Adobe Flash Player Coming to Android OS 4.0 After All

Even though Adobe has abandoned its efforts to bring support for Flash to smartphones and tablets, the company said today that a version for Android OS 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) will be released. This will be the last, however.

This company released the first version of Flash Player for Google's Android OS in 2010, and has released a number of updates since. Performance was marginal at best on many smartphones and tablets, however. Apple has refused to permit a version for the iPhone and iPad, citing poor performance.

Earlier this month, Adobe announced the end of further development on the mobile versions of Flash Player, and the company is instead throwing its weight behind an alternate standard, HTML5.

Android OS 4.0 is debuting on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and at this point there is no Flash Player for it. Adobe has decided to unbend a little on this issue. The company said today, "Adobe will release one more version of the Flash Player for mobile browsing, which will provide support for Android 4.0".

This is scheduled for release "before the end of this year," but no specifics on a launch time are available. In the U.S. this is currently moot, as the Galaxy Nexus has not yet been released.

Flash vs. HTML 5
Flash is a proprietary standard. HTML5 was created to be a more open option, and support for it is built into Apple's iOS, Google's Android OS, and Microsoft's Windows Phone. It is generally used for streaming video, but can do much more, including games as well as other apps.

Adobe will focus its Flash-related efforts on adding advanced features to the PC version.  It will work to bring as many of these features as possible to HTML5.

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