone anytime soon.
 
CocoaPuffs said:
It is a workaround solution if they're converting Flash into objective-c iPhone Apps. They're basically re-packaging ActionScripts and hopefully translate it successfully into app-ready objective-c codes. This will only result in more crappy non-native apps in the app store, and certainly not a sign that flash will be supported by iPhone anytime soon.
Click to expand...

Do you know for a fact that the method is converting to objective-c code? I would assume that it's a self contained flash player running a flash file of some kind... like OS X.
 
eezing said:
Do you know for a fact that the method is converting to objective-c code? I would assume that it's a self contained flash player running a flash file of some kind... like OS X.
Click to expand...
So every app would be embedded with a large Flash app just so it can play Flash content?

Logically that would be a no.
 
CocoaPuffs said:
So every app would be embedded with a large Flash app just so it can play Flash content?

Logically that would be a no.
Click to expand...

Well, I know a 1 MB .swf on PC can be placed in a 2 MB self contained .exe for windows (doesn't require flash to run).
 
eezing said:
Do you know for a fact that the method is converting to objective-c code? I would assume that it's a self contained flash player running a flash file of some kind... like OS X.
Click to expand...

Well, the agreement all developers sign prohibits the packaging of interpreters, like Flash, into apps for the store. So the one thing we can be 100% sure of is that they are not packaging flash. But they are not converting to Objective-C: this is a human readable high-level language. They are compiling down to ARM machine code. Just like Objective-C compiles down to. This does not, in itself, guarantee good performance though: their method of compiling ActionScript to ARM may generate really bad, slow code.
 
eezing said:
Well, I know a 1 MB .swf on PC can be placed in a 2 MB self contained .exe for windows (doesn't require flash to run).
Click to expand...

Are applications for iPhone built with Flash Platform tools interpreted at runtime?
No. iPhone applications built with the Packager for iPhone are compiled into standard, native iPhone executables, just like any other iPhone application.
Click to expand...

There. Native iPhone executables. There will not be flash player for iPhone OS.
Apple screwed that tie up by being elitist and d*cking Adobe around.

EDIT: Guess I was beaten to it anyway.
 
Schtumple said:
There. Native iPhone executables. There will not be flash player for iPhone OS.
Apple screwed that tie up by being elitist and d*cking Adobe around.
Click to expand...

A .app regardless of what's inside is a native iphone executable. a .swf is not a native executable and requires a runtime (flash).

I read the whole FAQ, and was a bit skeptical on that one.
 
eezing said:
A .app regardless of what's inside is a native iphone executable. a .swf is not a native executable and requires a runtime (flash).

I read the whole FAQ, and was a bit skeptical on that one.
Click to expand...

Regardless of you skepticism that is the only route into the app store. Of course we are yet to see how native these apps feel. Natively compiled code is not the same as native look and feel or native performance. Java can be compiled to native code but still uses Swing (or whatever UI toolkit the developer chose) and still feels alien. I fully expect these apps built in flash will still feel odd on the iPhone.
 
eezing said:
A .app regardless of what's inside is a native iphone executable. a .swf is not a native executable and requires a runtime (flash).

I read the whole FAQ, and was a bit skeptical on that one.
Click to expand...

I'm not gunna lie, I had to trawl through the FAQ before I could find at least some kind of definitive answer... and like you said, even that one's not too great.

Still, there won't be flash player sadly, whilst it would be nice if Apple joined the majority of the internet, it won't happen anytime soon, not whilst Jobs is there at least.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_1_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7E18 Safari/528.16)

There are already apps in the store built using this. Anyone try any?
 
Apple will never support Flash on the iPad and iPhone unless the market buckles down, stops buying, and demands Flash.

Thus it will never happen.

As I browse the internet I see three uses for Flash:

1) Ads

I don't want these to work anyway.

2) Video

HTML5 is perfectly capable of video playback.

3) Games

I'll leave this for others to debate, but I rarely see games built into sites I'm just browsing (blogs, news, Google, etc).
 
Oops. Looks like Apple got wind of Adobe's plans, because they've banned it in the new developer agreement today:

http://daringfireball.net/2010/04/iphone_agreement_bans_flash_compiler

3.3.1 — 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).
Click to expand...
 
Why the **** does apple have to shoot themselves in the foot like this? I love their products but their business side makes me cringe daily.
 
question asked today too Steve Jobs

I think this says it all!

11:23AM Also, when Steve was asked if there were plans to add Flash or java, his response was a flat: No.
 
labman said:
I think this says it all!

11:23AM Also, when Steve was asked if there were plans to add Flash or java, his response was a flat: No.
Click to expand...


Apple, I am kicking out Flash from the AppStore
screenshot20100408at642y.png


Adobe President to Apple: Don't you ever touch my flash code in iPhone
screenshot20100408at642.png


Apple to Adobe: Are you threatening me?
screenshot20100408at641.png



YouTube - Funny Scene From Night At The Museum 2
 
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