Adobe Discontinues Development of Flash Player on Mobile Devices - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Adobe Discontinues Development of Flash Player on Mobile Devices

flashplayer 165x165ZDNet is reporting that Adobe has announced to its partners that the company has discontinued development on Flash Player for mobile browsers. The news comes roughly a year and a half after the publication of Steve Jobs' "Thoughts on Flash" open letter, laying out his thoughts on the use of Flash in mobile devices and explaining why Apple would not support Flash on their mobile devices.

Instead of working on mobile Flash, Adobe plans to continue developing its tools to produce applications that work on mobile app stores, including Apple's App Store.

From Adobe's announcement:

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. Some of our source code licensees may opt to continue working on and releasing their own implementations. We will continue to support the current Android and PlayBook configurations with critical bug fixes and security updates.

ZDNet notes that the announcement should go public on Adobe's website in the next day.

Update: The complete announcement has now been posted to Adobe's site.

Popular Stories

HomePod mini and Apple TV Sage

New Apple TV and HomePod Mini Are 'Nearly Ready' to Launch, New Siri Remote Also Rumored

Sunday May 31, 2026 8:47 am PDT by
New models of the Apple TV 4K and HomePod mini are "nearly ready to go," according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Both devices have been ready "for months," but Apple is holding off on launching them until the more personalized version of Siri is available, he said. "I am told the hardware for the next Apple TV...
iphone 17 pro black feature

iPhone 18 Pro's Camera Upgrade Will Cost Apple 50% More

Friday May 29, 2026 3:44 am PDT by
The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max's all-new variable aperture lens will cost Apple 50% more than the camera unit used in current models, according to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Variable aperture has been one of the most persistent iPhone camera rumors of the past few years. Kuo first flagged the feature in late 2024, and it has since been corroborated by multiple reports and...
iphone 18 pro color dummies

First Look at iPhone 18 Pro Color Options Revealed by Dummy Models

Friday May 29, 2026 4:50 am PDT by
Leaker Sonny Dickson today shared images of iPhone 18 Pro dummy models in the device's four rumored colors, offering the first real-world look at what to expect from the lineup visually. Corroborating previous rumors, the dummies show the iPhone 18 Pro Max in Light Blue, Black, Silver, and Dark Cherry. Dickson said "Cherry will probably be the next hit, orange did very well." Cosmic Orange...

Top Rated Comments

190 months ago
Apple killed flash.
Score: 109 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Juan007 Avatar
190 months ago
Two years ago, Steve Jobs said "Flash sucks on mobile devices". Adobe whined, screamed, bitched and moaned about it.

Today, Adobe just said "Flash sucks on mobile devices".
Score: 105 Votes (Like | Disagree)
B777Forevar Avatar
190 months ago
Good.
Flash sucks anyway regardless on any device.
And this is comming from a iPhone and Android user.
Score: 100 Votes (Like | Disagree)
190 months ago
Steve Jobs, April 2010

"....Flash has not performed well on mobile devices. We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it. Adobe publicly said that Flash would ship on a smartphone in early 2009, then the second half of 2009, then the first half of 2010, and now they say the second half of 2010. We think it will eventually ship, but we’re glad we didn’t hold our breath. Who knows how it will perform?"
Score: 95 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThomasJL Avatar
190 months ago
Good. Now if only Adobe would discontinue development on personal computer Flash...
Score: 83 Votes (Like | Disagree)
isopepper Avatar
190 months ago
Right again

Don't need floppy, got CD.
Don't need PS2/Serial, got USB.
Don't need expansion, got Firewire/Thunderbolt.

So many choices were right.

Don't need Flash, got HTML5.

So, now Adobe has given up and is doing the next best thing from their perspective - translating Flash apps for the medium. Good choice.
Score: 75 Votes (Like | Disagree)

🔗 Related Apple News & Rumors

Stay updated with the latest Apple ecosystem news and verified rumors