Firefox devs indicate that version 55 will be openly hostile to Flash

[bill]

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/05/22/firefox_55_will_ask_if_users_want_to_run_adobe_flash/ [theregister.co.uk]

Hi! I’m Foxy! It looks like you want to run Flash. Do you need help?

Developers of the Mozilla's Firefox Web Browser have indicated that version 55, due in August 2017, will be openly hostile to Adobe's Flash plugin.

“As part of the ongoing NPAPI plug-in deprecation in Firefox, Flash content is now defaulted to click-to-activate in Firefox Nightly,” the developers write, adding that . “The current plan is to roll out this change gradually to the Beta and Release channel user base of Firefox 55. Web publishers must have a clear plan to move away from any Flash dependency to offer the best possible user experience.”

[keyplyr]

Another chapter in the Flash demise saga. Even though I no longer use Firefox, I don't think I've allowed Flash in any of my browsers for close to 2 years now.

Those splash landing pages were the first application of Flash to really irritate me. Then the 5 minute movies we had to watch in order for the site navigation to display. I run an event directory and those were real popular a while back.

However, it did give the Webmaster community steady work for quite a while.

[tangor]

The need for video has not diminished, but the need for something that is actually secure, quick, efficient, AND reliable has put Flash in the crosshairs. The web has evolved. Flash is seriously laggard.

[not2easy]

Good news for users, past due imo.

I've been using FF with flash disabled for years, starting back when I needed to really watch my bandwidth usage on a satellite ISP. At least 10 years now. It was everywhere back then. :(

[keyplyr]

I'm not seeing much Flash... I know I have it blocked, but Chrome displays a message saying "a plug-in is needed to play this content."

My guess is all the bad press pretty much killed the fad & now it's just used for what it was origionally intended.

[tangor]

Flash will be around for a bit (hopefully a short bit!) as long as yt still offers it. Fortunately yt is dumping flv at a rapid rate.

MEANWHILE, other countries are playing ketchup (sic) and working with the out-dated tools they have, and while main stream in their countries, this flash will not brighten browsers in other parts of the world.

Firefox is not the only one to corral the ancient video beast....

[Peter_S]

It's been a while I disabled Flash from my browser. (I never used it on my own site). But I still see LOT of a sites which are relying on flash exclusively. I don't know what they are waiting to switch to alternative technologies.

[engine]

Good move by FF.

The sooner Flash goes, the better, imho, and it seems to be hanging on and on.
The more browsers that put up barriers the better, and between FF, Chrome and IE/Edge it should cover most of the market. Anyone with a Flash on site is going to become invisible.
I've seen a few smaller sites still running Flash because the site actually looks reasonable, but they are in the minority.

Does anyone, apart from Adobe, have a good word for the use of Flash today?

[Harry]

Flash is used by animators and is still the best tool for that kind of work. By Flash, of course, I mean the authoring tool. I use Flash everyday. I don't need to export any of my contents to Flash but as an animator, there is nothing that can replace it.

Flash was created for animators and it is interesting to see that Adobe has returned it to them by rebranding it Animate and de-emphasizing the rich media parts.

I find most web developers and tech pundits are ignorant of what Flash really is just dismiss it without understanding that the authoring part of the tool will not go away, as long as there are animators breathing. And trust me, I continue to train new animators on Flash. It's just the best animation tool ever.

But then again, I have used Flash for close to 20 years, so I'm very biased, I guess. But at least I know its history and how Macromedia originally spun it off from an animation product to something that mimicked Director and then filled an important gap in the Web's formative years. People always refer to the "annoying splash pages" but forget that much more than that was powered by Flash. Just ask YouTube and Facebook...