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

Computing

You’re going to hate the latest change to Windows 11

A laptop running Windows 11.

Just two weeks after rolling out a preview build to Windows Insiders, Microsoft is pushing out an update to Windows 11 that adds advertisements to the Start menu. Build KB5036980, which is now slowly rolling out to the wider Windows 11 user base, includes recommendations in the Start menu, and they sneakily sit beside your real apps.

These apps comes exclusively from the Microsoft store, and they sit in the Recommended section of the Start menu. This section includes recently used, frequent, and new apps, but one (or more) slots will now be dedicated to an ad. As the update reads: "The Recommended section of the Start menu will show some Microsoft Store apps. These apps come from a small set of curated developers. This will help you to discover some of the great apps that are available."

Computing

Save $150 on a lifetime license for Microsoft Office for PC

microsoft office professional 2021 deal stack social april 2024 bundle

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.

Why you should buy Microsoft Office Professional 2021
If you’ve been reading up on whether to use Microsoft Word or Google Docs and you’ve settled on Word, snapping up Microsoft Office Professional 2021 is a great way to do so for less. Described as everything a pro needs, Microsoft Office Professional 2021 is pretty great.

Computing

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

A laptop with Squarespace displayed on the screen.

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