Blackberry has officially abandoned Adobe Flash in their main internet browser for all Blackberry 10 enabled smartphones. This move was prompted by Adobe ceasing active support for the platform as the industry seems to have embraced HTML5.
When users upgrade to the BlackBerry OS 10.3.1 update for all supported phones it now removes support for Adobe Flash on the Blackberry browser. Some users were wondering why this happened and initially thought it was a bug. BlackBerry has now offered an explanation as to why this has occurred.
According to BlackBerry, “BlackBerry 10 OS has been on the market for the past two years, and we continue to have the highest mobile HTML5 test score. We understand how important web browsing is to you, which is why we have always invested in giving you the best possible web browsing experience.”
Many of the leading game and news publications have all gravitated away from Adobe Flash and have embraced dedicated mobile apps or HTML5. This movement started when the Apple iPad originally came out and famously boycotted Flash due to security issues. This prompted many companies to deliver their content in such a way that Apple users would be happy.
Overdrive is one example of a company most people use when they borrow books from the library. Overdrive Read is their online HTML5 platform that allows you to read e-Books and soon listen to audiobooks from any mobile web browser.
PressReader who has had native apps on the Blackberry platform since the Playbook has also embraced HTML5. The company introduced a new HTML5-powered PressReader.com, an aggregated newspaper and magazine portal with SmartFlow technology. This high performance, 100 percent cross-platform presentation engine adapts the layout of content on-the-fly as readers interact with it.
If you are dire need of a Flash enabled internet browser there are many to choose from. You certainly don’t need to rely on the stock one that Blackberry offers. You might want to check out Dolphin Browser, which continues to be the most popular ones out there.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
