Adobe Flash Player

What Flash made possible and its guarantees:

At a time where the web was at its worst Adobe Flash Player created the possibility to add web-based video, animation, and interactivity, making websites more attractive. It guaranteed the content would look and behave the same way for anyone who loaded it, regardless of what type of browser or computer they were using. 

Flash's performance regarding Apple, Facebook, and YouTube:

In 2007 Apple decided not to support Flash in the newly introduced iPhone. Steve Jobs wrote on the Apple website in 2010 that the problem with Flash was that it was insecure and resource-intensive, and its plugin was overly proprietary. Jobs made the case for HTML5 and JavaScript, pointing out that they were based on open standards that web browser could build on. In spite of this Flash remained an integral part of the web. YouTube's video player was still built on Flash, along with Facebook's Farmville and Words with Friends. For YouTube HTML5 did not offer all that Flash offered at the time. This includes advanced video-serving features, like DRM and full-screen support, and provided designers and developers with a sophisticated app for creating interactive animations. In 2015 YouTube announced that its HTML5 video player was now the default. Just a few months later, it was revealed that hackers had been using an exploit in the Flash Player to inject surveillance software onto users' computers. Facebook's chief security officer called on Adobe to set and end-of-life date for the plugin. Although Facebook called for the end-of-life date, it is still using and supporting Flash based games for web browsers.

A Rebranding:

In 2011 Adobe ceased the production of the Flash Player that had been previously available for Android, and instead released a product called Edge Animate; this was a new way to create HTML5 content. At the end of 2015 Adobe discontinued Edge Animate and instead renamed the Flash Professional app to Animate CC. Adobe said Animate CC would be its "premier web animation tool for developing HTML5 content while continuing to support the creation of Flash content."

Shocking Announcement from Google:

Google has just announced that Chrome will be dropping support for Flash Player altogether. Chrome will block Flash Player by default, however you can still load Flash content by selecting an opt-in button. It will be a doosey attempting to load Flash content or play Flash games on Chrome.

The Future of Adobe Flash Player:

All-Flash websites are dead, but Flash content on the other hand still lives on. Flash the platform has been recreated, but Flash the development tool still prevails. Forrester Research principal analyst Jeffrey Hammonds says “They [Adobe] understand that there’s a slow transition to HTML5 going on. At some point you have to embrace the change. The rebranding is a visible sign of that, but the internal focus on supporting technologies like HTML5 has been going on a while.” Since there is a plethora of Flash content still out there, including video and gaming content, they cannot just simply put an end date to Flash quite yet. All they can do is “keep Flash Player stable and secure because it is the responsible thing to to,” an Adobe rep says. Facebook seems to somewhat agree, although they called for Adobe to pull the plug for Flash in early 2015. Facebook has been working closely with Adobe to patch security gaps in Flash. “Even if you have an end-of-life date, that would probably be a couple of years into the future, “ the analyst says. “Why would you not continue to address security gaps as they come up between now and them?”