Victory for Apple users as Adobe stops work on mobile Flash

Adobe Systems Inc has stopped developing its Flash Player for mobile browsers in a move which effectively heralds its waving of the white flag to Apple.

Adobe and Apple have locked horns for years over the use of Flash for Apple’s mobile devices. Currently, iPhone and iPod users are unable to view Flash content on their devices.

As a result of Adobe’s decision to halt work on its Flash Player, many web developers who use Flash tools to produce content may well start using HTML5 technology – something that Apple is more than happy to work with.

The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs would have been delighted at the move. He famously wrote a 1700-word essay in which he derided Flash for being unreliable and unsuited to mobile devices. Adobe issued a public response to his criticism by taking out adverts in newspapers, saying that he was in the wrong.

Although the news will excite many Apple fanatics, others are not so pleased at the decision. Shares in Adobe fell by eight per cent on the day that it announced that it would be stopping work on Flash Player for mobile devices.

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