Is not having Flash an issue for any iPad users?

It's clearly still an issue for some since the issue keeps coming up. There are fewer and fewer web sites still using Flash, but there remain a number that do.

Regards.

Newmarket2 wrote:

Is this still an issue? I recall at one point there were several major web sites that you couldn't follow (some major sports videos).

It doesn't matter if it's an issue or not. Flash will NOT be coming for iOS no matter how much protesting, ranting, pleading goes on. We are now 6 years into iOS which has never supported Flash. I've have an iPad 2 for a few years and I can report that, for me personally, the lack of Flash has not been an issue... at all even when the debate was in full swing.

I've had an iPad for a couple of years not and haven't missed flash in the slightest. In fact, I enjoy the fact that I get to dodge some of the more annoying flash based ads.

If having it is a must for some, there are browsers out there that do support flash. Puffin, Skyfire and iSwiffer are ones I see recommended, but I'm sure there are more. If you're curious about a specific site you may want to explore if the browser works with that site or if the site has a mobile version or app, which is another way to get around the lack of flash.

For those rare websites that still use Flash, there are alternative browsers that have Flash capabilities. Photon is the one I prefer, other people like Puffin. My understanding with Photon is that the Flash is actually streamed from a dedicated server specific to that browser... when you got to a site with Flash, you switch to Flash mode, and Photon connects to it's Flash server to stream the Flash content. it's a bit of the "long way around", but it generally works well, as long as you have a good, solid internet connection.

Newmarket2 wrote:

so, can you tell me which sites won't work on my iPad? Or, point me to a list somewhere. [I've been searching and haven't found a list of sites that won't work]

That's like asking " Is there a list of sites that stream audio?" Despite the fact that there are fewer sites than there used to be that use Flash, there are still a lot. And things change. There would be no practical way to keep a list like that.

Many websites trying to solve this problem by adding HTML5-animations instead of flash.

Newmarket2 wrote:

varjak,

so, can you tell me which sites won't work on my iPad? Or, point me to a list somewhere. [I've been searching and haven't found a list of sites that won't work]

That would be impossible. There are millions of web sites, so a comprehensive list if all those that contain Flash content just can't be done. And any I myself encountered, even if I could remember them, probably wouldn't be ones you'd care about. All you can do is try a site and if it contains Flash try one of the several app/service combinations, such as those mentioned below, and see if those work.

Regards.

If you have an iPad, visit the sites. If you don't have an iPad, disable the Flash plug in on your computer's browser and visit the sites.

Personally, I've never found it to be much of an issue. Two of the biggest uses of Flash appear to be sports sites and "adult video" sites. I'm really not a sports fan. Most major news stations have apps that work better than the websites. Product websites often use Flash but, again, not the sort of thing I visit much. Only you can decide if it's a dealbreaker for you.

Best of luck.

Get a second web browser on your workstation, like Safari, then turn off all flash in that browser, and see what breaks.

Newmarket2 wrote:

at one level, it seems odd to me that "millions of sites still use Flash" and millions of people use iPhones and iPads and can't view them. The two together don't work for me. Really widely used sites cannot be accessible by such a large body of users....

Let me approach this from a different perspective....is there a way for me to know if specific sites that are important to me use flash? Could I look at the source code and find this out by searching for specific text?

No, I said "milliions of sites", not "millions of sites that use Flash". My point is that there is no possible way anyone could survey all the web sites available in the world to know which use Flash and which do not and hence no way to come up with a list.

Meg has you covered on determining which sites you visit use Flash.

is their a single installation of Flash on a computer or is there a separate add-on for each browser?

Most browsers, if not all, will use the same copy of the Flash plugin.

Regards.

Meg St._Clair wrote:

Personally, I've never found it to be much of an issue. Two of the biggest uses of Flash appear to be sports sites and "adult video" sites. I'm really not a sports fan.

The problem that I've experienced is that, while there are few Flash sites that I care about, those that are an issue are extremely important. One was my (former) employer's web site that I used to fill in my hours. I'm retired now so it's no longer an issue. A handful of current examples include several of my doctors and that's kind of a biggie for me. As far as the adult video sites are concerned, they now have "Mobile" mirror sites that use Quicktime.

Philly_Phan wrote:

As far as the adult video sites are concerned, they now have "Mobile" mirror sites that use Quicktime.

I'll take your word for that! 😉