Sunsetting our deprecated Flash fallback

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

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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.

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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.

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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.