Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Adobe Flash Gets Passed Over in Favor of HTML with Mobile Firefox

Mobile Firefox
Android users got a treat this week with the release of Mobile Firefox, only a week after Mozilla unleashed the desktop version of Firefox 4 to the world. Available now on Android Marketplace, Mobile Firefox curiously skips Adobe Flash support in favor of HTML5.

TechCrunch is reporting that Mozilla’s new Mobile Firefox “fairly rocks” as an Android web browser. While that not be saying much given the fairly lame default browser on most Android devices, the Firefox entry is far more capable, syncing bookmarks, browsing history, passwords and open tabs with your desktop version. But one thing Mobile Firefox appears to be missing is support for Adobe Flash.


That’s right -- despite Google and Adobe sitting in a tree together over the Flash technology for Android mobile devices, it’s conspicuously absent from Mobile Firefox. In its place is HTML5 and CSS, which produces amazing “3D effects, animations, video and other in-browser graphics,” according to TechCrunch.

But don’t go thinking that Mozilla has turned their back on Adobe Flash where Mobile Firefox is concerned -- apparently the diminutive Android browser will indeed support Flash at some point, but everyone seems to agree that the mobile version of Flash isn’t quite ready for primetime.

Needless to say, Mobile Firefox probably won’t be making its way to iOS anytime soon. In the meantime, Mozilla offers the free Firefox Home app, which at least lets you view your desktop history, bookmarks and open tabs right on your iPhone or iPod touch. So… that’s something.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter

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