Google Confirms Android 2.2 Will Support Full Flash

Status
Not open for further replies.
Trojita

Trojita

Rapid Response Threadmaker
http://mashable.com/2010/04/27/android-flash/

In an interview with The New York Times, Google’s Andy Rubin revealed that the upcoming version of the Android mobile operating system will fully support Flash technology. Code named Froyo, Adobe showed us Android 2.2 with Flash 10.1 on a Nexus One last month.

According to Rubin, Google’s (Google) definition of openness “means not being militant about the things consumers are actually enjoying.” This is pointed commentary about Apple’s HTML5-or-bust attitude toward supporting Flash — or even allowing developers to use Flash when making applications –on Apple mobile devices. Google — at least based on our perception of the company’s public face — seems more focused on the interoperability, compatibility and diversity of user experience.

Rubin also commented on Google’s commitment to keeping Android (Android) open — open for developers, open for porn, open for API access, simply and completely open.
 
Someday, when data packages aren't completely overpriced, it'll be nice to have a smartphone OS that will let me do whatever I want with it.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but: Thanks Google.
 
So how are mouse-over events and keyboard input, which are heavily used in a large portion of existing flash content and games supposed to work with a touch screen? Is flash support really anything to get excited about if existing flash apps have to be rewritten anyways?
 
MultiCore said:
Someday, when data packages aren't completely overpriced, it'll be nice to have a smartphone OS that will let me do whatever I want with it.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but: Thanks Google.
Click to expand...
What, you don't like Google? Not that I think they're saints trying to save humanity from something, but of all the big name tech companies out there, they're the most pro-consumer one.
 
Almighty_Chocobo said:
Sounds good. Here's to hoping we don't have to wait another 6 months for it...
Click to expand...

rumor has it that the nexus one should get an update around Google I/O time in May, or at least thats the expectations, god knows how long until everything else
 
That'll open the window to the real Newsy and Break when I'm not using my computer. I hope it works awesome.

Trouble said:
So how are mouse-over events and keyboard input, which are heavily used in a large portion of existing flash content and games supposed to work with a touch screen? Is flash support really anything to get excited about if existing flash apps have to be rewritten anyways?
Click to expand...

IDK, but Symbian already supports Flash so maybe you want to look into how those phones do.
 
Trouble said:
So how are mouse-over events and keyboard input, which are heavily used in a large portion of existing flash content and games supposed to work with a touch screen? Is flash support really anything to get excited about if existing flash apps have to be rewritten anyways?
Click to expand...
there are some youtube videos out there of how it works. check them out. they answer your questions.
 
Trouble said:
So how are mouse-over events and keyboard input, which are heavily used in a large portion of existing flash content and games supposed to work with a touch screen? Is flash support really anything to get excited about if existing flash apps have to be rewritten anyways?
Click to expand...
Video delivery has to be the biggest thing this will enable for the masses.

Looking forward to seeing how well it performs and how that affects battery life.
 
Smart move by Google.

It would be great if this update came sooner instead of later to my Motorola Droid. I won't be holding my breath, of course. :(
 
Robot-unicorn-attack-j.jpg
 
So does this mean that browsing any website that uses Flash ads will kill the battery? Hopefully they'll include a browser option to disable it.
 
RubxQub said:
Looking forward to seeing how well it performs and how that affects battery life.
Click to expand...

You're looking forward to it because you already know the answers (terribly, terribly), and you want more ammo.
 
dojokun said:
What, you don't like Google? Not that I think they're saints trying to save humanity from something, but of all the big name tech companies out there, they're the most pro-consumer one.
Click to expand...
I'm not a big fan of all the data-mining they do. I like a lot of things they do, and I generally use their search, but the Do No Evil motto has kind of been put on the back burner, IMO.

Trouble said:
Like this one that shows that things like hover events don't work. They just get rolled up with click events.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj1hiLnIp_g
Click to expand...
Is it really that hard to understand?

Have you ever used a trackpad in your life? Do you have any idea how easy it would be to have a virtual cursor show up when a flash app is given focus? Drag to move the cursor, tap to click. Hey, presto, all your complaints, and Apple FUD, are instantly assuaged! Now GTFO with that garbage.
 
Mudkips said:
You're looking forward to it because you already know the answers (terribly, terribly), and you want more ammo.
Click to expand...
Sounds like an exciting addition to the platform.
 
Mudkips said:
You're looking forward to it because you already know the answers (terribly, terribly), and you want more ammo.
Click to expand...

Or he's hoping for a more optimized execution this time? Shitting on mobile Flash is easy, no need for more ammo. Seriously man.
 
I approve of this. Hopefully it keeps up performance wise, but, like I've argued before with any programming language: it's all up to the developer.
 
RubxQub said:
Video delivery has to be the biggest thing this will enable for the masses.

Looking forward to seeing how well it performs and how that affects battery life.
Click to expand...


chaostrophy said:
So does this mean that browsing any website that uses Flash ads will kill the battery? Hopefully they'll include a browser option to disable it.
Click to expand...

Flash not so bad on battery life after all, according to tests on a Nexus One

Much has been said about Steve Job’s questionable statement that Flash would have killed 90% of the iPad’s battery life. Even though that’s a ridiculous statement, it did make several people wonder just how taxing Flash can be on a mobile device’s battery.

Mark Doherty has uploaded a blog post with video support detailing Flash’s effect on a Nexus One. Doherty used a combination of scenarios to test how a Nexus One would react to playing Flash content, and he discovered that a user could play a YouTube video for more than three hours on WiFi without killing the N1’s battery.

Keeping a screen on for an extended period of time obviously affects battery life; even watching a locally- stored MP4 file would put a dent in available power. But the mere presence of Flash or using Flash content doesn’t seem to adversely affect the Nexus One’s battery performance according to Doherty. The blog post details the methods for testing and an Adobe colleague joins in with his own testing. Read both posts in full here:
Click to expand...

http://androinica.com/2010/02/25/fl...-after-all-according-to-tests-on-a-nexus-one/

Adobe's indepth post: http://www.flashmobileblog.com/2010/02/24/battery-performance-with-flash-player-10-1-on-nexus-one/

Trouble said:
Have you ever used a browser on a touchscreen device? Drag events are used for scrolling. How would you even give focus to a flash app embedded in a page? Nowhere has this stuff been addressed that I've seen. I have genuine curiosity on how it will be handled.

I don't have any complaints or Apple FUD, just honest to god questions on how some rather sticky technical details will get handled. I'm sorry if that threatens you.
Click to expand...

We don't work for Adobe, so we can't tell you. Adobe is working very hard with Google on this, so it should be good.
 
MultiCore said:
Is it really that hard to understand?

Have you ever used a trackpad in your life? Do you have any idea how easy it would be to have a virtual cursor show up when a flash app is given focus? Drag to move the cursor, tap to click. Hey, presto, all your complaints, and Apple FUD, are instantly assuaged! Now GTFO with that garbage.
Click to expand...
Have you ever used a browser on a touchscreen device? Drag events are used for scrolling. How would you even give focus to a flash app embedded in a page? Nowhere has this stuff been addressed that I've seen. I have genuine curiosity on how it will be handled.

I don't have any complaints or Apple FUD, just honest to god questions on how some rather sticky technical details will get handled. I'm sorry if that threatens you.
 
Maemo (nokia N900) already supports flash, it's great to have a REAL browser on your mobile.
I got the N900 because it has the best browser of any mobile phone.
Great to hear Android will get flash support, 'cause my next phone very likely will be Android based.
 
Trouble said:
Like this one that shows that things like hover events don't work. They just get rolled up with click events.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj1hiLnIp_g
Click to expand...

Who cares. Every single touchscreen app that ever existed, flash or not, has to deal with these same limitations. He got roll over events when he slid his finger over the button, and click events when he tapped it. There will be plenty of workarounds you can implement to change the control scheme depending on what platform is running your swf. This isn't even going to make most flash developers blink, really.
 
Trouble said:
Have you ever used a browser on a touchscreen device? Drag events are used for scrolling. How would you even give focus to a flash app embedded in a page? Nowhere has this stuff been addressed that I've seen. I have genuine curiosity on how it will be handled.

I don't have any complaints or Apple FUD, just honest to god questions on how some rather sticky technical details will get handled. I'm sorry if that threatens you.
Click to expand...

Have you ever, in your godforsaken life, used a computer?
Do you understand the concept of Application Focus?

Click once in flash window, hey, it has focus(And Cursor Lock)!

Click once on the rest of the page being viewed, hey, the page, instead of the flash player, has focus!

Problem solved! I'm not saying that it's currently implemented this way, but it's not exactly brain surgery to do this.

And don't lie, you're not the least bit sorry for what you're posting.
 
Today in Best Buy I played with the iPad before I left, just to see how the hell they expect me to type on it. There was a woman asking an employee about why the website she uses for her real estate work wouldn't work on the iPad and he kept telling her it's because it doesn't have Flash, and that iPhone doesn't either. I was really interested because I didn't expect to see the nerd Flash debate to play out in real life...people actually care, and not just for your favorite video site (although, imo, that's a good enough reason alone).
 
Flying_Phoenix said:
I want to say that this is good because it opens up many more sites to visit, but argh I HATE Flash.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this, it's great Android is getting the support but Flash is one plugin that needs to just die. If it was maintained by a competent company that could keep it lean and running fast then fine but as it stands it's just a huge turd Adobe has crapped out all over the internet.
 
MultiCore said:
Have you ever, in your godforsaken life, used a computer?
Do you understand the concept of Application Focus?

Click once in flash window, hey, it has focus(And Cursor Lock)!

Click once on the rest of the page being viewed, hey, the page, instead of the flash player, has focus!

Problem solved! I'm not saying that it's currently implemented this way, but it's not exactly brain surgery to do this.

And don't lie, you're not the least bit sorry for what you're posting.
Click to expand...
Jesus Christ man, relax. I'm just trying to find out if this stuff is actually addressed anywhere. Thanks for the super angry speculation, though.
 
jonnybryce said:
http://androinica.com/2010/02/25/fl...-after-all-according-to-tests-on-a-nexus-one/

Adobe's indepth post: http://www.flashmobileblog.com/2010/02/24/battery-performance-with-flash-player-10-1-on-nexus-one/



We don't work for Adobe, so we can't tell you. Adobe is working very hard with Google on this, so it should be good.
Click to expand...
Sounds good so far.

Would be very interesting to see how flash support in Android will affect the market if it does at all. I personally would rather see sites moving away from flash (and it seems like they are), so I'm not too thrilled about flash being tossed a bone.

Is this supposed to roll out to all Android handsets or just a select few? I'd imagine that not all handsets would have the chops to run it, making it more of a thing for the high end phones (similar to multitasking not being supported on older/less powerful iPhones).
 
Trouble said:
Have you ever used a browser on a touchscreen device? Drag events are used for scrolling. How would you even give focus to a flash app embedded in a page? Nowhere has this stuff been addressed that I've seen. I have genuine curiosity on how it will be handled.

I don't have any complaints or Apple FUD, just honest to god questions on how some rather sticky technical details will get handled. I'm sorry if that threatens you.
Click to expand...
On the Nexus One, you give focus to something on a webpage using the trackball. The "focus" is denoted by an orange box around the item that is being focused on. Alternatively, I imagine the trackball could be used as a mouse to move a cursor.
 
Trouble said:
Jesus Christ man, relax. I'm just trying to find out if this stuff is actually addressed anywhere. Thanks for the super angry speculation, though.
Click to expand...

I can't help but laugh now.

I won't give in to the constant trolling on this topic, or the spread of FUD on this sort of issue, but if you've got honest curiosity, my apologies.

Edit: Your whole line of questioning is basically ripped word-for-word from some dumb developer blog about why mobile flash is 'unpossible', and he's just horribly wrong.
 
jonnybryce said:
Today in Best Buy I played with the iPad before I left, just to see how the hell they expect me to type on it. There was a woman asking an employee about why the website she uses for her real estate work wouldn't work on the iPad and he kept telling her it's because it doesn't have Flash, and that iPhone doesn't either. I was really interested because I didn't expect to see the nerd Flash debate to play out in real life...people actually care, and not just for your favorite video site (although, imo, that's a good enough reason alone).
Click to expand...
A website made out of flash? Jesus... might as well use 3 sea shells to wipe your ass.
 
RubxQub said:
Sounds good so far.

Would be very interesting to see how flash support in Android will affect the market if it does at all. I personally would rather see sites moving away from flash (and it seems like they are), so I'm not too thrilled about flash being tossed a bone.

Is this supposed to roll out to all Android handsets or just a select few? I'd imagine that not all handsets would have the chops to run it, making it more of a thing for the high end phones (similar to multitasking not being supported on older/less powerful iPhones).
Click to expand...

It's not gonna be available for the lower end phones, like the G1 or Backflip. I don't hate flash the way a lot of people do, whenever I encounter it, it works fine, so I'm happy that my mobile internet experience will be closer to the real deal than anything now.
 
Darkness said:
I can now watch porn on the go!
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, I've been streaming porn to my iPhone/iPad for quite awhile. Alternatives are out there for those who look....awesome alternatives.
 
RubxQub said:
For what it's worth, I've been streaming porn to my iPhone/iPad for quite awhile. Alternatives are out there for those who look....awesome alternatives.
Click to expand...

Watch out that Steve doesn't catch you :D
 
Trouble said:
How would you even give focus to a flash app embedded in a page? Nowhere has this stuff been addressed that I've seen. I have genuine curiosity on how it will be handled.
Click to expand...
You double click on the element and it goes full screen (if it supports full screen mode).

For hover actions, you could have hold expand an item/trigger hover or have the first tap trigger hover and then the 2nd tap function as a click
 
I have an Nokia N900 which runs a linux based OS called Maemo. It runs full Flash 9.4 out of the box and there is never really any issue with flash content on the touchscreen.
How the browser works is that if you gesture from the left to the right a mouse cursor appears which can be used to simulate a standard mouse instead of the the 'drag'. You also use this for cut and paste.
Its not the best phone on the market but has by far the best browsers (Chrome, Firefox and Nokias MicroB based on Firefox). Putting flash on a mobile device that browses the web simply makes sense. It will be years before the web is flash free and until then I will happily advocate for including it instead of being militant in its exclusion kudos to Google, MS and Nokia for realizing we want a choice.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

HDMI 2.2 Specification
10
728
AJUMP23 replied
John Lithgow confirms that he will play Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter TV show.
2
59
3K
jason10mm replied
YouTube (WCW) has full episodes/PPVs up
7
550
kunonabi replied
Google has removed Ublock from Chome now
Drama 
42
3K
Soodanim replied
TikTok is back on the Apple and Google app stores
8
609
Jinzo Prime replied
Top Bottom