2 million iPhone developers

It's no secret that Apple does not like Flash. They strongly oppose the introduction of Flash-applications on the iPhone or iPod Touch, despite all the pleas and pleas of Adobe, and despite the fact that he has long been working with Labs. The lack of support for Flash in the iPhone is one of the main disadvantages of both users and developers, and this is a big omission in the iPhone arsenal.

But all this will change soon, since Adobe is going to transfer 2 million of its Flash developers to the iPhone, with or without Apple’s consent. As announced last October, the next version of its Flash tools for Creative Suite 5 developers (for now this is private beta) will include an “packer for iPhone” applications that will automatically convert any Flash applications to the iPhone App. Thus, until Flash is supported on the iPhone, any Flash application can be easily converted to an iPhone application. ( Microsoft is taking a similar approach with Silverlight .) This is a big deal that many people will appreciate.

The focus of the iPhone Flash controversy is that Flash Video is the de facto standard on the Internet. For example, if you encounter a flash video on a web page on your iPhone, instead of watching it directly in the browser, the phone should open additionally QuickTime Player. Most of the videos on the Internet, including everything on YouTube, are displayed using the Flash Player, so this is a bit annoying. Apple has already cited a number of reasons for not supporting Flash. This is a load on the battery, too expensive for mobile devices, not enough compatibility, etc. Some of these points are actually present, but Adobe appeals to the fact that Flash works quite well on Android.
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But for Apple, there are more strategic reasons for not allowing Flash to the iPhone. They wanted to work more closely with the developers. In addition to video, Flash, of course, can be used to create web applications that look great on the iPhone. Apple does not accept Flash, not so much because of video control, but to strengthen its Apple-iPhone SDK. The last thing they needed was a rival platform.

After Adobe presents Creative Suite 5, Flash applications will still not work on the iPhone. But these 2 million developers will be able to continue working with Adobe tools and simply convert them to iPhone applications automatically. In contrast, there are only about 125,000 or so iPhone developers. And iPhone applications will become even bigger than they are now, which can be pleasant or not so much. But if you thought that there were so many iPhone applications, just wait for Adobe to take action.