Not quite Flash, Adobe announces iPhone native app porting

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Though Flash is still not available on the iPhone, Adobe announced Monday that developers will be able to export their applications created in the format within CS5 for submission to Apple's App Store.



Accordingly, Adobe launched its new "Applications for iPhone" Web page, touting the ability to build applications for the iPhone and iPod touch using ActionScript 3. The page shows three applications that were created via Flash and ported to the iPhone OS as native software.



"We've done a lot of work to make sure that applications are quick and interactive, and give you the kind of experience that you would expect from Flash, as well as the kind of experience that you've come to expect on your iPhone," said Adrian Ludwig, a member of Adobe's Flash team.



The applications currently available on the App Store are Chroma Circuit, Trading Stuff, Fickleblox, Just Letters, South Park, That Roach Game and Red Hood. All were created with a pre-relse build of Flash Professional CS5.



"What developers have to do is they have to go inside of Flash Pro and they have to export that project to a native application for the iPhone," Ludwig said. "While you're using Flash Pro to build these applications, it's being converted from .SWF to .IPA."



He noted that the method is in compliance with the iPhone developer agreement, which means the software can be submitted to the App Store for approval. The feature will be available for both PC and Mac, and a public beta is planned for later this year.







Earlier Monday, Adobe announced that Flash Player 10.1 was coming to most major smartphones including handsets from Research in Motion, Nokia and Palm. But absent from that list was Apple.



Adobe has said in the past that it hopes to bring Flash to the iPhone, though Monday's announcements would suggest that will not likely happen anytime soon.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 50
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Though Flash is still not available on the iPhone, Adobe announced Monday that developers will be able to export their applications created in the format within CS5 for submission to Apple's App Store.



    I have to say I correctly predicted this a couple months back in an earlier thread.
  • Reply 2 of 50
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member
    So ... port your half-assed flash game to the new platform in a half-assed way?



    It's easy to see why Adobe is on top!
  • Reply 3 of 50
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    So ... port your half-assed flash game to the new platform in a half-assed way?



    Why the animosity? This is actually pretty cool (unless someone's sole driving interest is to see Flash die, utterly and completely?and I'd rather that doesn't happen when Silverlight is the animation fallback). We won't be seeing any top-notch games from this sort of move, but it likely would help to introduce some of the fun time-wasting Flash games online to the iPhone. I'm not sure how much more it will result in beyond this?it would surely introduce limitations as compared to developing an iPhone app through the proper channels.
  • Reply 4 of 50
    chronsterchronster Posts: 1,894member
    When Ren & Stimpy's Crazy Cannon is ported, I'll buy an ipod touch
  • Reply 5 of 50
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Apple offers near flash quality?
  • Reply 6 of 50
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    So ... port your half-assed flash game to the new platform in a half-assed way?



    It's easy to see why Adobe is on top!



    Because there aren't any half-assed native iPhone games at all on the app store...
  • Reply 7 of 50
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    So ... port your half-assed flash game to the new platform in a half-assed way?



    It's easy to see why Adobe is on top!



    I'm going to laugh at this guy allllll the way to the bank!!!
  • Reply 8 of 50
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Xian Zhu Xuande View Post


    Why the animosity? This is actually pretty cool (unless someone's sole driving interest is to see Flash die, utterly and completely?and I'd rather that doesn't happen when Silverlight is the animation fallback). We won't be seeing any top-notch games from this sort of move, but it likely would help to introduce some of the fun time-wasting Flash games online to the iPhone. I'm not sure how much more it will result in beyond this?it would surely introduce limitations as compared to developing an iPhone app through the proper channels.



    Well apologies for seeming mean, but yes ... I'm in the camp of those that thinks Flash should die, utterly and completely, and it can't happen soon enough for me. It's a poor solution that's holding the entire web back at this stage.



    This move is about "getting Flash on the iPhone" (in a roundabout kind of way), not about making Flash a useable solution for making games or presentations.



    If Adobe really, actually, cared about the end user, they would be working on providing this exact same functionality to "export" a flash project to HTML. Most uses of Flash could easily be done in HTML 5.0 at this point, with games currently cited as "the hardest" to do in HTML. here they have provided a method of getting Flash games onto the iPhone, but not given a method for those games to work on the web *without* the Flash plugin.



    Certainly they could get a lot of good will by simply giving up on the concept of Flash embedded videos when there is simply no reason to use Flash for that anymore. But no, Adobe seems to be more about monopoly lock-in than actual solutions providing.



    My main point was that the games that could be ported in this way won't really be using multi-touch or any of the native features of the iPhone really, they will just be using basic sprite animations and generic input methods etc. So what we are talking about here is just a few more "low-end" and probably free games for the iPhone.



    Probably I should have used "low-end" instead of "half-assed."
  • Reply 9 of 50
    tofinotofino Posts: 697member
    some apps may contain traces of flash.
  • Reply 10 of 50
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    Well apologies for seeming mean, but yes ... I'm in the camp of those that thinks Flash should die, utterly and completely, and it can't happen soon enough for me. It's a poor solution that's holding the entire web back at this stage.



    Ah, but that's just the thing. I, too, can't wait to see Flash wither away and eventually vanish from the Web, but in this particular case, we're talking about individual applications custom-made for the iPhone platform. Not ads or games or cartoons embedded in a Web page meant for desktop PCs, but iPhone apps that happen to have been authored using Flash. I don't think Flash content poses quite the same problems (that is, if they've been able to improve its processor and battery usage) as an individual, standalone application as it does as a proprietary accessory in the larger context of what's supposed to be an open, standards-based platform.
  • Reply 11 of 50
    gqbgqb Posts: 1,934member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    Apple offers near flash quality?



    Flash offers near Apple quality?
  • Reply 12 of 50
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chronster View Post


    When Ren & Stimpy's Crazy Cannon is ported, I'll buy an ipod touch



    chronster, you eeeeeediot!!



  • Reply 13 of 50
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    It's just one more application in the App store. It'll be interesting to see how popular or not Flash based games will be on the iPhone.
  • Reply 14 of 50
    The Pre folks must be laughing their asses off over this.
  • Reply 15 of 50
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GQB View Post


    Flash offers near Apple quality?



    Flash based games won't touch C/C++/ObjC++/ObjC based OpenGL games in Cocoa natively in the iPhone or on OS X.
  • Reply 16 of 50
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tundraBuggy View Post


    I'm going to laugh at this guy allllll the way to the bank!!!



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    ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha

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    ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha

    ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha$ha

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  • Reply 17 of 50
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    Well apologies for seeming mean, but yes ... I'm in the camp of those that thinks Flash should die, utterly and completely, and it can't happen soon enough for me. It's a poor solution that's holding the entire web back at this stage.



    But... to what alternative? Seriously, here. You see people clamoring in these discussions for HTML 5's capabilities to replace Flash, but that's not going to happen. HTML/CSS is not going to be replacing the sort of animation capabilities we see in various online games, for example. A more dedicated solution like Silverlight or Flash is required, and in the absence of a better solution, I'll cheerfully root for Flash over Silverlight.



    What I do want to see is an end to Flash for navigation (that's just disgraceful) and embedding video. Both should, ideally, find a solution through HTML and CSS.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    If Adobe really, actually, cared about the end user, they would be working on providing this exact same functionality to "export" a flash project to HTML. Most uses of Flash could easily be done in HTML 5.0 at this point, with games currently cited as "the hardest" to do in HTML. here they have provided a method of getting Flash games onto the iPhone, but not given a method for those games to work on the web *without* the Flash plugin.



    I think it's pretty obvious that you're not developing on these platforms. Translating the full extent of Flash capabilities to HTML 5 would not only be unrealistic (a crazy mess of hackery or simply impossible in the worst cases), it would be highly complicated, and the code would be a disgusting mess. On the iPhone, at the very least, Adobe knows they're targeting a defined platform. HTML 5 in the wild wild web offers no such promise.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    Certainly they could get a lot of good will by simply giving up on the concept of Flash embedded videos when there is simply no reason to use Flash for that anymore. But no, Adobe seems to be more about monopoly lock-in than actual solutions providing.



    Goodwill from who? Us? Do you think they're going to get more developers by doing something like this? They won't?in fact, they'd alienate current developers depending on Flash for this capability. Note that some of these developers happen to be high-profile developers, many of whom help to drive adoption of Flash on user computers. What you're really saying is that, "Adobe would generate some goodwill by shooting themselves in the foot with a shotgun."



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post


    My main point was that the games that could be ported in this way won't really be using multi-touch or any of the native features of the iPhone really, they will just be using basic sprite animations and generic input methods etc. So what we are talking about here is just a few more "low-end" and probably free games for the iPhone.



    We can at least agree on one point: that the Flash export probably won't take advantage of iPhone-specific features in any appreciable way. I imagine they'll offer some basic capabilities, in the least, for screen gestures and the touch interface.[/QUOTE]



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Napoleon_PhoneApart View Post


    The Pre folks must be laughing their asses off over this.



    I wouldn't feel too good if my iPhone transformed into a Pre right about now.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Shunnabunich View Post


    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Gazoobee


    [...] It's a poor solution that's holding the entire web back at this stage



    Ah, but that's just the thing. I, too, can't wait to see Flash wither away and eventually vanish from the Web ...



    Did you seriously just call him out for capitalization of 'web'?

    Read up on the subject before you bring grammar to a completely unrelated debate. The issue of whether 'Web' and 'Internet' should be capitalized and when, if ever, is still hotly debated among those who actually care, and is also contradicted in some styleguides.



    Even Wikipedia can tell you some more.



    Edit: Or maybe Blah64 is right (below) and I'm just a grammar nerd for even noticing the association.
  • Reply 18 of 50
    blah64blah64 Posts: 993member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Xian Zhu Xuande View Post


    Did you seriously just call him out for capitalization of 'web'?



    Looks to me like he's emphasizing The Web as opposed to dedicated apps built on Flash.
  • Reply 19 of 50
    So every other other fricking smart phone was smart enough to sign with Adobe and get Full Flash except Apple and Steve's fricking control Freak iTunes Store.



    The iPhone is going to get watered down Apple Kool-Aid version of recompiled Flash and every other Smart Phone is going to have Full Blown Flash.



    2 and a half years I've been waiting for Flash and this is Steve's solution? 7



    It's the start of the 90's all over again and every other phone is going to surpass the iPhone because of Apple and Steve Jobs Control Issues just like Apple's OS.



    WinMo, Android, PRE, HTC all will have Flash & Multi Tasking. Apple is giving us BS toy app's that the average 3rd grader is going to love.



    I am so glad I didn't buy the 3GS. The 3G will be the last Apple product I ever own.



    Good luck with the new Macs coming out. I'm sure the last years processors will run the new Macs great and will be all the rage at the Apple Stores. :/Sarcasm.
  • Reply 20 of 50
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blah64 View Post


    Looks to me like he's emphasizing The Web as opposed to dedicated apps built on Flash.



    Looks like you could be right. Could be my bad for noticing an association which most folks here probably don't even know or care about.
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