Adobe kills Flash support for Android with Jelly Bean update

Adobe Systems will officially discontinue Flash Player support for Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android, announcing there will be no certified Flash implementations for Android 4.1 (a.k.a. Jelly Bean), unveiled earlier this week.

"We have not continued developing and testing Flash Player for this new version of Android and its available browser options," writes Adobe software quality engineer Tareq AlJaber on the Adobe AIR and Adobe Flash Player Team Blog. "Beginning August 15th we will use the configuration settings in the Google Play Store to limit continued access to Flash Player updates to only those devices that have Flash Player already installed. Devices that do not have Flash Player already installed are increasingly likely to be incompatible with Flash Player and will no longer be able to install it from the Google Play Store after August 15th."

Adobe halted future development of the browser-based Flash Player application runtime for mobile devices last year, indicating it will shift its efforts to native apps and the HTML5 web standard. The firm nevertheless delivered an updated version optimized for Android 4.0, nicknamed Ice Cream Sandwich.

"The easiest way to ensure ongoing access to Flash Player on Android 4.0 or earlier devices is to use certified devices and ensure that the Flash Player is either pre-installed by the manufacturer or installed from Google Play Store before August 15^th," AlJaber states. "If a device is upgraded from Android 4.0 to Android 4.1, the current version of Flash Player may exhibit unpredictable behavior, as it is not certified for use with Android 4.1. Future updates to Flash Player will not work. We recommend uninstalling Flash Player on devices which have been upgraded to Android 4.1."

Moving forward, Adobe will focus on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with its Adobe AIR runtime for all the major app stores. In October 2011, Adobe acquired Nitobi Software, creator of PhoneGap, an open-source development platform enabling programmers to build cross-platform apps written in HTML5 and JavaScript. PhoneGap technology has been used to create thousands of apps across Android, iOS, BlackBerry and other mobile platforms.

Google took the wraps off Android Jelly Bean Wednesday during its annual I/O developer conference. The updated OS promises a smoother and more responsive UI across the system, highlighted by triple buffering in the graphics pipeline for more consistent rendering as well as synchronized touch to reduce latency. Jelly Bean also brings a revamped homescreen that automatically adapts to fit content and a predictive keyboard.

For more:
- read this Adobe AIR and Adobe Flash Player Team Blog entry

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