Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Apple
    • Apple
    • Applications
    • Development
    • IT Management
    • Mobile

    Adobe’s iPhone Plans Hang on Jobs’ Opinion of Flash

    By
    Daniel Drew Turner
    -
    March 20, 2008
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Is shoehorning a Flash player onto the iPhone such a big issue? Given the time spent on it by the CEOs of Adobe and Apple, it may be.

      Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying, during a conference call with investors, that Adobe is “committed to bringing Flash to the iPhone,” and, “We have evaluated [the iPhone SDK] and we think we can develop an iPhone Flash player ourselves.”

      Narayen continued, “The [iPhone SDK] will let Adobe build a Flash player for the iPhone.” However, this seems not to be the case, precisely.

      An official Adobe press release, sent to eWEEK, reiterated Narayen’s initial statement, saying, “Adobe has evaluated the iPhone SDK and can now start to develop a way to bring Flash Player to the iPhone.”

      But the release continues: “However, to bring the full capabilities of Flash to the iPhone Web-browsing experience, we do need to work with Apple beyond and above what is available through the SDK and the current license around it.”

      In other words, with the release of the iPhone SDK, Adobe will be able to explore its options regarding building a Flash or Flash Lite client, but using the SDK will not be enough; Adobe will need to work with Apple, in ways other developers will not have to or will not be able to. (Both Flash and Flash Lite have been dismissed by Apple CEO Steve Jobs as not a good technical fit for the iPhone.)

      “I believe that Adobe would have to come to some sort of special agreement with Apple to get Flash running on the phone,” said Mark Onyschuk of Marketcircle, a developer of Mac OS X and possibly iPhone applications.

      “The way that applications are installed on the phone, each application gets its own ‘sandbox’-a piece of the file system all to its own and made inaccessible to other applications,” Onyschuk said.

      He continued, “So the standard procedure for installing plug-ins into an application like Safari doesn’t work in the iPhone world. There’s no common /Library/Plugins folder that’s accessible to third-party applications.

      “I think Apple’s intention is to eliminate from the iPhone one very common source of system instability and insecurity-applications and their settings being accessible to each other. So plug-ins of any sort, be they Flash or Java, will likely only appear on the iPhone with special blessings from Apple and as part of a system software update.”

      Large hurdles for Adobe

      Mike Lee, owner of United Lemur, also saw larger hurdles for Adobe, though he took a different tack.

      “It’s not a matter of whether developers can write Safari plug-ins,” Lee said. “There’s no way to stop Adobe from writing anything they want.”

      He continued, “If nothing else, WebKit is open-source software. … Adobe could use Apple’s own code to build a competing browser that looks just like Safari, but with Flash. The question is whether Apple will let them run it, because nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to be running anything on iPhone 2.0 without a remotely revocable security certificate from Apple.”

      This security certificate, Lee explained, is key for ensuring securely “signed” applications.

      “Not only does my digital signature prove I wrote the application, it also proves that the application hasn’t changed since I’ve sent it. If the operating system refuses to run any application that lacks a valid signature, the virus model of ‘rogue code’ would simply cease to work. It also means developers no longer have to worry about piracy, as [Apple’s] App Store will apply DRM and the iPhone will enforce it,” Lee said.

      He added, “If Apple gives Adobe a certificate, and Adobe uses that certificate to sign a Flash plug-in, they still have to submit it to Apple for approval. If Apple says no, it doesn’t go in the App Store and there’s no way to put it on the iPhone. If Adobe hacks the iPhone to install Flash anyway, Apple revokes Adobe’s certificate, and all their iPhone software stops working immediately.”

      Other sources suggested that Adobe would also like Apple to license its code for displaying PDFs, and that the public noise over Flash is a pawn in that game. But whether the issue is Flash or PDF rendering, whether the two companies are going to clash or collaborate is in question.

      When asked about these concerns, an Adobe representative said the company would not release any comments other than what was in its initial press release.

      Daniel Drew Turner
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×