The writing has been on the wall for a long time. Although Flash played a crucial role in the early days of the Internet – this was, for example, the standard way YouTube played its videos – it has become obsolete. Open web standards like HTML5 have made it possible to embed content directly on web pages.
Even when it was still useful, it was far from universally loved. When some iPhone users complain about the lack of Flash on their devices, some sites become unusable, appeal (AAPL) co-founder Steve Jobs, refused to concede. In 2010, he wrote a serious letter about the software, saying that iPhones and iPads would never support Flash, which for years plagued with bugs and security issues.
This was the beginning of the end. A year later, Adobe announced that the software would no longer be developed on mobile devices.
Flash Player has remained a common tool for computers in multiple web browsers, with just over a billion users, just a decade ago. The software was a notorious target for hackers and led to numerous high-profile security breaches.
When HTML5 started to overtake Flash, usage decreased. In 2014, 80% of Google Chrome users visited a website with Flash code. By 2017, it had dropped to just 17%.
Adobe (ADBE) announced its plan to discontinue support for Flash three years ago – and the program’s “end of life” day finally arrived on December 31st. While some operating systems and browsers have already discontinued Flash, Adobe encourages people to check to see if Flash Player removes them immediately on their devices “to help protect their systems”, as it will no longer receive security updates.
The company has published removal instructions for both Windows and Mac users. This is how it works:
- Download a Flash Player Remover. (There is a different one for each operating system; note which OS version you are using when using a Mac.)
- Start the removal system. (On Windows, you must first close all browsers and applications that use Flash. On iOS, you do this as part of the process.)
- You can then verify that the removal is successful by restarting your computer and then checking the status of Flash Player on your computer from the Adobe website.
So long, Flash Player.