Get Ready For A Flash-free World

Last updated on February 18, 2017 - Back to blog home page

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First Thank You - Then Good Bye - Flash

You have read it all over the (online video industry) news over the past few months: Flash is going out for good. Just so we are clear: I am talking about Adobe Flash - The Flash (2014 TV series) has not been cancelled. You can breathe now :)

I have worked for nearly a decade in the online video industry and I think it is in order to say this first: thank you Flash. You have brought the online video world to another dimension, one that can actually compete with the TV world, if not overtake it. But sadly it is now time to say good bye: security issues, Steve Jobs and the mobile world have taken you out of the picture. HTML5 video is now the coolest kid in town.

On January 4, 2017 Google announced the end of support for Flash in the IMA SDK - this is good news for the industry and for Radiant Media Player as we also deprecated Flash support with the release of Radiant Media Player 4.

What does it mean for you?

Hopefully not much. As of today you should have a well-established HTML5-first video strategy. So browsers blocking Flash is not a major issue any more. If you are not there yet it is never too late. At Radiant Media Player we have adopted an HTML5-first strategy since beginning 2015 and we have a rock-solid solution for displaying content with adaptive bitrate streaming to HTML5 video (including advanced features like video ads or content security). You can try all Radiant Media Player features for free by requesting a 14 days trial here.

What does it mean for your viewers?

A lot. Better performance and security with HTML5 video make your viewers online experience a much better one.

So why all the fuzz now?

Well Google said it:

In December (2016), Chrome 55 will make HTML5 the default experience, except for sites which only support Flash. For those, you'll be prompted to enable Flash when you first visit the site. Aside from that, the only change you'll notice is a safer and more power-efficient browsing experience.

Enough said. Google Chrome is going to make it difficult to view Flash content and given the significant market share (more than 50% in some countries) of Google Chrome you want to follow Google's lead on this one.

Can we really live without Flash?

Yes - do not be afraid - you are not going to miss viewers or revenue - actually staying with Flash is the best way to lose viewers or revenue in 2017.

As a conclusion

As of 2017 any new development for your online video strategy should revolve around HTML5 video for web-based environments.

I love JavaScript, CSS and HTML5. So I am not going to miss you Flash, but I will never forget you.

Arnaud - Radiant Media Player creator