Adobe AIR for Android now available

By Laura Khalil October 8, 2010

adobe air — Image used with permission by copyright holder

You may be familiar with Adobe AIR if you’ve use a third-party Twitter application on your computer. AIR is a popular application framework and environment that allows developers to write an app that can be used across operating systems.

While this is great news for developers and fans of these apps, it doesn’t mean you can instantly use AIR applications such as Tweetdeck on your Android. Applications will need to be specially designed for mobile use. App developers will need to use Adobe’s Flash Builder to develop AIR apps for Android. Mobile applications are required to be significantly less resource intensive then desktop or laptop computers.

In order to develop for AIR, developers need to be running Android 2.2, aka Froyo, or newer. From there they will have the option to port their existing code or build their application for the ground up using Flash and AIR developer tools.

Adobe states on their site, “Developers can write new code or reuse existing web content to build AIR applications for the Android OS. Because the source code and assets are reusable across the Flash Platform runtimes, Adobe AIR and Flash Player, it also gives developers a way to more easily target other mobile and desktop environments.”

Adobe AIR apps are already beginning to appear in the Android store, with the bulk being simple games, instructional or educational apps.

In case you’re in need of a refresher on the difference between Flash and AIR, here’s the lowdown:

Flash is optimized for applications running in your browser. The advantage of Adobe AIR is that it provides web applications that standalone (outside of the browser) and don’t need a network or Internet connection. Because AIR is standalone, it has a variety of advantages. It allows for improved security, the ability to store data locally, GPS support as well as offline and online use.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Laura is a tech reporter for Digital Trends, the editor of Dorkbyte and a science blogger for PBS. She's been named one of…

Mobile

This Android phone is a surprisingly great buy at $100

The Moto G Power 5G and Moto G 5G phones in a render.

If you’ve been shopping the best phone deals or are otherwise looking to save on a new phone, we’d like to turn your attention to Motorola. At Motorola right now you can get the Moto G Android phone for just $100. This is essentially an entry-level phone as smartphones go these days, but this savings of $70 from its regular price of $170 makes it a good consideration and one of the best Motorola phone deals you'll find. It’s not everyday you can grab a new phone for just $100, and you can save even more if you have an eligible device to trade-in.

Why you should buy the Motorola Moto G smartphone
You aren’t going to find the Motorola Moto G ranked among the best phones or among the best Android phones, but that doesn’t mean it’s a phone to avoid. And while we aren’t particularly high on the device in our review of the Motorola Moto G, the price point it comes in at with this deal makes it something worth considering if you’re in the market for a new phone. It comes in navy blue with 32GB of internal storage, which isn’t very much as modern smartphones go, but the Moto G does make up for it with some of its other specs and features.

Computing

How to get Android apps on a Chromebook

Dell Chromebook 3189 2-in-1 on a classroom desk floating in the air.

Over the last few years, Android apps have been added to more and more Chromebook models. A brilliant expansion of the overall user experience, Google went ahead and integrated the Play Store into most Chromebooks made after 2019. This is the most convenient way to download an Android app or two, but if you own an older Chromebook, the machine may not have native support for downloading and installing applets.

To confirm this, we recommend referencing this extensive Android app support list from The Chromium Projects.

Mobile

How to find your lost phone (tips for iPhone and Android)

The Motorola Edge Plus 2023 lying next to the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro.

Not knowing how to find your smartphone can cause a real panic when the need arises. It likely has way too much information about you, has access to your bank details and stock portfolio, and can grant access into pretty much any personal sphere of your life. Plus, you're likely addicted to your smartphone in ways that no device has ever addicted humankind before. In short, if you've lost your phone, you may start to panic.