Flash Player for Android KitKat 4.4

Report · Nov 23, 2013

Hi, i have a Nexus 7 2013 and i have installed the New Android Version 4.4 KitKat.

I can't use longer my flash player. My Question: works Adobe on a New Version for Android kitkat? I hope to get an answer, Sincerelly ,Mr. Matlas.

Report · Nov 23, 2013

Android no longer supports Flash Player, since June 2012. Adobe hasn't made a new version since then, and what there is available for download is for Android 3 and lower.

Android recommends "Dolphin" as the browser to view Flash content.

Report · Nov 26, 2013

"Android no longer supports Flash Player, since June 2012."

A more correct statement would be "Adobe no longer supports Flash Player for Android, since June 2012." Chrome Browser, and several others, also don't support Flash. However, Flash Player for Android will not work on 4.4 or higher. Android's WebView is now based on Chromium instead of the AOSP Browser, and so Flash isn't supported on Android. At all.

"for Android 3 and lower."

Regardless of what versions it's intended for, it works with any version 4.3 or lower.

"Android recommends 'Dolphin'"

Android is not an entity, and thus cannot recommend anything. Dolphin, along with Firefox, is one of the most recommended browsers that supports Flash Player (before Android 4.4), however.

Report · Nov 26, 2013

The following is an "Official statement" I was given from Samsung Support (07/31/2013):

"Beginning August 15, 2012 we will use the configuration settings in the Google Play Store to limit continued access to Flash Player updates to only those devices that have Flash Player already installed. Devices that do not have Flash Player already installed are increasingly likely to be incompatible with Flash Player and will no longer be able to install it from the Google Play Store after August 15th, 2012."

And the "Official statement" I received from (Amazon) Kindle Support (07/31/2013):

"The Amazon Silk web browser on Kindle Fire 1st Generation supports some, but not all, versions of Flash. Adobe Flash is pre-installed on a 1st Generation Kindle Fire and is disabled by default.

If you see a message to install Flash while using your Kindle Fire, this means that the content you're attempting to view uses Flash. If you want to view the content, you'll need to enable Flash through the Silk settings menu.

If a web page suffers from slow performance due to Flash, or you're unable to view a web page with Flash enabled, we recommend switching to mobile view when browsing a Flash-heavy website to see if that solves your problem:

Some popular websites may also have an app available. Check Amazon Appstore, accessible through the Apps library on your Kindle Fire, for availability.

The Amazon Silk web browser on Kindle Fire 2nd Generation, Kindle Fire HD 7", and Kindle Fire HD 8.9" doesn't support Flash.

Some sites use alternative web technologies to Flash in their mobile versions. We recommend switching to mobile view when browsing a website with Flash content to see if that solves your problem:

Some popular websites may also have an app available. Check Amazon Appstore, accessible through the Apps or Games library on your Kindle Fire, for availability."

Android (Google) made the decision to remove access to Flash in the Google Play store (August 15, 2012). Adobe stopped development after that, because it makes NO SENSE AT ALL to build and maintain Flash Player for an OS and product line that it's INCOMPATIBLE WITH.... Get it? On September 10 2013, Adobe released Flash Player 11.1.111.73 for Android 2.x and 3.x and 11.1.115.81 for Android 4.0.x in keeping with statements made in Adobe's publicly available Flash Roadmap. This release was the final update release of Flash Player for the Android operating system. 11.1.102.63 - the closest Desktop version to that - was released March 5, 2012, so Adobe hung in there until it was no longer worth the effort.

Apple decided in 2006 that iOS would not run Flash, stating that it was too hard on batteries, Android made the same decision, just six years later, but for the same reason.

Bottom line is THERE IS NO MORE FLASH PLAYER FOR ANDROID, and it was an Android decision.

I've personally spoken with sales people at Bestbuy, Office Depot, and OfficeMax, and when I asked about Flash compatibility, NOT ONE PERSON mentioned that Flash would no longer work, on Kindle or Galaxy tablets. In fact, one guy said "Sure. I have a brand new Galaxy with Flash Player on it. Facebook, YouTube... it all works." - THAT was an outright lie.

Report · Nov 26, 2013

Good info to know! Thanks Mike!

I think the issue is simply there is still a mega ton of flash coded

website content delivery systems

on the Net that isn't going to be updated anytime soon.

I know I see flash everywhere still on the sites I visit everyday and

just recently have noticed a

tiny stream of migration to HTML 5 video players. The best example of

all is Google's YouTube

itself. You have to request the HTML 5 Player. It's not enabled by

default. So Google is still

deliverying with Flash which is quite ironic since they're the ones

leading the charge for all

websites to get rid of it. Another thing I noticed on YouTube is if you

enable their HTML 5 Player

instead of the YT Flash Player than the highest resolution you get is

720p. You can't watch in 1080p.

That's screwy and defeats the purpose of producers creating high res

content for YT.

I've been on the Net since it started as a domain name investor and

website developer myself

and I would say the one of the biggest problems has always been keeping

unification of code

format as well as unification of rendering engines on that side, which

has been a nightmare

for site developers to get their websites looking perfect in every

browser. IE being the worst

to deal with.

Back to the Flash issue, I did discover on my Nexus 7 besides being able

to view with Puffin's

browser, that if you switch from MOBILE mode to DESKTOP mode on some

sites embeded

flash will play. The streams still won't though in either mode.

Thanks for the update!

Kevin

Report · Nov 26, 2013

Puffin works fine for both embedded flash videos and flash based video

stream code.

Of course that's technically streaming with Puffin side server system,

but nonetheless

if you want flash now in 4.4, that is the only workable way I've found

so far.

Report · Nov 27, 2013

Yep... Adobe will not resume Flash Player development for Android, so until the web completely moves to HTML5, alternate browsers will have to do.

Report · Jan 25, 2014

Adobe has reasons for not supporting flash, likely the same security and performance reason that caused Apple to make the same decision.

Report · Jan 26, 2014

Actually, Adobe MAKES Flash... so they DO support it. Apple and Android (Google) don't support it.

Report · Nov 25, 2013

Same problem with my Nexus 7 after the 4.4 KitKat update.

Only solution I found so far is to use the Puffin Web Browser.

It's on the google play store in 2 versions.

There is a free trial, but that only allows you to play flash during

daytime hours. If you upgrade this version then you get charged $1.99 per year.

Better deal is to start with the Puffin full version instead of the trial because then

you only pay a one time charge to buy the app of $2.99. You can view flash 24/7 with this

full version

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cloudmosa.puffin

I'm not sure how Puffin is making flash work but I think they fetch the flash on the page

you are on to their server and then convert it to HTML 5 or something that does enable

the flash to stream.

I've tried every other mobile browser I could find and only Puffin works. I've alerted the Firefox

dev team to find some kind of work around and they are doing that.

A lot of people are going to be super pissed off after their phones and tables update to 4.4

and they find out all their favorite sites that use flash to deliver video content won't work

anymore.

Google wants to get rid of flash on the web apparently and they are trying to force websites

to convert all their content delivery from flash to HTML 5 code. This is a huge task because

there is so much content that is coded for flash from all the years past and to think every

website is going to spend the money and time to change to HTML 5 is ludicrous.

Anyway, the hack guys are all over this 4.4 flash issue too and hopefully they will find a
workaround to re-enable flash on 4.4 so it will work on all browsers again.

Report · Nov 26, 2013

"Puffin" Web browser is A.K.A. "Dolphin". It IS the recommended Android browser for viewing Flash Content.

I recently got some "hands on" experience with a Kindle Fire HD, as my niece's Kindle lost the power coupling (yet another problem with them) and I had to tear out the PC board to repair it, recharge it completely and then run it down a ways to see if the power coupling was indeed fixed. In that time I got to "play around" with YouTube, and a few other sites, in Dolphin ("Puffin") and it worked flawlessly.

Google doesn't run the entire Internet. I have five sites myself and... I run them. Google is responsible for Google, YouTube and IMDb that I know of. The move to HTML5 is being pushed by the W3C, who manage web standards and HTML/CSS/JS compliance. It's nothing ot dowith Google trying ot control content. The W3C is trying to make the web more "mobile device friendly", and that means content which DOESN'T require Flash Player, which iOS and Android devices don't support.

Regarding "hacks":

They are neither endorsed nor supported by Android or Adobe, and it's "taboo" to speak of them here.

Report · Nov 26, 2013

Puffin (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cloudmosa.puffinFree&hl=en) is NOT Dolphin (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.mgeek.TunnyBrowser&hl=en).

Dolphin worked for you because Kindle Fire HD does not have the latest version of Android, 4.4 (AKA KitKat). Puffin worked for him because, as he correctly guessed, Puffin does server-side Flash rendering.

"Google doesn't run the entire Internet"

This is true, but they DO own/create Android. However, you're very correct about how it's not Google that's pushing the move to HTML5.

Also, I'm kinda sorry for correcting pretty much everything you've said in this thread, as I feel it was a bit rude to do, but I also felt like it was necessary, so I did it.