1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Firefox will begin blocking specific, unnecessary Flash content, starting in August

By

Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr
The days of a Flash-flooded Internet are seemingly (finally) coming to a close, as Mozilla said in a blog posted on Wednesday that starting in August, Firefox will automatically block certain Flash-based, “invisible” content that’s not relevant to the user experience. The list of blocked Flash content that can be replaced with HTML will be small at first to ensure website compatibility. However, this list will grow over time.

Later on in 2016, Mozilla will add to its black list the practice of using Flash to check content viewability, which is a method of measuring advertising. According to Mozilla, by blocking this content, Firefox performance will improve, along with device battery life. The company suggests that advertisers who use Flash to measure viewability should switch to the Intersection Observer API, which is based on HTML.

Recommended Videos

The move to eliminate Flash in Firefox doesn’t stop there. In 2017, Mozilla will inject Firefox with a click-to-play approval feature preventing all Flash content from automatically playing. That said, web sites that rely on Flash or Silverlight for their videos and games are urged to move to HTML technology “as soon as possible.” Firefox currently supports Google Widevine and Adobe Primetime for encrypted video playback.

Reducing the use of Adobe Flash on the internet is part of an overall move to eliminate the use of browser plugins and making the World Wide Web more secure for surfers. Plugins, especially the one for Adobe Flash, are often targets of hackers, in addition to causing instability problems and performance issues. The move to HTML 5 essentially eliminates the need for Flash.

“Over the past few years, Firefox has implemented Web APIs to replace functionality that was formerly provided only by plugins,” reports Mozilla’s Benjamin Smedberg. “This includes audio/video playback and streaming capabilities, clipboard integration, fast 2D and 3D graphics, WebSocket networking, and microphone/camera access. As websites have switched from Flash to other web technologies, the plugin crash rate in Firefox has dropped significantly.”

In a chart provided by Mozilla, the crash rate of Firefox plug-ins seemingly continued to climb until Google switched to HTML5 video playback on YouTube. Crashes continue to decline after Facebook switched to HTML5 video as well, but the chart still shows highs and lows as other sites still rely on Adobe Flash for video playback, advertising, games, and other Web-based content.

Until Flash is fully phased out, Mozilla said it will continue to work with Adobe to provide the best possible Flash experience for Firefox users. This joint effort has already led to high-quality Flash playback, accelerated Flash rendering, and enhanced sandboxing. In fact, Flash will still be supported via a plugin when Mozilla drops support for NPAPI plugins in March 2017. That’s when Mozilla launches the next Firefox ESR build that will support specific plugins (Java, Silverlight, etc.) until early 2018.

Google already introduced a feature in its Chrome browser back in June 2015 pausing Flash content that’s not central to the webpage. Microsoft is introducing a similar feature in its Edge browser when its Anniversary Update rolls out to Windows 10 early next month. This feature will “intelligently” auto-pause Flash content not central to the web page, the company said. Firefox, it seems, will provide control over all Flash content next year.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Kevin Parrish
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…
Save $150 on a lifetime license for Microsoft Office for PC

For one of the cheapest Office deals today, check out Stack Social which currently has a lifetime license for Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows for just $70. The product normally costs $220 so you’re saving $150 off the regular price, all while gaining a lifetime license for some very useful software. If you’ve been considering getting Office and don’t want to deal with the ongoing nature of Office 365, this is a good opportunity to do so for less. Here’s what you need to know before you click the buy button.

Buy Now

Read more
Best Squarespace deals: Save on domains, web builder, and more

Nowadays, everybody has a website, whether it's for personal stuff, to show off their online portfolio, or even to sell something. Of course, building a website isn't always easy, especially for those who aren't tech-savvy, but you'll be surprised at how easy it is to build a website with Squarespace, even for beginners. Luckily, there is currently a great sale going on at Squarespace to give you an extra nudge to grab yourself a subscription, with annual plans giving you up to 36% off, as well as a short-term 20% off sitewide with the code W4D20.

Besides just website building, there are a ton of perks of subscription, from hosting to email campaigns and even Squarespace Courses, which is pretty unique for a website-building website. So, if that sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, we've listed all the ways you can save on Squarespace subscriptions below.
Today’s best Squarespace deals

Read more
Microsoft Word free trial: Get a month of service for free

It may not feel like it, but Microsoft Word is probably one of the most popular word processors out there, along with Google Docs, and pretty much everybody has likely used it at some point, regardless if you prefer Microsoft Office to Google Docs. Of course, if you want to get your hands on it these days, you're going to have to buy it as part of Microsoft Office, as opposed to getting it as a standalone product like you used to. While you do have to pay for the subscription, you can get Microsoft Word for a month using the free trial before it reverts to a paid subscription. Also, be sure to check out some of these useful Microsoft Words tricks and even how to run Microsoft Office on the Quest 3.
Is there a Microsoft Word free trial?

Microsoft Word is actually part of the company's wider Office app suite. Now known simply as Microsoft 365 (formerly Microsoft Office), Microsoft's enterprise software is available in a number of different packages that are now subscription-based; the company has retired the older bundles that were available for a one-time payment. That means if you want a Microsoft Word free trial, you'll need to sign up for the Microsoft 365 trial.

Read more