iPhone v. Android
Apple has booted Flash and other technologies from the iPhone. The new iPhone developer license restricts a number applications built with technologies including Unity, Titanium, MonoTouch, and Flash CS5, prompting Adobe to abandon further iPhone apps development and to warn developers that Apple may remove content and applications created with Flash from the iTunes store.
Apple’s move constricting iPhone developers is not being well received in many camps. Mike Chambers, Adobe Principal Product Manager for Flash, has written an interesting article on this subject. Chambers writes that “there is no technical reason that Flash can’t run on the iPhone” and that now Adobe will be focusing on other platforms, namely Android.
Android phones and tablets have been running Flash and other technology that Apple has excluded. 80% of internet sites have some form of Flash, and it is rather easy to port games created with Flash that target the iPhone to target other operating systems, such as Android – good news for gamers and all the rest of us.
Will Apple’s iPhone closed platform decision mark a major shift in development of apps? Apple’s first quarter 2010 earnings report showed iPhone sales up 131%, so maybe they won’t notice right away.
Related articles:
TechSpot: Adobe halts further iPhone development, focuses on Android
Mike Chambers: On Adobe, Flash CS5 and iPhone Applications
Will the Android Market suddenly see an influx of Flash-based apps?