Chrome 53 will begin phase-out of Adobe Flash, Google says

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in Mac Software
A promised wind-down of Flash support in Chrome will start with Chrome 53, releasing next month, Google announced on Tuesday.




The browser update will block some specific applications of Flash, namely behind-the-scenes operations like page analytics, the company explained in a blog post. These are in fact claimed to account for over 90 percent of Flash on the Web, bogging down the performance of sites when compared with Google's preferred HTML5 format.

Chrome 55 -- targeted for December -- will default to HTML5 automatically, unless a website only works with Flash. Even then people will be prompted to enable the plugin on their first visit.

Google said it is still working with Adobe to optimize Flash, but it has also been gradually veering away from the format, for instance switching to HTML5 video on YouTube in January 2015. The company will block Flash ads entirely starting at the beginning of 2017, and Chrome already pauses less essential content automatically.

Flash has been derided not just for affecting speed and battery life but for being a major security risk, since it has regularly come under siege by hackers.

Apple is adopting a similar strategy with Safari 10, launching alongside macOS Sierra. The browser will not only default to HTML5 and require manual Flash activation, but display messages suggesting the plugin isn't installed even when it is.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    zeus423zeus423 Posts: 242member
    I guess Flash will be gone in a flash. Too bad it's taken way too long for that flash to occur.
    macseeker
  • Reply 2 of 23
    bsenkabsenka Posts: 799member
    I'm always surprised at how wide spread Flash still is. I have to manually enable it on sites on a daily basis. 
  • Reply 3 of 23
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    I chuckle when remembering the "real Internet" blathering when iOS premiered without Flash support. I don't think Jobs was ahead of his time on this (many tech people knew Flash was a dangerous feral hog that needed to be slaughtered) but he had the guts to actually do something about it. The very trolls that castigated Apple for banning Flash on iOS now bash Flash too. The hypocrisy is to be savored.
    baconstangmcarlinglamboaudi4williamlondon
  • Reply 4 of 23
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,728member
    Some one tell the BBC!
    williamlondonbadmonk
  • Reply 5 of 23
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,095member
    lkrupp said:
    I chuckle when remembering the "real Internet" blathering when iOS premiered without Flash support. I don't think Jobs was ahead of his time on this (many tech people knew Flash was a dangerous feral hog that needed to be slaughtered) but he had the guts to actually do something about it. The very trolls that castigated Apple for banning Flash on iOS now bash Flash too. The hypocrisy is to be savored.
    Yes, and of course... those miscreant Flash supporters are nowhere to be found.  For ages, criticizing, insulting, and otherwise swagging their superiority god-complex around as if they were the sole oracle for all things Internet.  Just scurrying in a back-room corner hoping no one calls them out.

    Flash still can't die fast enough.  It's like the dismembered-knight scene in Monty Python.  Just be gone with it.

    Any site I come across that requires Flash I ignore from that point forward.  To imagine the amount of fossil fuels burned to provide power to all those electronic devices that would shoot to 100% CPU when Flash kicked in.  Damn...  Adobe should be ashamed of themselves for continuing to support this bad dream.


    sockrolidbaconstangmcarlingai46williamlondon
  • Reply 6 of 23
    Herbivore2Herbivore2 Posts: 367member
    sflocal said:
    lkrupp said:
    I chuckle when remembering the "real Internet" blathering when iOS premiered without Flash support. I don't think Jobs was ahead of his time on this (many tech people knew Flash was a dangerous feral hog that needed to be slaughtered) but he had the guts to actually do something about it. The very trolls that castigated Apple for banning Flash on iOS now bash Flash too. The hypocrisy is to be savored.
    Yes, and of course... those miscreant Flash supporters are nowhere to be found.  For ages, criticizing, insulting, and otherwise swagging their superiority god-complex around as if they were the sole oracle for all things Internet.  Just scurrying in a back-room corner hoping no one calls them out.

    Flash still can't die fast enough.  It's like the dismembered-knight scene in Monty Python.  Just be gone with it.

    Any site I come across that requires Flash I ignore from that point forward.  To imagine the amount of fossil fuels burned to provide power to all those electronic devices that would shoot to 100% CPU when Flash kicked in.  Damn...  Adobe should be ashamed of themselves for continuing to support this bad dream.


    The knight scene in Monty Python was hilarious and so very aptly described those that supported flash. 

    It is also very true that Flash cannot die fast enough. Resource hog, security nightmare and unnecessary. 

    I too will leave websites that make Flash a requirement and go elsewhere. And the more that do this, the faster it will die and the software most definitely needs to die. 
    sockrolidmcarlingwilliamlondon
  • Reply 7 of 23
    appexappex Posts: 687member
    Get rid of obnoxious Flash once and for all. HTML5 is the way to go.
    sockrolidmcarling
  • Reply 8 of 23
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    Flash websites?

    There's a museum for that.
  • Reply 9 of 23
    macseekermacseeker Posts: 545member
    zeus423 said:
    I guess Flash will be gone in a flash. Too bad it's taken way too long for that flash to occur.
    Great post! Love it.
  • Reply 10 of 23
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    bsenka said:
    I'm always surprised at how wide spread Flash still is. I have to manually enable it on sites on a daily basis. 
    I know! Why won’t it just die already? There seems to be too many lazy web developers reluctant to recode their website with something less shit. Once iPhone sales exploded and Android dropped support for Flash, I thought it would die pretty quickly, but no - it’s still here  :(
  • Reply 11 of 23
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,384member
    Eh, fuck you, Google. You're only 9 years late. Not only did Google actively support flash, it propped it up and shilled for it, using it as a bullet point, extending its lifespan. 
    mcarlingdrowlkruppwilliamlondon
  • Reply 12 of 23
    spice-boyspice-boy Posts: 1,450member
    I just woke from a 7 year coma. What, flash still exist?
  • Reply 13 of 23
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    mr. h said:
    bsenka said:
    I'm always surprised at how wide spread Flash still is. I have to manually enable it on sites on a daily basis. 
    I know! Why won’t it just die already? There seems to be too many lazy web developers reluctant to recode their website with something less shit. Once iPhone sales exploded and Android dropped support for Flash, I thought it would die pretty quickly, but no - it’s still here  :(
    As part of my day job, I interact with a security tool in an environment that processes credit cards. This tool's only interface is written in Flash. It is truly baffling.
  • Reply 14 of 23
    drowdrow Posts: 126member
    the reason flash still exists is because there are many perfectly good uses for it. advertising, abusive advertising, orwellian tracking, spyware, malware, and applications to steal bitcoins from the elderly. to name a few.
    tallest skilwilliamlondon
  • Reply 15 of 23
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    drow said:
    steal bitcoins from the elderly
    The elderly got duped into bitcoin?  :p
  • Reply 16 of 23
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,418member
    As someone who used to make 70%+ of my income from Flash development — good riddance!
    tallest skil
  • Reply 17 of 23
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,338member
    Chrome alone isn't enough.  Google could easily eliminate Flash in quick order simply by banning all sites with Flash from appearing in any search results.  A lot of web designers and companies who use (and still like Flash) need a firm kick in the fanny like that before they'll change their tune.  Despite the fact that all iPhones and iPads and iPod Touches have never support flash, and despite the large number of mobile web browsers out there, there is still a shocking number of sites that use Flash, especially here in Japan.  Just asking nicely or banishing it from Chrome isn't enough.
    RobJenk
  • Reply 18 of 23
    starwarsstarwars Posts: 72member
    Gone are the days my colleague programmers made those flashy animated sites but a pain to maintain and update.
  • Reply 19 of 23
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member
    jdw said:
    Google could easily eliminate Flash in quick order simply by banning all sites with Flash from appearing in any search results.
    And be sued for it. And permanently lose their status as the go-to search engine.

    On second thought, PLEASE DO THIS, GOOGLE.
    bestkeptsecret
  • Reply 20 of 23
    DavidAlGregoryDavidAlGregory Posts: 214member
    Comcast's streaming, HBO's streaming and Showtime's streaming all prompt users to install Flash despite the fact they use other tech for the iOS and Apple TV apps. Why are they hanging on to what is an insecure, inefficient and outdated technology?
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