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Flash not supported on phones or pads

Jun 20, 2012 9:02 AM

None of my Flash creations appear when the site is accessed on pads or phones.  Does this mean I can no longer use Flash for my sites.  If not what do I use?

 
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Jun 20, 2012 9:09 AM   in reply to IBIS2

    If you want video on iPhones and iPads, you need to use HTML5 video. Flash is not supported by Apple mobile devices, and never will be.

     
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    Jun 20, 2012 9:40 AM   in reply to IBIS2

    I agree with David's post, you can use HTML5 video... if you only want to display video. But HTML5 video is a far cry from an advanced Flash creation. It lacks the interactivity and customization of advanced Flash.

    A Flash, "Best Practice" that has been around for a long time is to use some means of Flash detection and then provide alternate content for non-Flash platforms.

    This is more or less the same principle as HTML5 video... provide multiple versions of a video and let the browser see if it can find a version that it can use, which may or may not display directly on your Web page (as opposed to opening a new window/tab).

    swfobject is one method of Flash detection that has been around for a long time.

    http://code.google.com/p/swfobject/

    If you are heavily invested in your Flash creations and want to continue to use them, you can, just provide Flash detection and alternate content. That alternate content can be as simple or elaborate as you have time and effort to do.

    Here is simple example of a Web page created using Flash and then providing alternate HTML content.

    View the site in both Flash enabled and non-Flash device to compare (and view the alternate content).

    http://www.ksowetsuits.com/

    The alternate content version contains extensive HTML descriptive text content which not only is used as the alt content but is also indexed by search engines (disspelling the myth that Flash is always bad for SEO).

    In the future, you might want to target more mobile devices and move away from Flash altogether, but for now, you can have the best of both worlds.

    Best wishes,

    Adninjastrator

     
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    Jun 20, 2012 10:10 AM   in reply to IBIS2

    If video is the issue, there are various ways to deliver it so all platforms are covered, as mentioned above. But, if you're also taking about Flash sites and other animated and interactive content, you may also want to consider getting into building full blown iOS apps. Yeah, little mre work there than simply conversions, but it seems to be the way things are going.

     

    I wonder what percentage of web developers have added mobile development to their skillsets? I'm sure the number has grown quite a bit in the last couple of years, especially with more and more third-party tools on the market.

     
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