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Google Flash HTML5

Flash loses out to HTML5 with launch of Chrome 55

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By Kyle O'Brien, Creative Works Editor

December 10, 2016 | 2 min read

Google announced in May that it would be phasing out Flash on its Chrome web browser by the end of the year. The company is holding true to its word by announcing the launch of Chrome 55, which utilizes HTML5 and kicks Adobe’s Flash products to the curb.

The update to Chrome 55 means that many internet sites will default to HTML5 rather than Flash, according to a story on Slash Gear. Google wanted to default to HTML5 earlier, mainly attributed to security issues with Flash. Instead, due to the fact that many sites used Flash for video, it bundled the Adobe product with Chrome so it could control it and disable it if needed.

When users apply the update to Chrome 55, websites will begin to default to HTML5 automatically, except on sites only supported by Flash, which will be exempt. The top 10 websites on Google’s internal rankings will also be exempt, including YouTube, Facebook, Yahoo, Amazon and VK. If users go to a site without the HTML5 content player, Flash content will not load and users will have to enable it manually.

Chrome 55 isn’t the first to launch without Flash, since Facebook decided to launch video with HTML5. Adobe has even phased out Flash, as it stated on a blog in November of 2015.

“To more accurately represent its position as the premier animation tool for the web and beyond, Flash Professional will be renamed Adobe Animate CC, starting with the next release in early 2016. Today, over a third of all content created in Flash Professional uses HTML5, reaching over one billion devices worldwide. It has also been recognized as an HTML5 ad solution that complies with the latest Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standards, and is widely used in the cartoon industry by powerhouse studios like Nickelodeon and Titmouse Inc.”

Google Flash HTML5

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