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Adobe Flash Player

Is it safe to update this on my iMac?

iMac 27" 5K, macOS 10.13

Posted on Apr 5, 2020 11:40 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 5, 2020 11:57 PM

Let's be clear about what you're asking...


What you're looking at (I assume) is the Flash Player pane in System Preferences. Currently you're set to 'auto update', so the question of 'is it safe to update' seems moot... you never need to manually update since Flash does it automatically.


(and yes, via this method, it's 'safe' to update Flash).


I phrase it this way because one of the major problems with Flash is the number of fake flash installers out there that trick users (typically via pop-ups on web pages) to install a fake Flash player which compromises their machine. Updates installed via these popups are never safe - and if your System Preferences are set to auto-update, you should never run into a site that claims you need to install a newer version.


The only safe options for installing flash are via this preference pane, or via direct download from https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/


All the above purposely ignores the question of whether Flash is inherently a good or a bad thing to have installed on your system. Ultimately, Adobe themselves acknowledge its time has passed and it's going away. You should decide for yourself if you need it on your own machine.

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 5, 2020 11:57 PM in response to peterpatter

Let's be clear about what you're asking...


What you're looking at (I assume) is the Flash Player pane in System Preferences. Currently you're set to 'auto update', so the question of 'is it safe to update' seems moot... you never need to manually update since Flash does it automatically.


(and yes, via this method, it's 'safe' to update Flash).


I phrase it this way because one of the major problems with Flash is the number of fake flash installers out there that trick users (typically via pop-ups on web pages) to install a fake Flash player which compromises their machine. Updates installed via these popups are never safe - and if your System Preferences are set to auto-update, you should never run into a site that claims you need to install a newer version.


The only safe options for installing flash are via this preference pane, or via direct download from https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/


All the above purposely ignores the question of whether Flash is inherently a good or a bad thing to have installed on your system. Ultimately, Adobe themselves acknowledge its time has passed and it's going away. You should decide for yourself if you need it on your own machine.

Adobe Flash Player

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