Sunsetting our deprecated Flash fallback

Last updated on May 17, 2018 - Back to blog home page

Removing our deprecated Flash fallback

On June 12, 2018, we will be removing our deprecated Flash fallback from Radiant Media Player. Player versions released before this date will still have our deprecated Flash fallback, however any player version released after this date will not include a Flash fallback.

Why are we sunsetting our Flash fallback in Radiant Media Player?

Radiant Media Player has always been an HTML5-first video player. It is now time to make it an HTML5-only video player. Currently the only environment that still requires Flash for playback is for streaming HLS to Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 7. Our Flash fallback has been deprecated since Radiant Media Player version 4.0.0 which was released in February 2017 and has not received any update since. While it may still be functional we feel that keeping unmaintained software in our player is not the right course of action, especially if it is to support regularly unsecured and low-performing plugins. Moreover, our new HTML5 features (360 video, related, DRM ...), API and UI enhancements have not been made available to this deprecated Flash fallback which renders the viewer experience with Flash less appealing than with our HTML5 player.

On April 24, 2018 Google announced it will be sunsetting Flash in the IMA SDKs on May 15, 2018. Since we use the IMA SDK in our Flash fallback, video ads are no longer available as of now in this Flash fallback. This announcement from Google comforts us in our decision to remove our deprecated Flash fallback from Radiant Media Player.

Time to say good-bye for good.

So, what happens for HLS streaming to Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 7?

First note that we are not removing support for Internet Explorer 11 or Windows 7 in Radiant Media Player. We are just removing our deprecated Flash fallback which means HLS streaming to Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 7 will no longer be available in newer player versions.

As of May 2018, Internet Explorer 11 global usage is less than 3%. This number also includes Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 8+ which we can support with HLS and our HTML5 player. So the actual number for Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 7 usage is likely much lower than those 3%. To keep best-effort-support for Internet Explorer 11 in Windows 7 with Radiant Media Player here is what you can do:

For on-demand video provide the player with a MP4 progressive download fallback to your HLS stream. Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7 does support MP4 progressive download streaming to HTML5 video. For HLS live or DVR content player versions released after June 12, 2018 will not work on Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7 anymore and the viewer will be presented with an information message suggesting using or installing latest Google Chrome for Windows 7 which we fully support for HLS. This message can be customised through our player labels.
Keep using a player version released before June 12, 2018 for as long as you need to support HLS streaming to Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 7. This would only work temporarily to extend support but at some point in the future you are likely to need to update to a player version that does not include a Flash fallback.

The latest player version to include a Flash fallback was 4.9.3. Below is a player code example for using HLS with Radiant Media Player (including a Flash fallback):

<script src="https://cdn.radiantmediatechs.com/rmp/4.9.3/js/rmp.min.js" 
  integrity="sha384-dvwCu8CA3xC9yswQ9m64zFXhUsOSHjcfK3CuiKBxaqCysupRKTV99FoZuD69znPo"
  crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
<!-- Add a player container with a unique id - player UI elements will be appended in this container -->
<div id="rmp"></div>
<!-- Set up player configuration options -->
<script>
  // First we specify a streaming URL for the player - in this example an HLS on-demand feed
  // Replace this URL with your own HLS feed
  var bitrates = {
    hls: 'https://your-hls-url.m3u8'
  };
  // Then we set our player settings
  var settings = {
    licenseKey: 'your-license-key',
    bitrates: bitrates,
    width: 640,
    height: 360,
    // Let us select a skin
    skin: 's1',
    poster: 'https://www.radiantmediaplayer.com/images/poster-rmp-demo.jpg'
  };
  // Create an object based on RadiantMP constructor
  var rmp = new RadiantMP('rmp');
  // Initialization ... test your page and done!
  rmp.init(settings);
</script>

The following player settings can be used with our Flash fallback:

width: Number
height: Number
autoHeightMode: Boolean
autoHeightModeRatio: Number
iframeMode: Boolean
ccFiles: Array
audioOnly: Boolean
loop: Boolean
initialVolume: Number
scaleMode: String
poster: String
endOfVideoPoster: String
posterScaleMode: String
autoplay: Boolean
muted: Boolean
isLive: Boolean
isLiveDvr: Boolean
logo: Boolean
logoLoc: String
logoPosition: String
logoWatermark: Boolean
hideCentralPlayButton: Boolean
hideSeekBar: Boolean
hideFullscreen: Boolean
ads: Boolean
adTagUrl: String
adTagWaterfall: Array
flashWMode: String (possible values are 'window', 'direct', 'opaque', 'transparent', 'gpu' - default: 'direct')

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