Adobe Flash VS Apple IOS (Iphone and Ipad)

You may have heard all about the transition from flash video to html5 recently, and how important it is to stop developing your site with flash. This short article will explain in layman terms what you should know as it relates to using video.

Is Flash dead?

Take a look at the graphic below. The bottom line of this graphic is that flash is enabled and running on 98% of computers worldwide. This means most people can see flash content on computers.

Flash versus IOS - Users of Ipad / Iphone

The vast majority of users of the internet support flash and will continue to do so, even Apple's own desktop computers. Ipad and Iphone users however do not as they are running an operating system called IOS. This operating system was developed by Apple for their mobile and tablet use, and for their own reasons they decided not to support flash. If you use flash video on your website users of those devices will not be able to see it. To allow those users to see your video you will need to convert the video to a HTML5 supported format, like a MP4 video format and provide an additional link or embed code.

Why not use HTML5 compatible video and be done with it?

First of all not all browsers support html5 so you would be trying to support a new format to satisfy the small percentage of your visitors while alienating the larger group. There is hope though because you can insert flash video anywhere on your website and also provide another version for html5 as well.

Flash video still has it's advantages !

Take a look at the following screen shots. These are videos that take advantage of the transparency feature only found in flash which allows a person to seemingly have no background behind them. That is not possible in MP4 formatted video which is what the Ipad and Iphone support. Those videos are also boxed format videos which embed inside your web page or pop up full screen from a link.They are perfect for smaller devices like cell phones and tablets where you normally maximize the video to full screen anyway. From a layout perspective flash videos look great because they allow you to insert a video both over content and within content, and best of all are viewable on 98% of all desktop computers around the world.

The transition - Enable your site for both flash and HTML5

Since flash content is completely ignored by Ipad an Iphone it does not hurt to enable flash on your site in the form of video overlays. Desktop computers will show the video and Ipad devices will just ignore it. You can add code to detect if your web visitor is viewing your page from a device such as an Iphone or Ipad, then site display either a link or graphic that links to your Ipad friendly video, or show html-5 code that embeds a boxed video inside your site. This is the best of both worlds.

Having touted flash as prevalent in this article we must say however that with the trend going towards HTML5 as a standard in 2012 and beyond, it is wise to prepare for the possible demise of Flash. Nobody knows the future but it is prudent to accomodate video for all possible platforms.

Our company provides videos in any and all formats and can give you advice on the matter upon reviewing your website. Give us a call to get started.