Adobe resurrects Flash tool after Apple about-face

By Fahmida Y. Rashid September 10, 2010

In response to Apple’s dramatic about-face yesterday on what tools programmers can use to develop iPhone apps, Adobe said it would resurrect its Flash-to-iPhone tool. Reversing its previously unpopular stance, Apple will no longer restrict programmers to a handful of languages when developing software for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.

“This is great news for developers,” Adobe said.

A feature in the Flash Professional CS5 authoring tool, Packager for iPhone lets programmers port Flash applications so that they can run on any iOS device. Adobe put Packager on hold in April after Apple revised the developer program license agreement to name Objective C, C, C++, and JavaScript as the only permitted development languages. This effectively barred programmers from using cross-platform compilers, requiring them to rewrite existing applications from scratch to run on an Apple device. With cross-platform compilers, developers can write the application once – in Flash, for example, or JavaScript, – and then recompile for each new platform.

Adobe originally created Packager as part of its Flash authoring package as a workaround, because Apple doesn’t allow interpreters on the iOS platform.

The change was widely viewed as a direct attack on Adobe at the time. It didn’t help matters when some apps appeared on the App Store that were built using compilers from other companies. According to Adobe, applications built using Flash Packager were getting approved for the App Store on Thursday after Apple’s announcement.

Apple’s relaxing of developer rules may have been forced by the looming specter of anti-trust inquiries by FTC and Department of Justice. Adobe may have initiated the action.

The changes in developer rules also mean collecting user data from in-app advertising services such as Google’s AdMob is allowed again. However, this reversal has no effect on Apple’s ongoing refusal to run Flash applications directly on the iPhone. That war of words seems likely to continue.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Fahmida Y. Rashid

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Mobile

The best tablets in 2024: top 11 tablets you can buy now

Disney+ app on the iPad Air 5.

As much as we love having the best smartphones in our pockets, there are times when those small screens don't cut it and we just need a larger display. That's when you turn to a tablet, which is great for being productive on the go and can be a awesome way to unwind and relax too. While the tablet market really took off after the iPad, it has grown to be quite diverse with a huge variety of products — from great budget options to powerhouses for professionals.

We've tried out a lot of tablets here at Digital Trends, from the workhorses for pros to tablets that are made for kids and even seniors -- there's a tablet for every person and every budget. For most people, though, we think Apple's iPad Air is the best overall tablet — especially if you're already invested in the Apple ecosystem. But if you're not an Apple user, that's fine too; there are plenty of other great options that you'll find in this roundup.

Computing

How to delete a file from Google Drive on desktop and mobile

Google Drive in Chrome on a MacBook.

Google Drive is an excellent cloud storage solution that can be accessed from numerous devices. Whether you do most of your Google Drive uploading or downloading from a PC, Chromebook, or mobile device, there’s going to come a time when you’ll need to delete a file (or two). Fortunately, the deletion process couldn’t be more straightforward. We’ve also put together this helpful guide to show you how to trash your Drive content a couple of different ways.

Computing

Windows 11 might nag you about AI requirements soon

Copilot on a laptop on a desk.

After recent reports of new hardware requirements for the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 update, it is evident that Microsoft is gearing up to introduce a bunch of new AI features. A new report now suggests that the company is working on adding new code to the operating system to alert users if they fail to match the minimum requirements to run AI-based applications.

According to Albacore on X (formerly known as Twitter), systems that do not meet the requirements will display a warning message in the form of a watermark. After digging into the latest Windows 11 Insider Build 26200, he came across requirements coded in the operating system for an upcoming AI File Explorer feature. The minimum requirement includes an ARM64 processor, 16GB of memory, 225GB of total storage, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite NPU.