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This article is about the player. For an overview of the platform, see Adobe Flash.

«Shockwave Flash» redirects here. Not to be confused with Adobe Shockwave. For the file format sometimes referred to as «Shockwave Flash», see SWF.

Adobe Flash Player

Original author(s)	FutureWave Macromedia
Developer(s)	Adobe Inc. Zhongcheng Harman
Initial release	January 1, 1996; 27 years ago
Stable release(s) [±]
Windows, macOS (China-specific variant) 34.0.0.277[1] / November 8, 2022; 2 months ago[2] Windows, macOS, Linux (Harman enterprise variant) 50.x[3] / N/A Linux (China-specific variant) 34.0.0.137[4][5] / April 13, 2021; 21 months ago[2] Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS (Global variant, excluding China) 32.0.0.465[6] / December 8, 2020; 2 years ago[7] Internet Explorer 11 and Edge Legacy (Embedded — Windows 8 and later) 32.0.0.445[6] / October 13, 2020; 2 years ago[7] Android 4.0.x 11.1.115.81 / September 10, 2013; 9 years ago[7] Android 2.x and 3.x 11.1.111.73 / September 10, 2013; 9 years ago[7] Solaris 11.2.202.223 / March 28, 2012; 10 years ago[7]
Preview release(s) [±]
Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS 32.0.0.380 Beta / May 14, 2020; 2 years ago[8]
Written in	ActionScript
Operating system	Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, Solaris, BlackBerry Tablet OS, Android, Pocket PC
Platform	Web browsers and ActiveX-based software
Available in	Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Turkish, Xhosa, Telugu, Vietnamese, Afrikaans, Yiddish, Zulu, and Arabic[9]
Type	Runtime system and browser extension
License	Freeware
Website	Adobe Flash Player End of Life (EOL, original global variants) Adobe Flash Player Harman official website (active, Harman enterprise variant) Adobe Flash Player China official website (active, China-specific variant)

Adobe Flash Player (known in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome as Shockwave Flash)^[10] is computer software for viewing multimedia contents, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming audio and video content created on the Adobe Flash platform. It can run from a web browser as a browser plug-in or independently on supported devices. Originally created by FutureWave under the name FutureSplash Player, it was renamed to Macromedia Flash Player after Macromedia acquired FutureWave in 1996. It was then developed and distributed by Adobe Systems as Flash Player after Adobe acquired Macromedia in 2005. It is currently developed and distributed by Zhongcheng for users in China, and by Harman International for enterprise users outside of China, in collaboration with Adobe.

Flash Player runs SWF files that can be created by Adobe Flash Professional, Adobe Flash Builder or by third-party tools such as FlashDevelop. Flash Player supports vector graphics, 3D graphics, embedded audio, video and raster graphics, and a scripting language called ActionScript, which is based on ECMAScript (similar to JavaScript) and supports object-oriented code. Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge Legacy, in Windows 8 and later, along with Google Chrome on all versions of Windows, came bundled with a sandboxed Adobe Flash plug-in.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

Flash Player once had a large user base, and was a common format for web games, animations, and graphical user interface (GUI) elements embedded in web pages. Adobe stated in 2013 that more than 400 million out of over 1 billion connected desktops updated to new versions of Flash Player within six weeks of release.^[16] However, Flash Player became increasingly criticized for its performance, consumption of battery on mobile devices, the number of security vulnerabilities that had been discovered in the software, and its closed platform nature. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was highly critical of Flash Player, having published an open letter detailing Apple’s reasoning for not supporting Flash on its iOS device family. Its usage also waned because of modern web standards that allow some of Flash’s use cases to be fulfilled without third-party plugins.^[17][18][19] This led to the eventual deprecation of the platform by Adobe. Flash Player was officially discontinued on 31 December 2020, and its download page was removed two days later. Since 12 January 2021, Flash Player (original global variants) versions newer than 32.0.0.371, released in May 2020, refuse to play Flash content and instead display a static warning message.^[20] The software remains supported in mainland China and in some enterprise variants.^[21]

Features[edit]

Adobe Flash Player is a runtime that executes and displays content from a provided SWF file, although it has no in-built features to modify the SWF file at runtime. It can execute software written in the ActionScript programming language which enables the runtime manipulation of text, data, vector graphics, raster graphics, sound, and video. The player can also access certain connected hardware devices, including the web cameras and microphones, after permission for the same has been granted by the user.

Flash Player was used internally by the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), to provide a cross-platform runtime environment for desktop applications and mobile applications. AIR supports installable applications on Windows, Linux, macOS, and some mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android. Flash applications must specifically be built for the AIR runtime to use additional features provided, such as file system integration, native client extensions, native window/screen integration, taskbar/dock integration, and hardware integration with connected Accelerometer and GPS devices.^[22]

Data formats[edit]

Flash Player included native support for many data formats, some of which can only be accessed through the ActionScript scripting interface.

• XML: Flash Player has included native support for XML parsing and generation since version 8. XML data is held in memory as an XML Document Object Model, and can be manipulated using ActionScript. ActionScript 3 also supports ECMAScript for XML (E4X), which allows XML data to be manipulated more easily.
• JSON: Flash Player 11 includes native support for importing and exporting data in the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format, which allows interoperability with web services and JavaScript programs.
• AMF: Flash Player allows application data to be stored on users computers, in the form of Local Shared Objects, the Flash equivalent to browser cookies.^[23] Flash Player can also natively read and write files in the Action Message Format, the default data format for Local Shared Objects. Since the AMF format specification is published, data can be transferred to and from Flash applications using AMF datasets instead of JSON or XML, reducing the need for parsing and validating such data.
• SWF: The specification for the SWF file format was published by Adobe, enabling the development of the SWX Format project, which used the SWF file format and AMF as a means for Flash applications to exchange data with server side applications.^[24][25] The SWX system stores data as standard SWF bytecode which is automatically interpreted by Flash Player.^[26] Another open-source project, SWXml allows Flash applications to load XML files as native ActionScript objects without any client-side XML parsing, by converting XML files to SWF/AMF on the server.^[27][28]

Multimedia formats[edit]

Flash Player is primarily a graphics and multimedia platform, and has supported raster graphics and vector graphics since its earliest version. It supports the following different multimedia formats which it can natively decode and play back.

• MP3: Support for decoding and playback of streaming MPEG-2 Audio Layer III (MP3) audio was introduced in Flash Player 4. MP3 files can be accessed and played back from a server via HTTP, or embedded inside an SWF file, which is also a streaming format.
• FLV: Support for decoding and playing back video and audio inside Flash Video (FLV and F4V) files, a format developed by Adobe Systems and Macromedia. Flash Video is only a container format and supports multiple different video codecs, such as Sorenson Spark, VP6, and more recently H.264.^[29] Flash Player uses hardware acceleration to display video where present, using technologies such as DirectX Video Acceleration and OpenGL to do so. Flash Video is used by YouTube,^[30] Hulu,^[31] Yahoo! Video, BBC Online,^[32] and other news providers. FLV files can be played back from a server using HTTP progressive download, and can also be embedded inside an SWF file. Flash Video can also be streamed via RTMP using the Adobe Flash Media Server or other such server-side software.
• PNG: Support for decoding and rendering Portable Network Graphics (PNG) images, in both its 24-bit (opaque) and 32-bit (semi-transparent) variants. Flash Player 11 can also encode a PNG bitmap via ActionScript.
• JPEG: Support for decoding and rendering compressed JPEG images. Flash Player 10 added support for the JPEG-XR advanced image compression standard developed by Microsoft Corporation, which results in better compression and quality than JPEG. JPEG-XR enables lossy and lossless compression with or without alpha channel transparency. Flash Player 11 can also encode a JPEG or JPEG-XR bitmap via ActionScript.
• GIF: Support for decoding and rendering compressed Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) images, in its single-frame variants only. Loading a multi-frame GIF will display only the first image frame.

Streaming protocols[edit]

• HTTP: Support for communicating with web servers using HTTP requests and POST data.^[33] However, only websites that explicitly allow Flash to connect to them can be accessed via HTTP or sockets, to prevent Flash being used as a tool for cross-site request forgery,^[34] cross-site scripting, DNS rebinding,^[35] and denial-of-service attacks. Websites must host a certain XML file termed a cross domain policy,^[35] allowing or denying Flash content from specific websites to connect to them. Certain websites, such as Digg, Flickr, and Photobucket already host a cross domain policy that permits Flash content to access their website via HTTP.^[36]
• RTMP: Support for live audio and video streaming using the Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) developed by Macromedia. RTMP supports a non-encrypted version over the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or an encrypted version over a secure Transport Layer Security (SSL) connection. RTMPT can also be encapsulated within HTTP requests to traverse firewalls that only allow HTTP traffic.
• TCP: Support for Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Internet socket communication to communicate with any type of server, using stream sockets. Sockets can be used only via ActionScript, and can transfer plain text, XML, or binary data (ActionScript 3.0 and later).^[37][38] To prevent security issues, web servers that permit Flash content to communicate with them using sockets must host an XML-based cross domain policy file, served on Port 843.^[39] Sockets enable AS3 programs to interface with any kind of server software, such as MySQL.^[40]

Performance[edit]

Hardware acceleration[edit]

Until version 10 of the Flash player, there was no support for GPU acceleration. Version 10 added a limited form of support for shaders on materials in the form of the Pixel Bender API, but still did not have GPU-accelerated 3D vertex processing.^[41] A significant change came in version 11, which added a new low-level API called Stage3D (initially codenamed Molehill), which provides full GPU acceleration, similar to WebGL.^[42][43] (The partial support for GPU acceleration in Pixel Bender was completely removed in Flash 11.8, resulting in the disruption of some projects like MIT’s Scratch, which lacked the manpower to recode their applications quickly enough.^[44][45])

Current versions of Flash Player are optimized to use hardware acceleration for video playback and 3D graphics rendering on many devices, including desktop computers. Performance is similar to HTML5 video playback.^[46][47] Also, Flash Player has been used on multiple mobile devices as a primary user interface renderer.^[48]

Compilation[edit]

Although code written in ActionScript 3 executes up to 10 times faster than the prior ActionScript 2,^[49] the Adobe ActionScript 3 compiler is a non-optimizing compiler, and produces inefficient bytecode in the resulting SWF, when compared to toolkits such as CrossBridge.^{[50][51][52][53][54]}

CrossBridge, a toolkit that targets C++ code to run within the Flash Player, uses the LLVM compiler to produce bytecode that runs up to 10 times faster than code the ActionScript 3 compiler produces, only because the LLVM compiler uses more aggressive optimization.^[52][53][54]

Adobe has released ActionScript Compiler 2 (ASC2) in Flex 4.7 and onwards, which improves compilation times and optimizes the generated bytecode and supports method inlining, improving its performance at runtime.^[55]

As of 2012, the Haxe multiplatform language can build programs for Flash Player that perform faster than the same application built with the Adobe Flex SDK compiler.^{[56][unreliable source?]}

Development methods[edit]

Flash Player applications and games can be built in two significantly different methods:

• «Flex» applications: The Adobe Flex Framework is an integrated collection of stylable Graphical User Interface, data manipulation and networking components, and applications built upon it are termed «Flex» applications. Startup time is reduced since the Flex framework must be downloaded before the application begins, and weighs in at approximately 500KB. Editors include Adobe Flash Builder and FlashDevelop.
• «Pure ActionScript» applications: Applications built without the Flex framework allow greater flexibility and performance.^[57][58][59] Video games built for Flash Player are typically pure-Actionscript projects. Various open-source component frameworks are available for pure ActionScript projects, such as MadComponents, that provide UI Components at significantly smaller SWF file sizes.^[60][61]

In both methods, developers can access the full Flash Player set of functions, including text, vector graphics, bitmap graphics, video, audio, camera, microphone, and others. AIR also includes added features such as file system integration, native extensions, native desktop integration, and hardware integration with connected devices.

Development tools[edit]

Adobe provides five ways of developing applications for Flash Player:

• Adobe Animate: graphic design, animation and scripting toolset
• Adobe Flash Builder: enterprise application development and debugging
• Adobe Scout: visual profiler for performance optimization
• Apache Flex: a free SDK to compile Flash and Adobe AIR applications from source code; developed by Adobe and donated to the Apache Foundation^[62]
• CrossBridge: a free SDK to cross-compile C++ code to run in Flash Player

Third-party development environments are also available:

• FlashDevelop: an open-source Flash ActionScript IDE, which includes a debugger for AIR applications
• Powerflasher FDT: a commercial ActionScript IDE
• CodeDrive: an extension to Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 for ActionScript 3 development and debugging
• MTASC: a compiler
• Haxe: a multi-platform language^[63]

Game development[edit]

Adobe offers the free Adobe Gaming SDK, consisting (as of August 2014) of several open-source AS3 libraries built on the Flash Player Stage3D APIs for GPU-accelerated graphics:^[64]

• Away3D: GPU-accelerated 3D graphics and animation engine
• Starling: GPU-accelerated 2D graphics that mimics the Flash display list API
• Feathers: GPU-accelerated skinnable GUI library built on top of Starling
• Dragon Bones: GPU-accelerated 2D skeletal animation library

A few commercial game engines target Flash Player (Stage3D) as run-time environment, such as Unity 3D^[65] and Unreal Engine 3.^[65][66] Before the introduction of Stage3D, a number of older 2D engines or isometric engines like Flixel saw their heyday.^[67]

Adobe also developed the CrossBridge toolkit which cross-compiles C/C++ code to run within the Flash Player, using LLVM and GCC as compiler backends, and high-performance memory-access opcodes in the Flash Player (termed «Domain Memory») to work with in-memory data quickly.^[68] CrossBridge is targeted toward the game development industry, and includes tools for building, testing, and debugging C/C++ projects in Flash Player.

Notable online video games developed in Flash include Angry Birds, FarmVille, and AdventureQuest (started in 2002, and still active as of 2020).^[69]

Availability[edit]

Desktop platforms[edit]

Adobe Flash Player is available in two major flavors:

1. The plugin version for use in various web browsers
2. The «projector» version is a standalone player that can open SWF files directly.^[70][71]

On February 22, 2012, Adobe announced that it would no longer release new versions of NPAPI Flash plugins for Linux, although Flash Player 11.2 would continue to receive security updates.^[72][73][74] In August 2016 Adobe announced that, beginning with version 24, it will resume offering of Flash Player for Linux for other browsers.^[75]

The Extended Support Release (ESR) of Flash Player on macOS and Windows was a version of Flash Player kept up to date with security updates, but none of the new features or bug fixes available in later versions. In August 2016, Adobe discontinued the ESR branch and instead focused solely on the standard release.^[76]

Release history for desktop operating systems

Operating system	First version	Latest version	Support status
Windows	XP SP2–11	1	34.0.0.277 (China-specific)[77] 50.x (Harman enterprise)[78] 32.0.0.465 (last public update, excluding China)[79]	2017–present 2021–present 2001–2020
2000 and XP RTM–SP1	11.1.102.55 and 10.3.183.90[80]	1999–2013
98, ME and 2000 RTM–SP2	9.0.289.0[80]	1998–2011
95 and NT 4 (IA-32)	7.0.14.0[80]	1997–2005
3.1	3[81]	1997–1998
macOS	10.12 and later	5.0.41.0[82]	34.0.0.277 (China-specific)[77]	2017–present
10.10 and later	50.x (Harman enterprise)[78] 32.0.0.465 (last public update, excluding China)[79]	2021–present 2014–2020
10.9	29.0.0.171[80]	2013–2018
10.6–10.8 (IA-32, x64)	22.0.0.209[80]	2009–2016
10.5 (IA-32,x64)	10.3.183.90[80]	2007–2013
10.4 (IA-32,PPC)–10.5 (PPC)	10.1.102.64[80]	2005–2011
10.1–10.3	9.0.289.0[80]	2001–2011
Classic Mac OS	7.6.1–9.2.2 (PowerPC)	1	7.0.14.0[80]	1997–2005
7.6.1–8.1 (68k)	3[81]	1997–1998
Linux desktops	4.0r12[83][84]	50.x (Harman enterprise)[78] 34.0.0.137 (last public update, China-specific)[85] 32.0.0.465 (last public update, excluding China)[79]	2021–present 2017–2021[86] 1999–2020
Solaris and OpenSolaris	4.0r12[83]	11.2.202.223 and 10.3.183.90[80]	2004–2013
IRIX	4.0r12[83][87]	4.0.r12[88]	1999

Version 10 can be run under Windows 98/Me using KernelEx. HP offered Version 6 of the player for HP-UX,^[89] while Innotek GmbH offered versions 4 and 5 for OS/2.^[90] Other versions of the player have been available at some point for BeOS.^{[citation needed]}

Mobile platforms[edit]

In 2011, Flash Player had emerged as the de facto standard for online video publishing on the desktop, with adaptive bitrate video streaming, DRM, and fullscreen support.^[30][31] On mobile devices, however, after Apple refused to allow the Flash Player within the inbuilt iOS web browser, Adobe changed strategy, enabling Flash content to be delivered as native mobile applications using the Adobe Integrated Runtime.

Up until 2012, Flash Player 11 was available for the Android (ARM Cortex-A8 and above),^[91] although in June 2012, Google announced that Android 4.1 (codenamed Jelly Bean) would not support Flash by default. In August 2012, Adobe stopped updating Flash for Android.^[92]

Flash Player was supported on a select range of mobile and tablet devices, from Acer, BlackBerry 10, Dell, HTC, Lenovo, Logitech, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, SoftBank, Sony (and Sony Ericsson), and Toshiba.^[93][94][95] As of 2012, Adobe has stopped browser-based Flash Player development for mobile browsers in favor of HTML5,^[96][97] however, Adobe continues to support Flash content on mobile devices with the Adobe Integrated Runtime, which allows developers to publish content that runs as native applications on certain supported mobile phone platforms.

Adobe said it will optimize Flash for use on ARM architecture (ARMv7 and ARMv6 architectures used in the Cortex-A series of processors and in the ARM11 family) and release it in the second half of 2009. The company also stated it wants to enable Flash on NVIDIA Tegra, Texas Instruments OMAP 3, and Samsung ARMs.^[98][99] Beginning 2009, it was announced that Adobe would be bringing Flash to TV sets via Intel Media Processor CE 3100 before mid-2009.^[100] ARM Holdings later said it welcomes the move of Flash, because «it will transform mobile applications and it removes the claim that the desktop controls the Internet.»^[101] However, as of May 2009, the expected ARM/Linux netbook devices had poor support for Web video and fragmented software base.^[102]

Among other devices, LeapFrog Enterprises provides Flash Player with their Leapster Multimedia Learning System and extended the Flash Player with touch-screen support.^[103] Version 9 was the most recent version available for the Linux/ARM-based Nokia 770/N800/N810 Internet tablets running Maemo OS2008.^[89] Other versions of the player have been available at some point for Symbian OS and Palm OS.^[104] The Kodak Easyshare One includes Flash Player.^[105]

The following table documents historical support for Flash Player on mobile operating systems:

Platform	Final version
Android 4.0, ARM Cortex-A8+[91]	Flash Player 11.1.115.81[80]
Android 2.2–3.x, ARM Cortex-A8+[106][91]	Flash Player 11.1.111.73[80]
Dreamcast	Flash Player 4.0[citation needed]
Maemo	Flash Player 9.4[107]
PlayStation 3 with Firmware 2.50, NetFront 2.81	Flash Player 9.1 (update 3)[108]
PSP with Firmware 2.70	Flash Player 6[109]
Pocket PC 2003[110]	Flash Player 7[111][112]
webOS (Palm and HP)	Flash Player 10[citation needed]
Windows Mobile 5[110]	Flash Player 7[111]

Other hardware[edit]

Some CPU emulators have been created for Flash Player, including Chip8,^[113] Commodore 64,^[114] ZX Spectrum,^[115] and the Nintendo Entertainment System.^[116] They enable video games created for such platforms to run within Flash Player.

End of life[edit]

Adobe announced on July 25, 2017, that it would end support for the normal/global variant of Flash Player on January 1, 2021, and encouraged developers to use HTML5 standards in place of Flash.^[117][118] The announcement was coordinated with Apple,^[119] Facebook,^[120] Google,^[121] Microsoft,^[122] and Mozilla.^[123] Adobe announced that all major web browsers planned to officially remove the Adobe Flash Player component on December 31, 2020, and Microsoft removed it from the Windows OS in January 2021 via Windows Update. In a move to further reduce the number of Flash Player installations, Adobe added a «time bomb» to Flash to disable existing installations after January 12, 2021.^[124] In mid-2020, Flash Player started prompting users to uninstall itself.^[125] Adobe removed all existing download links for Flash installers.^[126] After January 26, 2021, all major web browsers including Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox have already permanently removed Flash support.^[127] However, Flash content continues to be accessible on the web through emulators such as Ruffle, with varying degrees of compatibility and performance, although this is not endorsed by Adobe.

Web browsers[edit]

Google Chrome[edit]

Starting from Chrome 76, Flash is disabled by default without any prompts to activate Flash content.^[128] Users who wanted to play Flash content had to manually set a browser to prompt for Flash content, and then during each browser session enable Flash plugin for every site individually. Microsoft Edge, which is based on Chromium, followed the same plan as Google Chrome.^[129]

Google Chrome blocked the Flash plugin as «out of date» in January 2021, and fully removed it from the browser with Chrome version 88, released on January 20, 2021.^[130][131]

Mozilla Firefox[edit]

Starting with Firefox 85,^[128] Flash is disabled by default without any prompts to activate Flash content. To play Flash content, users had to manually set a browser to prompt for Flash content, and then during each browser session enable Flash plugin for every site individually. Firefox 85, released on January 26, 2021, completely removed support for the Flash plugin.^[127] Firefox ESR dropped support on November 2, 2021 (Firefox 78 ESR was the last version with support).^[132]

Microsoft Windows[edit]

On October 27, 2020, Microsoft released an update (named KB4577586) for Windows 10 and 8.1 which removes the embedded Adobe Flash Player component from IE11 and Edge Legacy. In July 2021, this update was automatically installed as a security patch.^[133][134] However, an ActiveX Flash Player plugin may still be used with IE after this update is applied.^[135][136]

Apple Safari[edit]

Apple dropped Flash Player support from Safari 14 alongside the release of macOS Big Sur.^[137][138]

Fallout[edit]

Despite the years of notice, several websites still were using Flash following December 31, 2020, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Many of these were resolved in the weeks after the deadline. However, many educational institutions still relied on Flash for educational material and did not have a path forward for replacement.^[139]

Post-EOL support[edit]

Mainland China[edit]

The China-specific variant of Flash will be supported beyond 2020, by a company known as Zhongcheng.^[140][141] The Projector (standalone) versions of this variant also work outside of China and do not include the «Flash Helper Service»; however, some tracking code still seems to be present. They are available on a somewhat hidden «Debug» page.^[142] In addition, as the global variant of the plugin was discontinued, some users have figured how to modify and repack the China-specific variant to bring it more in line with the global variant. This includes removing the «Flash Helper Service» and removing the China only installation restriction, along with all other geo-restrictions and tracking code. A «time bomb», similar to the one found in later versions of the global variant, is also present in the unmodified China variant; this is also removed in most repacks. In theory, these repacks should provide users outside of China with the latest security updates to Flash Player, without having to deal with invasive advertisements or worry about privacy risks.^[143] One such project, «Clean Flash Installer», was served a DMCA takedown from Adobe in October 2021.^[144]

Enterprise[edit]

Adobe has partnered with Harman to support enterprise Flash Player users until at least 2023.^[145][146] The Harman Flash player variant is labeled as version 50.x, to avoid confusion with other variants.^[78]

Web browsers[edit]

Internet Explorer 11, along with IE mode in Edge,^[78] will continue with ActiveX support, and by extension Flash Player support.^[136] Firefox forks that plan to continue NPAPI support, and by extension Flash Player support, include Waterfox, Basilisk, Pale Moon, and K-Meleon. Various Chromium-based Chinese browsers will also continue to support Flash Player in PPAPI and/or NPAPI form, including, but not limited to, 360 Secure Browser.^[135]

Shortly after Flash EOL, South African Revenue Service (SARS) released a custom version of Chromium browser with the Adobe Flash Player «time bomb» removed. This browser can access only a small set of SARS online pages containing Flash-based forms required for filing financial reports.^[147]

Adobe Flash Player Projector[edit]

Although no longer available directly from Adobe, all versions of Adobe Flash Player Projector (also known as Adobe Flash Player Standalone) lack the «time bomb» present in the newer plug-in variants, and thus continue to be able to play all supported Flash file formats, including SWF files, without modification.^{[148][71][142]}

Content preservation projects[edit]

The Internet Archive hosts some Flash content and makes it playable in modern browsers via emulators, Ruffle and Emularity.^[149] Other emulators, such as CheerpX, also exist as options for Flash Player emulation on other websites.^[150] BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint project claims to have collected more than 38,000 Adobe Flash Player games and animations and made them available for download.^[151]

Open source[edit]

Adobe has released some components of Adobe Flash products as open source software via Open Screen Project or donated them to open source organizations. As of 2021, most of these technologies are considered obsolete. This includes: ActionScript Virtual Machine 2 (AVM2) which implements ActionScript 3 (donated as open-source to Mozilla Foundation), Adobe Flex Framework (donated as open-source to the Apache Software Foundation and rebranded as Apache Flex,^[62] superseded by Apache Royale), CrossBridge C++ cross-compilation toolset (released on GitHub).^[152][153]

Criticism[edit]

Accessibility and usability[edit]

In some browsers, prior Flash versions have had to be uninstalled before an updated version could be installed.^[154][155] However, as of version 11.2 for Windows, there are now automatic updater options.^[156] Linux is partially supported, as Adobe is cooperating with Google to implement it via Chrome web browser on all Linux platforms.^[157]

Mixing Flash applications with HTML leads to inconsistent input handling leading to poor user experience with the site (keyboard and mouse not working as they would in an HTML-only document).^{[citation needed]}

Privacy[edit]

Flash Player supports persistent local storage of data (also referred to as Local Shared Objects), which can be used similarly to HTTP cookies or Web Storage in web applications. Local storage in Flash Player allows websites to store non-executable data on a user’s computer, such as authentication information, game high scores or web browser games, server-based session identifiers, site preferences, saved work, or temporary files. Flash Player will only allow content originating from exactly the same website domain to access data saved in local storage.^[158]

Because local storage can be used to save information on a computer that is later retrieved by the same site, a site can use it to gather user statistics, similar to how HTTP cookies and Web Storage can be used. With such technologies, the possibility of building a profile based on user statistics is considered by some a potential privacy concern. Users can disable or restrict use of local storage in Flash Player through a «Settings Manager» page.^[159][160] These settings can be accessed from the Adobe website or by right-clicking on Flash-based content and selecting «Global Settings».

Local storage can be disabled entirely or on a site-by-site basis. Disabling local storage will block any content from saving local user information using Flash Player, but this may disable or reduce the functionality of some websites, such as saved preferences or high scores and saved progress in games.

Flash Player 10.1 and upward honor the privacy mode settings in the latest versions of the Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari web browsers, such that no local storage data is saved when the browser’s privacy mode is in use.^[161]

Security[edit]

Adobe security bulletins and advisories announce security updates, but Adobe Flash Player release notes do not disclose the security issues addressed when a release closes security holes, making it difficult to evaluate the urgency of a particular update. A version test page allows the user to check if the latest version is installed, and uninstallers may be used to ensure that old-version plugins have been uninstalled from all installed browsers.

In February 2010, Adobe officially apologized^[162] for not fixing a known vulnerability for over a year. In June 2010 Adobe announced a «critical vulnerability» in recent versions, saying there are reports that this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild against both Adobe Flash Player, and Adobe Reader and Acrobat.^[163][164] Later, in October 2010, Adobe announced^[165] another critical vulnerability, this time also affecting Android-based mobile devices. Android users have been recommended to disable Flash or make it only on demand.^[166] Subsequent security vulnerabilities also exposed Android users, such as the two critical vulnerabilities published in February 2013^[167] or the four critical vulnerabilities published in March 2013,^[168] all of which could lead to arbitrary code execution.

Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report^[169] states that a remote code execution in Adobe Reader and Flash Player^[170] was the second most attacked vulnerability in 2009. The same report also recommended using browser extensions to disable Flash Player usage on untrusted websites. McAfee predicted that Adobe software, especially Reader and Flash, would be primary target for attacks in 2010.^[171] Adobe applications had become, at least at some point, the most popular client-software targets for attackers during the last quarter of 2009.^[172] The Kaspersky Security Network published statistics for the third quarter of 2012 showing that 47.5% of its users were affected by one or more critical vulnerabilities.^[173] The report also highlighted that «Flash Player vulnerabilities enable cybercriminals to bypass security systems integrated into the application.»^[173]

Steve Jobs criticized the security of Flash Player, noting that «Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009».^[174] Adobe responded by pointing out that «the Symantec Global Internet Threat Report for 2009, found that Flash Player had the second lowest number of vulnerabilities of all Internet technologies listed (which included both web plug-ins and browsers).»^[175][176]

On April 7, 2016, Adobe released a Flash Player patch for a zero-day memory corruption vulnerability CVE-2016-1019 that could be used to deliver malware via the Magnitude exploit kit. The vulnerability could be exploited for remote code execution.^[177][178]

Vendor lock-in[edit]

Flash Player 11.2 does not play certain kinds of content unless it has been digitally signed by Adobe, following a license obtained by the publisher directly from Adobe.^[179]

This move by Adobe, together with the abandonment of Flex to Apache was criticized as a way to lock out independent tool developers, in favor of Adobe’s commercial tools.^{[180][181][182]}

This has been resolved as of January 2013, after Adobe no longer requires a license or royalty from the developer. All premium features are now classified as general availability, and can be freely used by Flash applications.^[183]

Apple controversy[edit]

In April 2010, Steve Jobs, at the time CEO of Apple Inc. published an open letter explaining why Apple would not support Flash on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.^[174] In the letter he blamed problems with the «openness», stability, security, performance, and touchscreen integration of the Flash Player as reasons for refusing to support it. He also claimed that when one of Apple’s Macintosh computers crashes, «more often than not» the cause can be attributed to Flash, and described Flash as «buggy».^[184] Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen responded by saying, «If Flash [is] the number one reason that Macs crash, which I’m not aware of, it has as much to do with the Apple operating system.»^[185]

Steve Jobs also claimed that a large percentage of the video on the Internet is supported on iOS, since many popular video sharing websites such as YouTube have published video content in an HTML5 compatible format, enabling videos to playback in mobile web browsers even without Flash Player.^[186]

Mainland China-specific variant[edit]

Starting with version 30, Adobe stopped distributing Flash Player directly to users from mainland China. Instead, they selected 2144.cn as a partner and released a special variant of Flash Player on a specific website,^[187] which contains a non-closable process, known as the «Flash Helper Service», that collects private information and pops up advertisement window contents,^[188] by receiving and running encrypted programs from a remote server.^[189] The partnership started in about 2017, but in version 30, Adobe disabled the usage of vanilla (global) variant of Flash Player in mainland China,^[190] forcing users to use that specific variant, which may pose a risk to its users due to Internet censorship by Chinese Communist Party (CCP).^[191] This only affected Chinese Chromium based browser users, Firefox users, and Internet Explorer users using Windows 7 and below, as Microsoft still directly distributed Flash Player for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge through Windows Update in Windows 8 and upward at the time. Starting in 2021, however, this variant is the only publicly supported version of Flash Player.

Release history[edit]

See also[edit]

• Adobe Flash
• Adobe AIR
• Adobe Shockwave
• Apache Flex
• Microsoft Silverlight

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Understanding Flash Player with Adobe Scout – an article discussing the internals of the player and the Adobe Scout profiling tool

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Final global variant version of the standalone projector. at the Wayback Machine (archived April 1, 2022)
• Archived Adobe Flash Player versions at the Wayback Machine (archived July 18, 2020)
• Flash Tester Archived June 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine (explains official old working version check)

This article is about the player. For an overview of the platform, see Adobe Flash.

«Shockwave Flash» redirects here. Not to be confused with Adobe Shockwave. For the file format sometimes referred to as «Shockwave Flash», see SWF.

Adobe Flash Player

Original author(s)	FutureWave Macromedia
Developer(s)	Adobe Inc. Zhongcheng Harman
Initial release	January 1, 1996; 27 years ago
Stable release(s) [±]
Windows, macOS (China-specific variant) 34.0.0.277[1] / November 8, 2022; 2 months ago[2] Windows, macOS, Linux (Harman enterprise variant) 50.x[3] / N/A Linux (China-specific variant) 34.0.0.137[4][5] / April 13, 2021; 21 months ago[2] Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS (Global variant, excluding China) 32.0.0.465[6] / December 8, 2020; 2 years ago[7] Internet Explorer 11 and Edge Legacy (Embedded — Windows 8 and later) 32.0.0.445[6] / October 13, 2020; 2 years ago[7] Android 4.0.x 11.1.115.81 / September 10, 2013; 9 years ago[7] Android 2.x and 3.x 11.1.111.73 / September 10, 2013; 9 years ago[7] Solaris 11.2.202.223 / March 28, 2012; 10 years ago[7]
Preview release(s) [±]
Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS 32.0.0.380 Beta / May 14, 2020; 2 years ago[8]
Written in	ActionScript
Operating system	Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, Solaris, BlackBerry Tablet OS, Android, Pocket PC
Platform	Web browsers and ActiveX-based software
Available in	Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Turkish, Xhosa, Telugu, Vietnamese, Afrikaans, Yiddish, Zulu, and Arabic[9]
Type	Runtime system and browser extension
License	Freeware
Website	Adobe Flash Player End of Life (EOL, original global variants) Adobe Flash Player Harman official website (active, Harman enterprise variant) Adobe Flash Player China official website (active, China-specific variant)

Adobe Flash Player (known in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome as Shockwave Flash)^[10] is computer software for viewing multimedia contents, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming audio and video content created on the Adobe Flash platform. It can run from a web browser as a browser plug-in or independently on supported devices. Originally created by FutureWave under the name FutureSplash Player, it was renamed to Macromedia Flash Player after Macromedia acquired FutureWave in 1996. It was then developed and distributed by Adobe Systems as Flash Player after Adobe acquired Macromedia in 2005. It is currently developed and distributed by Zhongcheng for users in China, and by Harman International for enterprise users outside of China, in collaboration with Adobe.

Flash Player runs SWF files that can be created by Adobe Flash Professional, Adobe Flash Builder or by third-party tools such as FlashDevelop. Flash Player supports vector graphics, 3D graphics, embedded audio, video and raster graphics, and a scripting language called ActionScript, which is based on ECMAScript (similar to JavaScript) and supports object-oriented code. Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft Edge Legacy, in Windows 8 and later, along with Google Chrome on all versions of Windows, came bundled with a sandboxed Adobe Flash plug-in.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

Flash Player once had a large user base, and was a common format for web games, animations, and graphical user interface (GUI) elements embedded in web pages. Adobe stated in 2013 that more than 400 million out of over 1 billion connected desktops updated to new versions of Flash Player within six weeks of release.^[16] However, Flash Player became increasingly criticized for its performance, consumption of battery on mobile devices, the number of security vulnerabilities that had been discovered in the software, and its closed platform nature. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was highly critical of Flash Player, having published an open letter detailing Apple’s reasoning for not supporting Flash on its iOS device family. Its usage also waned because of modern web standards that allow some of Flash’s use cases to be fulfilled without third-party plugins.^[17][18][19] This led to the eventual deprecation of the platform by Adobe. Flash Player was officially discontinued on 31 December 2020, and its download page was removed two days later. Since 12 January 2021, Flash Player (original global variants) versions newer than 32.0.0.371, released in May 2020, refuse to play Flash content and instead display a static warning message.^[20] The software remains supported in mainland China and in some enterprise variants.^[21]

Features[edit]

Adobe Flash Player is a runtime that executes and displays content from a provided SWF file, although it has no in-built features to modify the SWF file at runtime. It can execute software written in the ActionScript programming language which enables the runtime manipulation of text, data, vector graphics, raster graphics, sound, and video. The player can also access certain connected hardware devices, including the web cameras and microphones, after permission for the same has been granted by the user.

Flash Player was used internally by the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), to provide a cross-platform runtime environment for desktop applications and mobile applications. AIR supports installable applications on Windows, Linux, macOS, and some mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android. Flash applications must specifically be built for the AIR runtime to use additional features provided, such as file system integration, native client extensions, native window/screen integration, taskbar/dock integration, and hardware integration with connected Accelerometer and GPS devices.^[22]

Data formats[edit]

Flash Player included native support for many data formats, some of which can only be accessed through the ActionScript scripting interface.

• XML: Flash Player has included native support for XML parsing and generation since version 8. XML data is held in memory as an XML Document Object Model, and can be manipulated using ActionScript. ActionScript 3 also supports ECMAScript for XML (E4X), which allows XML data to be manipulated more easily.
• JSON: Flash Player 11 includes native support for importing and exporting data in the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format, which allows interoperability with web services and JavaScript programs.
• AMF: Flash Player allows application data to be stored on users computers, in the form of Local Shared Objects, the Flash equivalent to browser cookies.^[23] Flash Player can also natively read and write files in the Action Message Format, the default data format for Local Shared Objects. Since the AMF format specification is published, data can be transferred to and from Flash applications using AMF datasets instead of JSON or XML, reducing the need for parsing and validating such data.
• SWF: The specification for the SWF file format was published by Adobe, enabling the development of the SWX Format project, which used the SWF file format and AMF as a means for Flash applications to exchange data with server side applications.^[24][25] The SWX system stores data as standard SWF bytecode which is automatically interpreted by Flash Player.^[26] Another open-source project, SWXml allows Flash applications to load XML files as native ActionScript objects without any client-side XML parsing, by converting XML files to SWF/AMF on the server.^[27][28]

Multimedia formats[edit]

Flash Player is primarily a graphics and multimedia platform, and has supported raster graphics and vector graphics since its earliest version. It supports the following different multimedia formats which it can natively decode and play back.

• MP3: Support for decoding and playback of streaming MPEG-2 Audio Layer III (MP3) audio was introduced in Flash Player 4. MP3 files can be accessed and played back from a server via HTTP, or embedded inside an SWF file, which is also a streaming format.
• FLV: Support for decoding and playing back video and audio inside Flash Video (FLV and F4V) files, a format developed by Adobe Systems and Macromedia. Flash Video is only a container format and supports multiple different video codecs, such as Sorenson Spark, VP6, and more recently H.264.^[29] Flash Player uses hardware acceleration to display video where present, using technologies such as DirectX Video Acceleration and OpenGL to do so. Flash Video is used by YouTube,^[30] Hulu,^[31] Yahoo! Video, BBC Online,^[32] and other news providers. FLV files can be played back from a server using HTTP progressive download, and can also be embedded inside an SWF file. Flash Video can also be streamed via RTMP using the Adobe Flash Media Server or other such server-side software.
• PNG: Support for decoding and rendering Portable Network Graphics (PNG) images, in both its 24-bit (opaque) and 32-bit (semi-transparent) variants. Flash Player 11 can also encode a PNG bitmap via ActionScript.
• JPEG: Support for decoding and rendering compressed JPEG images. Flash Player 10 added support for the JPEG-XR advanced image compression standard developed by Microsoft Corporation, which results in better compression and quality than JPEG. JPEG-XR enables lossy and lossless compression with or without alpha channel transparency. Flash Player 11 can also encode a JPEG or JPEG-XR bitmap via ActionScript.
• GIF: Support for decoding and rendering compressed Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) images, in its single-frame variants only. Loading a multi-frame GIF will display only the first image frame.

Streaming protocols[edit]

• HTTP: Support for communicating with web servers using HTTP requests and POST data.^[33] However, only websites that explicitly allow Flash to connect to them can be accessed via HTTP or sockets, to prevent Flash being used as a tool for cross-site request forgery,^[34] cross-site scripting, DNS rebinding,^[35] and denial-of-service attacks. Websites must host a certain XML file termed a cross domain policy,^[35] allowing or denying Flash content from specific websites to connect to them. Certain websites, such as Digg, Flickr, and Photobucket already host a cross domain policy that permits Flash content to access their website via HTTP.^[36]
• RTMP: Support for live audio and video streaming using the Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) developed by Macromedia. RTMP supports a non-encrypted version over the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or an encrypted version over a secure Transport Layer Security (SSL) connection. RTMPT can also be encapsulated within HTTP requests to traverse firewalls that only allow HTTP traffic.
• TCP: Support for Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Internet socket communication to communicate with any type of server, using stream sockets. Sockets can be used only via ActionScript, and can transfer plain text, XML, or binary data (ActionScript 3.0 and later).^[37][38] To prevent security issues, web servers that permit Flash content to communicate with them using sockets must host an XML-based cross domain policy file, served on Port 843.^[39] Sockets enable AS3 programs to interface with any kind of server software, such as MySQL.^[40]

Performance[edit]

Hardware acceleration[edit]

Until version 10 of the Flash player, there was no support for GPU acceleration. Version 10 added a limited form of support for shaders on materials in the form of the Pixel Bender API, but still did not have GPU-accelerated 3D vertex processing.^[41] A significant change came in version 11, which added a new low-level API called Stage3D (initially codenamed Molehill), which provides full GPU acceleration, similar to WebGL.^[42][43] (The partial support for GPU acceleration in Pixel Bender was completely removed in Flash 11.8, resulting in the disruption of some projects like MIT’s Scratch, which lacked the manpower to recode their applications quickly enough.^[44][45])

Current versions of Flash Player are optimized to use hardware acceleration for video playback and 3D graphics rendering on many devices, including desktop computers. Performance is similar to HTML5 video playback.^[46][47] Also, Flash Player has been used on multiple mobile devices as a primary user interface renderer.^[48]

Compilation[edit]

Although code written in ActionScript 3 executes up to 10 times faster than the prior ActionScript 2,^[49] the Adobe ActionScript 3 compiler is a non-optimizing compiler, and produces inefficient bytecode in the resulting SWF, when compared to toolkits such as CrossBridge.^{[50][51][52][53][54]}

CrossBridge, a toolkit that targets C++ code to run within the Flash Player, uses the LLVM compiler to produce bytecode that runs up to 10 times faster than code the ActionScript 3 compiler produces, only because the LLVM compiler uses more aggressive optimization.^[52][53][54]

Adobe has released ActionScript Compiler 2 (ASC2) in Flex 4.7 and onwards, which improves compilation times and optimizes the generated bytecode and supports method inlining, improving its performance at runtime.^[55]

As of 2012, the Haxe multiplatform language can build programs for Flash Player that perform faster than the same application built with the Adobe Flex SDK compiler.^{[56][unreliable source?]}

Development methods[edit]

Flash Player applications and games can be built in two significantly different methods:

• «Flex» applications: The Adobe Flex Framework is an integrated collection of stylable Graphical User Interface, data manipulation and networking components, and applications built upon it are termed «Flex» applications. Startup time is reduced since the Flex framework must be downloaded before the application begins, and weighs in at approximately 500KB. Editors include Adobe Flash Builder and FlashDevelop.
• «Pure ActionScript» applications: Applications built without the Flex framework allow greater flexibility and performance.^[57][58][59] Video games built for Flash Player are typically pure-Actionscript projects. Various open-source component frameworks are available for pure ActionScript projects, such as MadComponents, that provide UI Components at significantly smaller SWF file sizes.^[60][61]

In both methods, developers can access the full Flash Player set of functions, including text, vector graphics, bitmap graphics, video, audio, camera, microphone, and others. AIR also includes added features such as file system integration, native extensions, native desktop integration, and hardware integration with connected devices.

Development tools[edit]

Adobe provides five ways of developing applications for Flash Player:

• Adobe Animate: graphic design, animation and scripting toolset
• Adobe Flash Builder: enterprise application development and debugging
• Adobe Scout: visual profiler for performance optimization
• Apache Flex: a free SDK to compile Flash and Adobe AIR applications from source code; developed by Adobe and donated to the Apache Foundation^[62]
• CrossBridge: a free SDK to cross-compile C++ code to run in Flash Player

Third-party development environments are also available:

• FlashDevelop: an open-source Flash ActionScript IDE, which includes a debugger for AIR applications
• Powerflasher FDT: a commercial ActionScript IDE
• CodeDrive: an extension to Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 for ActionScript 3 development and debugging
• MTASC: a compiler
• Haxe: a multi-platform language^[63]

Game development[edit]

Adobe offers the free Adobe Gaming SDK, consisting (as of August 2014) of several open-source AS3 libraries built on the Flash Player Stage3D APIs for GPU-accelerated graphics:^[64]

• Away3D: GPU-accelerated 3D graphics and animation engine
• Starling: GPU-accelerated 2D graphics that mimics the Flash display list API
• Feathers: GPU-accelerated skinnable GUI library built on top of Starling
• Dragon Bones: GPU-accelerated 2D skeletal animation library

A few commercial game engines target Flash Player (Stage3D) as run-time environment, such as Unity 3D^[65] and Unreal Engine 3.^[65][66] Before the introduction of Stage3D, a number of older 2D engines or isometric engines like Flixel saw their heyday.^[67]

Adobe also developed the CrossBridge toolkit which cross-compiles C/C++ code to run within the Flash Player, using LLVM and GCC as compiler backends, and high-performance memory-access opcodes in the Flash Player (termed «Domain Memory») to work with in-memory data quickly.^[68] CrossBridge is targeted toward the game development industry, and includes tools for building, testing, and debugging C/C++ projects in Flash Player.

Notable online video games developed in Flash include Angry Birds, FarmVille, and AdventureQuest (started in 2002, and still active as of 2020).^[69]

Availability[edit]

Desktop platforms[edit]

Adobe Flash Player is available in two major flavors:

1. The plugin version for use in various web browsers
2. The «projector» version is a standalone player that can open SWF files directly.^[70][71]

On February 22, 2012, Adobe announced that it would no longer release new versions of NPAPI Flash plugins for Linux, although Flash Player 11.2 would continue to receive security updates.^[72][73][74] In August 2016 Adobe announced that, beginning with version 24, it will resume offering of Flash Player for Linux for other browsers.^[75]

The Extended Support Release (ESR) of Flash Player on macOS and Windows was a version of Flash Player kept up to date with security updates, but none of the new features or bug fixes available in later versions. In August 2016, Adobe discontinued the ESR branch and instead focused solely on the standard release.^[76]

Release history for desktop operating systems

Operating system	First version	Latest version	Support status
Windows	XP SP2–11	1	34.0.0.277 (China-specific)[77] 50.x (Harman enterprise)[78] 32.0.0.465 (last public update, excluding China)[79]	2017–present 2021–present 2001–2020
2000 and XP RTM–SP1	11.1.102.55 and 10.3.183.90[80]	1999–2013
98, ME and 2000 RTM–SP2	9.0.289.0[80]	1998–2011
95 and NT 4 (IA-32)	7.0.14.0[80]	1997–2005
3.1	3[81]	1997–1998
macOS	10.12 and later	5.0.41.0[82]	34.0.0.277 (China-specific)[77]	2017–present
10.10 and later	50.x (Harman enterprise)[78] 32.0.0.465 (last public update, excluding China)[79]	2021–present 2014–2020
10.9	29.0.0.171[80]	2013–2018
10.6–10.8 (IA-32, x64)	22.0.0.209[80]	2009–2016
10.5 (IA-32,x64)	10.3.183.90[80]	2007–2013
10.4 (IA-32,PPC)–10.5 (PPC)	10.1.102.64[80]	2005–2011
10.1–10.3	9.0.289.0[80]	2001–2011
Classic Mac OS	7.6.1–9.2.2 (PowerPC)	1	7.0.14.0[80]	1997–2005
7.6.1–8.1 (68k)	3[81]	1997–1998
Linux desktops	4.0r12[83][84]	50.x (Harman enterprise)[78] 34.0.0.137 (last public update, China-specific)[85] 32.0.0.465 (last public update, excluding China)[79]	2021–present 2017–2021[86] 1999–2020
Solaris and OpenSolaris	4.0r12[83]	11.2.202.223 and 10.3.183.90[80]	2004–2013
IRIX	4.0r12[83][87]	4.0.r12[88]	1999

Version 10 can be run under Windows 98/Me using KernelEx. HP offered Version 6 of the player for HP-UX,^[89] while Innotek GmbH offered versions 4 and 5 for OS/2.^[90] Other versions of the player have been available at some point for BeOS.^{[citation needed]}

Mobile platforms[edit]

In 2011, Flash Player had emerged as the de facto standard for online video publishing on the desktop, with adaptive bitrate video streaming, DRM, and fullscreen support.^[30][31] On mobile devices, however, after Apple refused to allow the Flash Player within the inbuilt iOS web browser, Adobe changed strategy, enabling Flash content to be delivered as native mobile applications using the Adobe Integrated Runtime.

Up until 2012, Flash Player 11 was available for the Android (ARM Cortex-A8 and above),^[91] although in June 2012, Google announced that Android 4.1 (codenamed Jelly Bean) would not support Flash by default. In August 2012, Adobe stopped updating Flash for Android.^[92]

Flash Player was supported on a select range of mobile and tablet devices, from Acer, BlackBerry 10, Dell, HTC, Lenovo, Logitech, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sharp, SoftBank, Sony (and Sony Ericsson), and Toshiba.^[93][94][95] As of 2012, Adobe has stopped browser-based Flash Player development for mobile browsers in favor of HTML5,^[96][97] however, Adobe continues to support Flash content on mobile devices with the Adobe Integrated Runtime, which allows developers to publish content that runs as native applications on certain supported mobile phone platforms.

Adobe said it will optimize Flash for use on ARM architecture (ARMv7 and ARMv6 architectures used in the Cortex-A series of processors and in the ARM11 family) and release it in the second half of 2009. The company also stated it wants to enable Flash on NVIDIA Tegra, Texas Instruments OMAP 3, and Samsung ARMs.^[98][99] Beginning 2009, it was announced that Adobe would be bringing Flash to TV sets via Intel Media Processor CE 3100 before mid-2009.^[100] ARM Holdings later said it welcomes the move of Flash, because «it will transform mobile applications and it removes the claim that the desktop controls the Internet.»^[101] However, as of May 2009, the expected ARM/Linux netbook devices had poor support for Web video and fragmented software base.^[102]

Among other devices, LeapFrog Enterprises provides Flash Player with their Leapster Multimedia Learning System and extended the Flash Player with touch-screen support.^[103] Version 9 was the most recent version available for the Linux/ARM-based Nokia 770/N800/N810 Internet tablets running Maemo OS2008.^[89] Other versions of the player have been available at some point for Symbian OS and Palm OS.^[104] The Kodak Easyshare One includes Flash Player.^[105]

The following table documents historical support for Flash Player on mobile operating systems:

Platform	Final version
Android 4.0, ARM Cortex-A8+[91]	Flash Player 11.1.115.81[80]
Android 2.2–3.x, ARM Cortex-A8+[106][91]	Flash Player 11.1.111.73[80]
Dreamcast	Flash Player 4.0[citation needed]
Maemo	Flash Player 9.4[107]
PlayStation 3 with Firmware 2.50, NetFront 2.81	Flash Player 9.1 (update 3)[108]
PSP with Firmware 2.70	Flash Player 6[109]
Pocket PC 2003[110]	Flash Player 7[111][112]
webOS (Palm and HP)	Flash Player 10[citation needed]
Windows Mobile 5[110]	Flash Player 7[111]

Other hardware[edit]

Some CPU emulators have been created for Flash Player, including Chip8,^[113] Commodore 64,^[114] ZX Spectrum,^[115] and the Nintendo Entertainment System.^[116] They enable video games created for such platforms to run within Flash Player.

End of life[edit]

Adobe announced on July 25, 2017, that it would end support for the normal/global variant of Flash Player on January 1, 2021, and encouraged developers to use HTML5 standards in place of Flash.^[117][118] The announcement was coordinated with Apple,^[119] Facebook,^[120] Google,^[121] Microsoft,^[122] and Mozilla.^[123] Adobe announced that all major web browsers planned to officially remove the Adobe Flash Player component on December 31, 2020, and Microsoft removed it from the Windows OS in January 2021 via Windows Update. In a move to further reduce the number of Flash Player installations, Adobe added a «time bomb» to Flash to disable existing installations after January 12, 2021.^[124] In mid-2020, Flash Player started prompting users to uninstall itself.^[125] Adobe removed all existing download links for Flash installers.^[126] After January 26, 2021, all major web browsers including Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox have already permanently removed Flash support.^[127] However, Flash content continues to be accessible on the web through emulators such as Ruffle, with varying degrees of compatibility and performance, although this is not endorsed by Adobe.

Web browsers[edit]

Google Chrome[edit]

Starting from Chrome 76, Flash is disabled by default without any prompts to activate Flash content.^[128] Users who wanted to play Flash content had to manually set a browser to prompt for Flash content, and then during each browser session enable Flash plugin for every site individually. Microsoft Edge, which is based on Chromium, followed the same plan as Google Chrome.^[129]

Google Chrome blocked the Flash plugin as «out of date» in January 2021, and fully removed it from the browser with Chrome version 88, released on January 20, 2021.^[130][131]

Mozilla Firefox[edit]

Starting with Firefox 85,^[128] Flash is disabled by default without any prompts to activate Flash content. To play Flash content, users had to manually set a browser to prompt for Flash content, and then during each browser session enable Flash plugin for every site individually. Firefox 85, released on January 26, 2021, completely removed support for the Flash plugin.^[127] Firefox ESR dropped support on November 2, 2021 (Firefox 78 ESR was the last version with support).^[132]

Microsoft Windows[edit]

On October 27, 2020, Microsoft released an update (named KB4577586) for Windows 10 and 8.1 which removes the embedded Adobe Flash Player component from IE11 and Edge Legacy. In July 2021, this update was automatically installed as a security patch.^[133][134] However, an ActiveX Flash Player plugin may still be used with IE after this update is applied.^[135][136]

Apple Safari[edit]

Apple dropped Flash Player support from Safari 14 alongside the release of macOS Big Sur.^[137][138]

Fallout[edit]

Despite the years of notice, several websites still were using Flash following December 31, 2020, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Many of these were resolved in the weeks after the deadline. However, many educational institutions still relied on Flash for educational material and did not have a path forward for replacement.^[139]

Post-EOL support[edit]

Mainland China[edit]

The China-specific variant of Flash will be supported beyond 2020, by a company known as Zhongcheng.^[140][141] The Projector (standalone) versions of this variant also work outside of China and do not include the «Flash Helper Service»; however, some tracking code still seems to be present. They are available on a somewhat hidden «Debug» page.^[142] In addition, as the global variant of the plugin was discontinued, some users have figured how to modify and repack the China-specific variant to bring it more in line with the global variant. This includes removing the «Flash Helper Service» and removing the China only installation restriction, along with all other geo-restrictions and tracking code. A «time bomb», similar to the one found in later versions of the global variant, is also present in the unmodified China variant; this is also removed in most repacks. In theory, these repacks should provide users outside of China with the latest security updates to Flash Player, without having to deal with invasive advertisements or worry about privacy risks.^[143] One such project, «Clean Flash Installer», was served a DMCA takedown from Adobe in October 2021.^[144]

Enterprise[edit]

Adobe has partnered with Harman to support enterprise Flash Player users until at least 2023.^[145][146] The Harman Flash player variant is labeled as version 50.x, to avoid confusion with other variants.^[78]

Web browsers[edit]

Internet Explorer 11, along with IE mode in Edge,^[78] will continue with ActiveX support, and by extension Flash Player support.^[136] Firefox forks that plan to continue NPAPI support, and by extension Flash Player support, include Waterfox, Basilisk, Pale Moon, and K-Meleon. Various Chromium-based Chinese browsers will also continue to support Flash Player in PPAPI and/or NPAPI form, including, but not limited to, 360 Secure Browser.^[135]

Shortly after Flash EOL, South African Revenue Service (SARS) released a custom version of Chromium browser with the Adobe Flash Player «time bomb» removed. This browser can access only a small set of SARS online pages containing Flash-based forms required for filing financial reports.^[147]

Adobe Flash Player Projector[edit]

Although no longer available directly from Adobe, all versions of Adobe Flash Player Projector (also known as Adobe Flash Player Standalone) lack the «time bomb» present in the newer plug-in variants, and thus continue to be able to play all supported Flash file formats, including SWF files, without modification.^{[148][71][142]}

Content preservation projects[edit]

The Internet Archive hosts some Flash content and makes it playable in modern browsers via emulators, Ruffle and Emularity.^[149] Other emulators, such as CheerpX, also exist as options for Flash Player emulation on other websites.^[150] BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint project claims to have collected more than 38,000 Adobe Flash Player games and animations and made them available for download.^[151]

Open source[edit]

Adobe has released some components of Adobe Flash products as open source software via Open Screen Project or donated them to open source organizations. As of 2021, most of these technologies are considered obsolete. This includes: ActionScript Virtual Machine 2 (AVM2) which implements ActionScript 3 (donated as open-source to Mozilla Foundation), Adobe Flex Framework (donated as open-source to the Apache Software Foundation and rebranded as Apache Flex,^[62] superseded by Apache Royale), CrossBridge C++ cross-compilation toolset (released on GitHub).^[152][153]

Criticism[edit]

Accessibility and usability[edit]

In some browsers, prior Flash versions have had to be uninstalled before an updated version could be installed.^[154][155] However, as of version 11.2 for Windows, there are now automatic updater options.^[156] Linux is partially supported, as Adobe is cooperating with Google to implement it via Chrome web browser on all Linux platforms.^[157]

Mixing Flash applications with HTML leads to inconsistent input handling leading to poor user experience with the site (keyboard and mouse not working as they would in an HTML-only document).^{[citation needed]}

Privacy[edit]

Flash Player supports persistent local storage of data (also referred to as Local Shared Objects), which can be used similarly to HTTP cookies or Web Storage in web applications. Local storage in Flash Player allows websites to store non-executable data on a user’s computer, such as authentication information, game high scores or web browser games, server-based session identifiers, site preferences, saved work, or temporary files. Flash Player will only allow content originating from exactly the same website domain to access data saved in local storage.^[158]

Because local storage can be used to save information on a computer that is later retrieved by the same site, a site can use it to gather user statistics, similar to how HTTP cookies and Web Storage can be used. With such technologies, the possibility of building a profile based on user statistics is considered by some a potential privacy concern. Users can disable or restrict use of local storage in Flash Player through a «Settings Manager» page.^[159][160] These settings can be accessed from the Adobe website or by right-clicking on Flash-based content and selecting «Global Settings».

Local storage can be disabled entirely or on a site-by-site basis. Disabling local storage will block any content from saving local user information using Flash Player, but this may disable or reduce the functionality of some websites, such as saved preferences or high scores and saved progress in games.

Flash Player 10.1 and upward honor the privacy mode settings in the latest versions of the Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari web browsers, such that no local storage data is saved when the browser’s privacy mode is in use.^[161]

Security[edit]

Adobe security bulletins and advisories announce security updates, but Adobe Flash Player release notes do not disclose the security issues addressed when a release closes security holes, making it difficult to evaluate the urgency of a particular update. A version test page allows the user to check if the latest version is installed, and uninstallers may be used to ensure that old-version plugins have been uninstalled from all installed browsers.

In February 2010, Adobe officially apologized^[162] for not fixing a known vulnerability for over a year. In June 2010 Adobe announced a «critical vulnerability» in recent versions, saying there are reports that this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild against both Adobe Flash Player, and Adobe Reader and Acrobat.^[163][164] Later, in October 2010, Adobe announced^[165] another critical vulnerability, this time also affecting Android-based mobile devices. Android users have been recommended to disable Flash or make it only on demand.^[166] Subsequent security vulnerabilities also exposed Android users, such as the two critical vulnerabilities published in February 2013^[167] or the four critical vulnerabilities published in March 2013,^[168] all of which could lead to arbitrary code execution.

Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report^[169] states that a remote code execution in Adobe Reader and Flash Player^[170] was the second most attacked vulnerability in 2009. The same report also recommended using browser extensions to disable Flash Player usage on untrusted websites. McAfee predicted that Adobe software, especially Reader and Flash, would be primary target for attacks in 2010.^[171] Adobe applications had become, at least at some point, the most popular client-software targets for attackers during the last quarter of 2009.^[172] The Kaspersky Security Network published statistics for the third quarter of 2012 showing that 47.5% of its users were affected by one or more critical vulnerabilities.^[173] The report also highlighted that «Flash Player vulnerabilities enable cybercriminals to bypass security systems integrated into the application.»^[173]

Steve Jobs criticized the security of Flash Player, noting that «Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009».^[174] Adobe responded by pointing out that «the Symantec Global Internet Threat Report for 2009, found that Flash Player had the second lowest number of vulnerabilities of all Internet technologies listed (which included both web plug-ins and browsers).»^[175][176]

On April 7, 2016, Adobe released a Flash Player patch for a zero-day memory corruption vulnerability CVE-2016-1019 that could be used to deliver malware via the Magnitude exploit kit. The vulnerability could be exploited for remote code execution.^[177][178]

Vendor lock-in[edit]

Flash Player 11.2 does not play certain kinds of content unless it has been digitally signed by Adobe, following a license obtained by the publisher directly from Adobe.^[179]

This move by Adobe, together with the abandonment of Flex to Apache was criticized as a way to lock out independent tool developers, in favor of Adobe’s commercial tools.^{[180][181][182]}

This has been resolved as of January 2013, after Adobe no longer requires a license or royalty from the developer. All premium features are now classified as general availability, and can be freely used by Flash applications.^[183]

Apple controversy[edit]

In April 2010, Steve Jobs, at the time CEO of Apple Inc. published an open letter explaining why Apple would not support Flash on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.^[174] In the letter he blamed problems with the «openness», stability, security, performance, and touchscreen integration of the Flash Player as reasons for refusing to support it. He also claimed that when one of Apple’s Macintosh computers crashes, «more often than not» the cause can be attributed to Flash, and described Flash as «buggy».^[184] Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen responded by saying, «If Flash [is] the number one reason that Macs crash, which I’m not aware of, it has as much to do with the Apple operating system.»^[185]

Steve Jobs also claimed that a large percentage of the video on the Internet is supported on iOS, since many popular video sharing websites such as YouTube have published video content in an HTML5 compatible format, enabling videos to playback in mobile web browsers even without Flash Player.^[186]

Mainland China-specific variant[edit]

Starting with version 30, Adobe stopped distributing Flash Player directly to users from mainland China. Instead, they selected 2144.cn as a partner and released a special variant of Flash Player on a specific website,^[187] which contains a non-closable process, known as the «Flash Helper Service», that collects private information and pops up advertisement window contents,^[188] by receiving and running encrypted programs from a remote server.^[189] The partnership started in about 2017, but in version 30, Adobe disabled the usage of vanilla (global) variant of Flash Player in mainland China,^[190] forcing users to use that specific variant, which may pose a risk to its users due to Internet censorship by Chinese Communist Party (CCP).^[191] This only affected Chinese Chromium based browser users, Firefox users, and Internet Explorer users using Windows 7 and below, as Microsoft still directly distributed Flash Player for Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge through Windows Update in Windows 8 and upward at the time. Starting in 2021, however, this variant is the only publicly supported version of Flash Player.

Release history[edit]

See also[edit]

• Adobe Flash
• Adobe AIR
• Adobe Shockwave
• Apache Flex
• Microsoft Silverlight

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Understanding Flash Player with Adobe Scout – an article discussing the internals of the player and the Adobe Scout profiling tool

External links[edit]

• Official website
• Final global variant version of the standalone projector. at the Wayback Machine (archived April 1, 2022)
• Archived Adobe Flash Player versions at the Wayback Machine (archived July 18, 2020)
• Flash Tester Archived June 12, 2018, at the Wayback Machine (explains official old working version check)

3 года назад Adobe решила не развивать мобильную версию плагина для проигрывателя Flash Player. Тогда сообщалось, что благодаря такому шагу разработчики сосредоточатся на развитии технологий HTML5 для мобильных гаджетов. Недавно стало известно, что из-за проблем с безопасностью Adobe перестанет его поддерживать с 01.01.2021. Нужно понять, стоит ли удалять Flash Player и как это сделать.

Ее устанавливают в качестве дополнения для браузера. С ее помощью можно смотреть видеоролики в интернете.

Предназначение

Flash Player — специальный проигрыватель, необходимый для того, чтобы пользовательский браузер, установленный на ПК, корректно показывал Flash-контент, который размещен на разных сайтах. Его также можно сравнить с виртуальной машиной, на которой воспроизводится загруженный из интернета код подобных программ.

Все версии приложения для любого устройства распространяются бесплатно. Весь интерфейс русифицированный. Доступно множество других языков.

Основные возможности Flash Player

• умеет создавать баннерные профили на сайте;
• дает возможность делать промоблоки и проморазделы;
• обладает небольшим размером выходных файлов, поэтому они быстро загружаются;
• позволяет воспроизводить аудио- и видеоролики;
• создает интерактивные формы на сайте;
• дает возможность строить графики и диаграммы;
• генерирует удобные сервисы закачки информации на сервер;
• допускает разработку развлекательных игр.

Кроме того, доступен режим приватного просмотра. Локальная информация пользователя не кэшируется, активность не сохраняется.

Нужно ли удалять с компьютера после завершения поддержки

Пользоваться плеером никто не запрещает. Но, начиная с 2021 г., контент на основе Flash станет блокироваться при запуске в браузерах. Для исправления этого — скачайте Adobe Flash Player с нашего сайта.

Поэтому важно понять, стоит ли удалять плеер.

Причины для совершения процедуры

Flash в настольных браузерах остается неуклюжим. Для отображения содержания HTML5 им нужно обрабатывать такой тип контента вместо использования одного кода через плагин Adobe. Однако это плохо, т.к. в плеере была обнаружена большая дыра безопасности. Через нее каждому хакеру получится легко получить доступ к системе.

За ближайшие недели проблему исправить нельзя, поэтому специалисты советуют удалять программу. Просить отсрочку у руководства Adobe не имеет смысла, деинсталляцией можно заняться уже сейчас. Сделать это несложно.

Кроме того, избавляться от флеш-плеера рекомендуется и из-за ряда других недостатков.

К ним относятся:

1. Перегрузка центрального процессора на компьютере. На слабых ПК из-за этого возникают существенные проблемы.
2. Недостаточный контроль ошибок. Приложения по этой причине часто отказывают.
3. Плохая индексация текстовой информации.
4. Невозможность увеличивать размер шрифта. Из-за этого посетители быстро переходят на другой сайт.
5. Необходимость убирать весь Flash-модуль, если вносятся даже минимальные изменения.
6. Отсутствие возможности соединить страницы.
7. Запрет на отключение графических элементов.
8. Сложное обновление сайтов.
9. Невозможность копировать тексты, размещенные на Flash-странице портала.
10. Несовместимость с иными языками программирования.
11. Недоступность конвертации векторных изображений в другие форматы, если флеш-плеер используется в качестве редактора.
12. Невозможность использовать правую кнопку мыши в старых версиях приложения.

Деинсталляция: алгоритм действий

Удалить плеер от компании Adobe получится 2 способами. Нужно разобрать каждый из вариантов.

Стандартными средствами Windows

Если нет желания пользоваться сторонним софтом, то подойдут универсальные средства удаления программ Windows.

Когда установлена «Виндовс 10», выполните следующее:

1. Зайдите в раздел с параметрами.
2. Перейдите во вкладку «Система», а из нее — в «Приложения и возможности».
3. Найдите здесь Player, нажмите по нему и кликните «Удалить».

Если установлены другие версии Windows:

1. Зайдите в «Панель управления».
2. Из нее перейдите в раздел «Установка и удаление программ».
3. Найдите здесь флеш-плеер, нажмите по нему и кликните «Удалить».

С помощью Uninstaller

Revo Uninstaller (RU) — это утилита, которая заменяет стандартный набор по удалению программ в Windows. Выпускаются бесплатная и платная версии. Помимо очищения системы, RU умеет делать то же с историей браузеров и безвозвратно удалять папки и файлы.

Последовательность действий:

1. Скачайте программу Revo Uninstaller с официального сайта и запустите ее. Во вкладке «Деинсталлятор» появится список установленных программ. В нем вы увидите Flash Player.
2. Кликните правой кнопкой мыши по нему и выберите «Удалить». Программа создаст точку восстановления Windows. С ее помощью получится откатить работу системы, если возникнут какие-либо проблемы.
3. После создания резервной копии и запуска деинсталляции программы нажмите на кнопку «Удаление».
4. Вернитесь в окошко Revo Uninstaller и проведите сканирование, чтобы найти оставшиеся файлы, если они есть. Лучше поставить режим «Продвинутый»: тогда система ничего не пропустит.
5. После выделения всех ключей нажмите кнопки «Удалить» — «Далее».
6. После появления списка оставшихся файлов нажмите «Выделить все», а затем «Удалить».

Останется только кликнуть «Готово».

Можно ли не удалять Adobe Flash Player

Да, это допускается. Если играете в игры на этой технологии или используете какие-то другие сервисы, то можете оставить программу у себя.

Разработчики планируют удалить все ссылки для загрузки плеера с собственного сайта.

Это сделано для того, чтобы люди не смогли скачать и установить неподдерживаемую версию ПО. Ссылки на загрузку останутся на нашем сайте. Adobe продолжит разработку Adobe Animate.

Adobe Flash Player
для Windows

Обратите внимание! 01.01.2021 поддержка Adobe Flash Player была полностью прекращена. Так как об этом сообщалось заранее, еще в 2017 году, сторонние разработчики, в основе продуктов которых лежал Flash, должны были адаптировать свой контент под современные, поддерживаемые и развивающиеся технологии. В первую очередь, это работающий во всех браузерах по умолчанию HTML5, а также WebGL и WebAssembly. И если за 3 года кто-то не успел или не захотел этого сделать, значит, дальнейшее развитие продуктов и пользовательская аудитория таких разработчиков не волнует.

Никакой прямой замены Флеш Плееру нет, созданный на его основе контент, если он не был адаптирован, попросту не будет работать, от его использования придется отказаться! Любые предлагаемые кем-либо и на каких-либо сторонних (неофициальных) ресурсах альтернативы – небезопасны!

Сами же Adobe, как и многие эксперты по безопасности, настоятельно рекомендуют пользователям удалить Flash Player, так как в настоящий момент он имеет множество уязвимостей, подвержен атакам со стороны злоумышленников, и со временем этот риск будет только повышаться.

Подробнее: Как полностью удалить Adobe Flash Player с компьютера

Наверняка вы слышали о таком проигрывателе, как Adobe Flash Player, мнение о котором достаточно неоднозначно: одни считают, что это одно из наиболее важных ПО, которое должно быть установлено на каждом компьютере, другие же уверяют, что Flash Player – вещь весьма небезопасная. Сегодня мы подробнее рассмотрим, для чего нужен Adobe Flash Player.

Мы, как пользователи интернета, уже привыкли к тому, что в сети можно смотреть онлайн-видео, прослушивать музыку, играть в игры прямо в окне браузера, не задумываясь о том, что в большинстве случаев именно технология Flash позволяет осуществлять данную задачу.

Adobe Flash представляет собой технологию, позволяющую создавать мультимедийный контент, т.е. информацию, содержащую видео, аудио, анимацию, игры и прочее. После того, как данный контент будет размещен на сайтах, пользователь получает доступ к его воспроизведению, однако, он имеет собственный формат файлов (как правило, это SWF, FLV и F4V), для воспроизведения которых, как в случае и с любым другим форматом файлов, требуется свое программное обеспечение.

Что такое Adobe Flash Player?

И вот мы плавно подошли к главному вопросу – что же такое Flash Player. Как правило, браузеры по умолчанию не умеют воспроизводить Flash-содержимое, однако, их можно этому научить, если интегрировать в них специальное программное обеспечение.

В данном случае речь идет о Adobe Flash Player, который представляет собой мультимедийный проигрыватель, направленный на воспроизведение Flash-соержимого, которое, как правило, размещается в интернете.

На просторах интернета и по сей день достаточно часто встречается Flash-содержимое, однако, от него стараются отказаться в пользу технологии HTML5, поскольку сам проигрыватель Flash Player имеет ряд недостатков:

1. Flash-контент дает серьезную нагрузку на компьютер. Если открыть сайт, на котором размещено, например, Flash-видео, поставить его на воспроизведение, а затем перейти в «Диспетчер задач», то вы отметите, насколько браузер стал больше потреблять ресурсов системы. Старые и слабые компьютеры в данном случае особенно страдают.

2. Некорректная работа Flash Player. В процессе использования Flash Player часто возникают ошибки в работе плагина, которые могут привести к полному закрытию браузера.

3. Высокий уровень уязвимости. Пожалуй, наиболее значимая причина всемирного отказа от Flash Player, т.к. именно этот плагин становится главной мишенью злоумышленников за счет наличия огромного количества уязвимостей, которые позволяют легко проникать вирусам на компьютеры пользователей.

Именно по этой причине многие популярные браузеры, такие как Google Chrome, Opera и Mozilla Firefox, в ближайшем будущем собираются полностью отказаться от поддержки Flash Player, что позволит закрыть одну из главных уязвимостей браузеров.

Стоит ли устанавливать Flash Player?

Если вы посещаете веб-ресурсы, для воспроизведения контента на которых браузер требует установки Flash Player – данное программное обеспечение можно установить на компьютер, но загружать дистрибутив проигрывателя следует исключительно с официального сайта разработчика.

Читайте также: Как установить Adobe Flash Player на компьютер

В связи с тем, что все больше ресурсов отказывается от размещения на своих страницах Flash-контента, в процессе веб-серфинга вы и вовсе можете не столкнуться с сообщением о том, что для воспроизведения содержимого требуется плагин Flash Player, а значит, и смысла в установке для вас практически никакого нет.

Надеемся, данная статья помогла вам разобраться с вопросом, что такое Флеш Плеер.

На чтение 4 мин Просмотров 90 Опубликовано 23.07.2019

Любой пользователь интернета и ПК постоянно сталкивается с воспроизведением роликов и мини-игр в браузере, но не каждый знает, за счет какого софта это возможно. Большинство владельцев компьютеров просто устанавливают данное решение от Adobe, когда софт или браузер попросят это сделать. Сегодня мы поговорим о том, что такое плагин Adobe Flash Player и для чего он нужен.

Содержание

1. Что такое Adobe Flash Player?
2. Особенности технологии
3. Скачивание и установка
4. Видеоинструкция
5. Заключение

Что такое Adobe Flash Player?

Итак, начнем с основного назначения данного плагина. Несмотря на то, что в названии присутствует слово Player, средство используется для воспроизведения встроенных мультимедийных материалов, с которыми пользователь сталкивается в браузере и флеш-играх. Flash-содержимое присутствует на многих сайтах, которые вы посещаете каждый день. Если данный плагин отсутствует, то вместо контента вы увидите соответствующее уведомление и предложение об установке или включении.

Современные ресурсы постепенно отказываются от flash-технологии в пользу HTML5, однако до сих пор плагин от Adobe желателен для установки, чтобы вы могли просматривать большую часть контента.

У flash-материалов имеются собственные форматы – SWF, FLV, F4V. По умолчанию ни один браузер не способен воспроизводить данные расширения, поэтому вам предстоит установить компонент Adobe на ПК.

Особенности технологии

Несмотря на повсеместное распространения флеш-проигрывателя, многие пользователи и специалисты нелестно о нем отзываются. Это связано со спорными качествами, которые делают Flash Player не лучшей платформой для мультимедийного контента:

• Во-первых, Flash-материалы сильно нагружают компьютер. Особенно это проявляется при воспроизведении одновременно нескольких элементов. В основном, с такой ситуацией пользователи сталкиваются при просмотре с «тяжелыми» сайтами.
• Во-вторых, Adobe Flash Player известен частыми ошибками при воспроизведении. После них нужно перезагружать плагин. С технической стороны данная поломка является не критичной, но пользователям не нравится каждый раз перезапускать расширение.
• В-третьих, высокая уязвимость. Это является основной причиной, по которой разработчики стараются уходить от использования Flash Player.

Скачивание и установка

Поскольку вы так или иначе сталкиваетесь с флеш-контентом при использовании браузера, вам необходимо обязательно установить Adobe Flash Player. Просто следуйте представленному руководству:

1. Сначала откройте ссылку на официальный ресурс разработчиков.
2. Сайт определит версию Windows и ее разрядность.
3. Если вы не хотите загружать компьютер дополнительным ПО, то снимите две галочки в центральном блоке, где говорится об утилитах от McAfee.
4. Затем кликните на «Установить сейчас».

После этого на компьютер загрузится инсталлятор. Запустите файл в формате EXE и следуйте инструкции. Сначала нужно выбрать вариант обновления. Чтобы не возвращаться к данной процедуре позже, рекомендуется выбрать первый пункт.

Затем утилита начнет загрузку необходимых файлов. Эта процедура займет всего 1-2 минуты. После появится уведомление о том, что плагин установлен. Для применения изменений необходимо перезапустить браузер. Затем закройте инсталлятор кнопкой «Готово».

Если вам нужен дистрибутив плагина для другой операционной системы, то откройте данную ссылку. В левой части раскройте список и выберите операционную систему, а затем версию для определенного браузера. После чего точно так же снимите галочки возле согласия на установку дополнительного ПО и кликните на кнопку «Загрузить». Полученный инсталлятор можно скопировать на другой ПК и установить плагин Adobe Flash Player.

Мнение эксперта

Дарья Ступникова

Специалист по WEB-программированию и компьютерным системам. Редактор PHP/HTML/CSS сайта os-helper.ru.

Спросить у Дарьи

Данная инструкция подходит и для установки плагина с нуля, и для обновления уже инсталлированной версии программы.

Видеоинструкция

Для более подробного изучения темы Adobe Flash Player обязательно ознакомьтесь с представленной видеоинструкцией.

Заключение

Если при посещении сайтов вы часто сталкиваетесь с уведомлением о том, что для показа того или иного контента требуется Adobe Flash Player, то вам необходимо его установить. Мы расписали инструкцию по загрузке и инсталляции, поэтому наши читатели легко справятся с данной задачей.

А если какой-либо шаг вызовет у вас вопросы или трудности, то мы всегда готовы помочь с решением проблемы!

Приветствую друзья, сегодня мы поговорим о программе Adobe Flash Player — я постараюсь рассказать простыми словами что к чему. Так что поехали разбираться!

Скажу сразу — да, в интернете уже расписано что это такое.. что за прога.. но вот в итоге не все юзеры четко понимают. Я к тому что я тут сегодня постараюсь написать именно ПРОСТЫМИ СЛОВАМИ, чтобы было понятно с первого раза!))

Adobe Flash Player — что это такое?

Adobe Flash Player — плеер, который воспроизводит флеш элементы на сайтах. Это все, что можно сказать об этой программе, разве что можно добавить что она идет от Adobe.

Такс, а вот что пишет сам производитель о своей проге:

Ну а теперь давайте подробнее.

Самое главное — что вообще такое флеш? Это мини-программы, которые могут быть встроены в веб-страницу. То есть это именно программы, в них нет кода html. Если быть точнее, то именно программ — я не видел, так как чаще всего флеш используется для:

1. Создания игр. Оч много игр, в которые можно поиграть в интернете, я имею ввиду онлайн, не какие-то там танки онлайн, а попроще, там шарики.. головоломки.. то часто они написано именно на флеше.
2. Видео-плееры. Да, они тоже часто созданы именно по флеш-технологии. Но вообще флеш — не совсем новая технология. Можно сказать даже старая. Сейчас видео-плееры могут быть созданы и подругой технологии — HTML5. Здесь не нужен флеш, вот например Ютуб — там видео-плеер именно на HTML5, поэтому для чего работы не нужен флеш, и не нужна соответственно прога Adobe Flash Player.
3. И еще один тип применения — рекламные баннеры. Красивая реклама, анимационная, где даже можно что-то нажать, либо та, которая реагирует на наведения мышки — тоже часто разработана на флеше.

Возможно я ошибаюсь, но вроде это три основных направления использования флеш-технологии.

То есть, если вы не установили себе флеш-плеер Adobe Flash Player, то у вас все вышеперечисленное работать не будет. Или частично, но скорее всего все таки не будет. Онлайн видео на некоторых сайтах все равно работать будет, так как может использоваться, как я уже писал видео-плеер не на флеше, а на HTML5.

Флеш плеер может немного грузить браузер. Но в онлайн игры многие без него не поиграть.

Где можно безопасно скачать?

Нужно скачивать только с офф сайта, а именно отсюда:

https://get.adobe.com/ru/flashplayer/otherversions/

Там же можно выбрать и версию операционки, а также браузер для которого нужен флеш — например Хром, Мозилла. Офф сайт выглядит так:

Как сказано на офф сайте — флеш-плеер установлен более чем на 1.3 миллиардов компов, является стандартом предоставления ресурсоемкого мультимедийного содержимого. Видите, даже у них написано — ресурсоемкого! То есть браузер может грузить этот флеш, и кстати HTML5 в этом плане куда легче. Но пока что HTML5 не везде есть к сожалению.. ((

И еще, флеш плеер может быть только от Adobe, от других компаний не бывает, ну по крайней мене я не встречал..

Совсем забыл — когда будете качать, то осторожно, там могут быть галочки по установке дополнительного софта, который вам возможно даром не нужен:

Как открыть настройки флеш плеера?

Если Adobe Flash Player установлен, то обычно есть его значок в панели управления:

А если его нет, то проверьте что у вас в панели именно значки отображаются:

И если все равно нет, значит он не установлен.. ну или установлен, но как-то криво. Так вот, этот значок если запустить, то будут настройки:

Лайфхак, как быстро открыть панель управления на любой виндовс: зажмите Win + R, далее напишите команду control или control panel, нажмите ОК. Вот и все))

Как удалить флеш плеер?

Здесь тоже все просто:

1. Сперва закройте все браузеры!
2. Зажмите Win + R, напишите команду appwiz.cpl, нажмите ОК. Либо просто откройте панель управления и найдите там значок Программы и компоненты.
3. Откроется окно установленного софта. Найдите тут Adobe Flash Player, нажмите правой кнопкой, выберите Удалить.
4. Потом появится мастер удаления, следуйте инструкциям.. там вроде бы нужно нажать Далее, Next, Uninstall.. в общем ничего сложного нет.

Вот я даже нашел картинку, будет вам подсказкой (это окно Программы и компоненты):

Да, у вас может быть несколько — начинайте с PPAPI, NPAPI, а потом уже удаляйте ActiveX. Ну а вот само окошко удаления флеш-плеера:

Заключение

Кажется главное мы все таки выяснили:

1. Adobe Flash Player — плеер, который воспроизводит флеш-содержимое на сайтах.
2. Если его не будет, то во многие онлайн-игры вы поиграть не сможете. И онлайн-видео на некоторых сайтах тоже работать не будет.
3. Удалить можно без проблем, как собственно и потом повторно установить. Да, на всякий случай можно создать контрольную точку восстановления.

Надеюсь информация помогла. Удачи и добра, до новых встреч господа!

На главную!18.07.2019 «>Читать! —>

Что такое Adobe Flash Player, как работает, где используется, нужен ли обычному пользователю и как его установить.

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Об отходе от этой технологии говорит и тот факт, что мобильная операционная система Android начиная с 4-й версии уже не поддерживает Adobe Flash Player и прикрутить его туда довольно проблематично.

Тем не менее, Adobe Flash Player еще используется на многих сайтах, предоставляющих видео и игровой контент в формате Flash, что заставляет многих пользователей устанавливать Adobe Flash Player на ПК и мобильные устройства.

Где скачать Adobe Flash Player

Узнать больше об этой технологии, как она работает, как правильно установить и скачать Adobe Flash Player вы можете на сайте TheProgs.ru. Открывайте ссылку в браузере, в который хотите установить плагин, так как установщик автоматически выбирает версию для каждого браузера. Ну а дальше мы кратко расскажем о том что это такое и для чего нужно.

Что такое Adobe Flash Player

Adobe Flash Player это специальный проигрыватель мультимедийного контента в формате Flash с расширенной функциональностью, позволяющей реализовать даже множество разнообразных игр.

Технология Flash выходит далеко за рамки простого проигрывания видео, на ней реализуется различные мультимедийные функции с интерактивным управлением с помощью клавиатуры и мыши.

Adobe Flash Player устанавливается как дополнение (расширение или плагин) к браузеру и существует версия для всех современных браузеров.

Нужен ли вам Adobe Flash Player

Технология массово используется в браузерных играх, от таких издателей как Mail.ru и других. Если вы играете в такие игры, то без Adobe Flash Player вам никак не обойтись, придется устанавливать его в ваш браузер.

Даже если вы не играете в игры в браузере, то Adobe Flash Player скорее всего вам все равно понадобится, так как на нем реализовывается дополнительный функционал на некоторых популярных сайтах, в том числе в соцсетях.

Без этого плагина вы просто не сможете использовать все возможности популярных ресурсов. Поэтому обычно Adobe Flash Player входит в обязательный пакет системных компонентов, которые устанавливаются в первую очередь после установки Windows.

Для каких браузеров есть Adobe Flash Player

Браузер Google Chrome содержит в своем составе базовую версию Adobe Flash Player. Для большинства остальных популярных браузеров Adobe Flash Player нужно устанавливать отдельно.

Для каждого браузера есть своя версия Adobe Flash Player и его нужно устанавливать в каждый браузер, которым вы пользуетесь. Но происходит это довольно просто, всего в несколько кликов.

Transcend StoreJet 25A3 TS1TSJ25A3KTranscend JetFlash 790 8GBA-Data Ultimate SU650 120GB

2017-10-23

Adobe Flash когда-то был вездесущим в Интернете, но сейчас он выглядит странно. Эксперты и разработчики утверждали, что пришло время отойти от этого плагина. В сравнении с HTML5 и другими веб-стандартами, флеш является ресурсоемким и небезопасным. Фактически, Adobe планирует прекратить развитие своей же технологии к 2020 году.

Как обновить флеш плеер на Виндовс 10

Тем не менее процесс поэтапного отказа от флеша работает медленно. При разработке заметок для вебсайтов и утилит на другой основе затрачиваются время, усилия и деньги, и многие крупные адреса в Интернете все еще полагаются на флеш, даже если его поддержка начинает ослабевать.

Когда мы имеем дело с современными операционными системами, как Windows 10, в комплекте с которыми идет обновленный браузер (Microsoft Edge), то их сочетание со старыми технологиями приводит к некоторой непредсказуемости. У вас возникают очевидные вопросы: Flash Player безопасен? Он работает? Включен ли в Windows 10? Совместим ли с Microsoft Edge?

В зависимости от опыта, вы можете прийти к разным выводам насчет этих вопросов. Некоторые сайты работают нормально, а другие нет. Возможно, вы даже пытались установить Adobe Flash в Windows 10, чтобы проверить его работоспособность.

Microsoft связывает Adobe Flash Player в своем браузере с Windows 10

К счастью, мы объясним, как обновить Flash Player в Windows 10 и разобраться со всеми сопутствующими этой задаче проблемами.

Мы также рассмотрим процесс обновления флеша в двух популярных браузерах и решим распространенные проблемы, которые могут возникнуть при выполнении предписанных условий.

Как обновить Flash Player в Windows 10 и связанные с этим проблемы

Даже когда основные вебсайты и онлайн-платформы отказываются от тяжелых плагинов, многие из них по-прежнему требуют установки плеера. Например, популярные ресурсы, как Главная лига бейсбола MLB.tv и инструменты, такие как Pixlr, до сих пор поддерживают флеш-технологию. К счастью, Microsoft начала связывать Adobe Flash Player в своем браузере после выпуска Windows 8 и продолжает это делать в последней десятой версии.

Поскольку Microsoft связала Adobe Flash с Windows, вы получите его свежую версию через «Центр обновления». Итак, попробуйте обновится вручную.

1. Кликните по меню «Пуск» и нажмите по шестеренке. Открываем «Пуск» и нажимаем по шестеренке
2. Откройте раздел «Обновление и безопасность», как на скриншоте ниже. Переходим в раздел «Обновление и безопасность»
3. Затем для проверки наличия обновлений, щелкните на соответствующую кнопку в «Центре обновления Windows». В «Центре обновления Windows» нажимаем «Проверка наличия обновлений»
4. Нажмите кнопку «Установить сейчас», еслипоследняя версия флеш-плеера доступна. Вы также можете попробовать другие способы обновления. Если доступна версия обновления флеш плеера, нажимаем «Установить сейчас» или «Restart now»

Как установить новую версию Adobe Flash Player для Windows 10

Ручной процесс очень прост и состоит всего лишь из нескольких шагов:

1. Загрузите Adobe Flash Player Uninstaller по ссылке https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/uninstall-flash-player-windows.html. Adobe Flash Player Uninstaller помогает при переустановке любых версий плеера. Его также можно использовать для его обновления. Инструмент удалит все флеш-плееры, кроме ActiveX на Windows 8/10. Нажимаем «Скачать Uninstaller для flash-плеера»
2. Запустите установочный файл из папки «Загрузки», разрешите внести изменения на ваш компьютер. В папке «Загрузки» открываем установочный файл двойным щелчком левой кнопкой мыши
3. Нажмите «Удаление», таким образом Adobe Flash Player Uninstaller ликвидирует на компьютере старую версию флеш-плеера. Нажимаем «Удаление»Флеш плеер удален, нажимаем «Готово»
4. Всебраузеры должны быть закрыты. Загрузитеираспакуйтепоследниеавтономныезагрузчикидлякаждогоизних, открыв ссылку https://get.adobe.com/ru (установитетолькоте, которыевамнужны). На сайте разработчика выбираем параметры для своего компьютера и браузера, нажимаем «Загрузить»Отмечаем пункт, который рекомендует разрабочтик «Разрешить Adobe устанавливать обновления»Двойным кликом левой кнопки мыши запускаем установочный файлПри установке следуем инструкции установщика

Важно! Существует 3 типа плагинов для флеш-плееров, и все они должны быть установлены отдельно. Вам придется переустанавливать каждый тип для конкретного браузера. Важно отметить, что вы можете иметь разные версии, потому что не все браузеры и приложения используют один и тот же плагин. Помните об этом.

• NPAPI — предназначен для Firefox (Safari для Windows);
• ActiveX — Internet Explorer/EDGE (Windows 10);
• PPAPI — браузер Opera. Для каждого браузера нужно поочередно установить каждый плагин, в зависимости от количества используемых браузеров

Google Chrome

В Chrome уже установлена ​​свежая версия плеера, так что обновление обрабатывается на 100%. Вам не нужно ничего скачивать и устанавливать, поскольку все происходит в автоматическом режиме.

Единственный способ устранения неполадок, кроме повторной установки Adobe Flash, — удаление следующего файла, поскольку он вызывает ошибки при воспроизведении контента: «c:users→username→AppData→Local→Google→Chrome→User Data→PepperFlash».

Находим и удаляем файл «PepperFlash»

Mozilla Firefox

Сначала проверьте, включен ли Flash в Firefox.

1. Откройте меню, затем «Дополнения» и перейдите в «Плагины». Заходим в меню браузера, открываем «Дополнения»
2. Выберите «Shockwave Flash», а затем опцию «Всегда включать». Открываем раздел «Плагины», выбираем «Shockwave Flash», а затем опцию «Всегда включать»
3. Для обновления Flashв Mozilla FirefoxпользователидолжныпосетитьстраницузагрузкиAdobe. В браузере Mozilla заходим на официальный сайт разработчика и устанавливаем обновление

Важно! С недавних пор последняя версия Mozilla Firefox не поддерживает флеш-плеер и некоторые другие плагины, поэтому его может не быть в списке.

Flash повсеместно рассматривается как небезопасное решение, а новые веб-стандарты типа HTML5 продолжают лидировать. Программы на основе этой устаревшей технологии все еще не вымерли, поэтому вы будете встречать их в Интернете довольно долгое время.

Видео — Как скачать и установить Adobe Flash Player в Windows 10

Используемые источники:

• http://virtmachine.ru/adobe-flash-player-chto-eto-za-programma-i-nuzhna-li-ona.html
• http://ironfriends.ru/nuzhen-li-vam-adobe-flash-player/
• https://pc-consultant.ru/soft/kak-obnovit-flesh-pleer-na-vindovs-10/