We all knew this day was coming. It was going to be hard to accept, but Adobe told us all to move on. Android 4.1 users didn’t have a choice, but 4.0 and below were still able to download Flash Player for Android. That luxury will be going away tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 15 is the promised day. Adobe will be removing Flash Player for Android from the Google Play store. After that, nobody will be able to access the player. If you already have it downloaded on your device, you’re set until you upgrade to Jelly Bean. Adobe is leaving Flash Player as is. It will only support Ice Cream Sandwich and below.
In its place, Adobe has been pushing HTML5 alongside everybody else. They feel that it’s the future of mobile and are investing heavily in it with their Adobe AIR platform. The verdict is still out on whether or not Adobe will be able to convince people to adopt AIR on mobile like they have convinced desktop users to adopt Flash.
If you find yourself without Flash, the plug-in is still available on Google Play for today. It will be taken down at some point tomorrow so grab it while you still can. Of course, you can grab Flash for Android even after it’s taken down from Google Play. Some intrepid programmers have found a way to install Flash on Android even after Adobe pulls the plug.
While Adobe has given up on Flash for mobile devices, the plug-in still has its fans. The fate of Flash beyond 4.1 is still to be decided, but fans usually find a way. I wouldn’t be surprised if a dedicated group of developers kept Flash alive on Android operating systems.