The iPad, HTML 5 and Flash
The recent release of the iPad and the decision by Apple not to include the flash plug-in on the device has triggered masses of debate in twitter, blogs and on a much smaller stage, the MadeByPi office. The debate has been about both the validity of Apple's decision and the wider subject future of flash itself as part of the web now that the HTML 5 specification is starting to cover areas where flash has been the default tool.
MadeByPi have made some fantastic content over the years using the flash plug-in and we are also excited about the future of the web both on new devices like the iPad and with new standards like HTML 5 .The current debate will have an impact on the way we work and the front end of sites we build over the coming years. What follows is not a corporate opinion or a consensual opinion (there is no consensus in the office) but is my own personal opinion.
Apple's decision is not entirely surprising since the iPad is essentially a bigger iPhone and the iPhone doesn't support flash but it wasn't a moot decision. The improved CPU, screen size and target market of the iPad as a sofa browser meant that it wasn't an unreasonable expectation that the device would offer the same browsing experience as your workaday desktop / laptop or net-book and that means being able to see flash based contet. Apple have not made any clear statement as to why it was omitted and I wish they would, mainly so we could stop trying to second guess them in the MadeByPi office and get back to talking about important things like when Matt would make a brew next.
If their reasoning is technical and Apple wont support the plug-in due to the effect of CPU intensive Flash content on battery life , or the number of crashes caused in Safari that would send a clear benchmark to Adobe that they could work on and improve. That would be a good thing for all web users and content developers. If Apples support for standards and HTML 5 is so strong that they think politically that the plug-in should be left off then fair enough, regardless of whether you agree with them it would be a brave and principled decision. If their reasoning is financial and they want users to continue spend lots of money in the app store rather then mess about with free flash content then, again, fair enough. It wouldn't be brave or principled but it's their train set.
An alternate view is that it's just to stir some controversy and drive some further publicity, I imagine Apples PR agency have long coveted a mention on the MadeByPi blog, their wish has now come true and on a million other tweets and blogs too. Perhaps they are just holding it back for the new version of the iPad next year when they could add features it should have had from the very beginning like a video camera and flash support. I'm not sure these last two options are likely because I made them up but I agree with the summary (although not all of the content) of this blog post that its a mix of the first three technical, political and financial reasons and its easier for Apple to stay quiet than come clean and tell the world the truth.
The lack of inclusion of the flash plug-in on the iPad has had varied reactions. Jefferey Zeldman approves as it will improve the use of web standards as sites will have to include alternative semantic content whenever flash content is used. Adobe's flash platform team have expressed their understandable dissapointment that the plugin is not included making a large amount of web content unavailable on the iPad. There has also been alot of praise for the decision since this the support of HTML 5 in Safari means that we shouldn't use flash anymore and this is essentially the first steps in the removal of flash from the entire web. Personally I would rather see flash on the device and let content producers and the public who consume the content make the decision about when (or if) flash is a valid technology.
The wider debate that it is time for us all to start to use HTML 5 and abandon Flash on all devices is a little premature and too clear cut for me. I can't wait for HTML 5 to be the markup we use day to day and I think clearly Flash's days as the technology to display video on the web are over. Without support from all of the browser (yes that one in particular) and some resolution over the final niggles in the HTML5 spec (can't a grown up step in and sort out the video codec nonsense?) its still a way off, probably a time span more likely to be measured in years than months.
Even when the majority of user have browsers that meet the HTML5 spec I think its likely that Flash will still be the best tool for some types of content. Right now without some seriously good tools coming out I can't see how HTML5 would be effective and economical for a lot of the animation, gaming and educational content that is produced using Flash. With control of the flash plug-in platform Adobe have the ability to quickly innovate. I have no idea what that form that will take and whether it will take off but if they do produce something good they can get it onto a lot of machines very quickly and there are a platoon of designers and developers who are very qualified to capitalize on it.
The exclusion of Flash from the iPad I suspect, will very quickly work to Apple’s loss when other OS’s such as Android acquire it open armed. Hearsay aside, the App Store is Apple’s means of controlling content, Flash would undermine this to Apple. It seems ironic from a design perspective that HTML-5 is what people are aspiring to replacing Flash, when what they should be saying is that HTML-5 will add an exciting addition to an overall digital tool-kit.
A web experience is, and should be accepting of many forms of media, not dismissive to ones that do not suit them, that option should solely be the choice of the user.
And as designers and developers, an open work environment where we have the choice to convey our work in an array of different forms of media suitable for each situation, it seems ironic that people are actively seeking to work in the closed and restricted platform that is the iPhone OS.
What has the world come to when creative firms aspire to work onto a platform that requires that each user’s device must look and work the same as everyone else’s, where individuality and choice are disregarded and people intending to do otherwise are stifled and removed.
“A web experience is, and should be accepting of many forms of media, not dismissive to ones that do not suit them, that option should solely be the choice of the user.”
I take your point in general but when a company is looking to create a website they will often have to compromise and choose the language/media/platform which has the right combination of creativity, accessibility and reach based on their budget.
I think that is what makes the debate so interesting, particularly for agencies.
Yes but that should be by your choice relevant to the situation you are applying it to. Apple is attempting to block a widely accepting form of media from their platform ‘because they can’. Which knocks out one of your options involuntarily. I’m certainly not disputing using a type of media to suit a need, I’m simply saying that the choice of being able to is the part that counts.
All that aside though it is worth pointing out that Flash is still appearing on the iPhone but only through publishing directly as an iPhone application in the App Store from CS5, it’s the part where they block this functionality through the browser that makes the issue.
First of all, I think it’s an interesting debate to be had.
Imagine you’re a normal user (your mum or dad for example) and the iPad has got flash on it. You don’t know what flash is, you don’t even know what a plug-in is. You just like to browse the web for whatever reason.
Now imagine that you’re browsing using your iPad and Safari starts running really slowly or worse, crashes. This is hardly a stretch of the imagination for anyone who is familiar with flash heavy sites (or flash in general on the Mac). Now, I would be annoyed at Adobe, or maybe the person who created the web page. A normal user doesn’t know about flash so they blame Safari and Apple.
The same user then goes on their favourite website which has a flash gallery where you rollover some images to get the full-size version. Nope, doesn’t work – no rollovers with a touch-screen. Ok, my favourite game then, a side scrolling beat-em-up. No, how does the iPad know to bring up a keyboard or not. Even if it did, how does it know to just bring up the arrow keys.
There is of course also the issue of battery life, linked with CPU usage.
Flash in its current state isn’t ready for the iPad (or iPhone). Maybe if they prove that the flash plug-in on the Mac is bug free and performs well Apple will reconsider. I doubt it, at least for a long time, though. The whole ethos of Apple is to produce an integrated product that performs consistently well and if something doesn’t perform well enough it gets cut.
As for the reasons people design and develop native iPhone OS applications – exposure and money. The sales and download stats speak for themselves; the App Store works.
I agree with alot of whats been said.
Adam – I was talking specifically about the flash plugin in a web browser – I understand how the new publish mechanism in CS5 but it wont help me view a flash site. I do agree that I dont understand why HTML5 is viewed as a total replacement for Flash though its just another tool (although there is of course crossover)
Matt – I think your performance concerns are valid but I wish Apple would quantify their level they require from the plugin and let Adobe try to reach it – the performance improvents in 10.1 of the plug-in are aimed at mobile and may well be good enough. In terms of content and how it may not translate to touch screen I am sure the major sites will quickly adapt if the audience is big enough.
Mark – totally agree its all about choosing the best tools for the budget and brief – I’d like to use flash when its right and not worry about alternative content for the iPad (or choose an inferior solution that is compatable)
@ Matta
I agree with your points on the performance side of things, though I would expect most adopters of the iPad to be relatively tech savvy individuals. Fact of the matter is we don’t know enough about what the plugin would have been like, for mobile devices of course there would have to be an extent of management in terms of CPU usage etc., and our nearest available real usage of this will be when Flash 10.1 is deployed to Android, webOS etc. And in terms of the crash information (though I’ve never had an issue personally), there is of course a flip side to that from Adobe’s perspective.
As for the usability terms that you have pointed out, these are not unique to Flash applications, these go straight across the board from Java to CSS; issues inherent to touch screen devices. So it will be up to the applications to adapt to this.
And the point about the App Store, I wasn’t speaking in terms of profitability, that part is unquestionable; more from a philosophical point of view.
I guess the main thing now is to see what happens when it is released onto platforms like Android — should be interesting!
Interesting article over here:
http://blog.freshegg.com/steve-jobs-kills-flash-dead_2833
As for HTML5, I think it’s many many years until we can really start to use it, and it’ll never be comparative to flash. Looking at the current spec for HTML5 it doesn’t hugely excite me – It has a few features that really should be the standard already. Isn’t it mean’t to be finalized in 2020 or something? Flash will be allowing us to control computers using only the power of our minds by then (if mikea gets busy..).
Also a good article on the subject
http://www.bigspaceship.com/blog/labs/will-all-the-flash-devs-please-stand-up/
I think this article on a list apart really frames the issue in a sensible and intelligent way
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/flashstandards/
Will the Apple iPad come out with a version 2? It seems to lack come certain essentials that I believe every entertainment device should have. Like a USB device so that I can take all my other info from my computer and put it on the iPad. Also to be able to open more than one APP at a time would be nice. I would like to be able to listen to my music while I read a book.
So I hope that iPad v2 makes its way out soon or I may go with another tablet type device and get that for cheaper.