Apple Thoughts: Adobe To Refocus On HTML5

"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."

As was reported by ZDNet last week, what seemed unthinkable not that long ago has happened: Adobe is embracing HTML5 on mobile platforms. The word is that Adobe is stopping development of the venerable Flash player for browsers on mobile. At the same time, they will be increasing their efforts on HTML5 innovations. On an official Adobe blog, the following detail was published:

"However, HTML5 is now universally supported on major mobile devices, in some cases exclusively. This makes HTML5 the best solution for creating and deploying content in the browser across mobile platforms. We are excited about this, and will continue our work with key players in the HTML community, including Google, Apple, Microsoft and RIM, to drive HTML5 innovation they can use to advance their mobile browsers."

One of the more interesting aspects of this situation is that Apple seems to have been quite prophetic in seeing this development play out. Their iOS mobile platform has not supported Flash since its inception, and they have been quite emphatic that they were not going to support it. Without question HTML5 is gaining momentum, and with Adobe's backing we'll see even more acceleration in the months ahead.