12.29.09

Adobe Flash Finally on the iPhone, Could it Be?

Posted by Tim Frick in Flash, Mobile, Programming, Web Design

In a roundabout way, Adobe has finally figured out how to get Flash content on the iPhone. No, it’s not an iPhone-specific version of the Flash Player like we’ve all been expecting for years now. Instead, the company recently announced that Creative Suite 5 will support exporting iPhone apps from Flash. Okay, it was over a month ago now, but I just found out about it thanks to a post on on Josh Sager’s blog. (Thanks Josh.)

According to their site, “Adobe® Flash® Professional CS5 will include a Packager for iPhone that will let you publish ActionScript 3 projects to run as native applications for iPhone. These applications can be delivered to iPhone users through the Apple App Store.*” (The little asterisk at the end of that quote notes that your apps are subject to approval by Apple via the iPhone Developer Program). The exporter uses a low-level compiler and is truly a native iPhone app with no interpreted code and no Flash runtime in the exported application. Adobe notes that “we did this in a way that is aligned with Apple’s legal terms.” Very considerate of them.

This is great news for Flash developers, as it opens up a whole new avenue for distributing (and monetizing) their content. I will be very curious to see how this plays out when CS5 actually does arrive (Adobe has not announced a release date).

A complete list of FAQs can be found on Adobe Labs.

Adobe has also posted a demo that features example applications on Labs as well.

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