Is there a reliable and secure alternative to Adobe Flash Player for Macs running Yosemite? I keep getting websites telling me that I can see a video because my Flash Player needs to be updated. But I haven't wanted to install it as I've heard negative things about it and Macs. Is there an alternative to Flash Player? And if so, what is it and where do I find it?
iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.5)
If you enter www.adobe.com into the address bar of your browser and then follow Adobe's links to FlashPlayer you'll ne fine. Many of the problems people have had with falsh is from clicking on an upgrade pop up or link and getting redirected to a questionable site like softonic where they get an "altered" version of the installer.
To answer your question directly, no there is no secure alternative to Adobe Flash. You must have Adobe Flash installed to view content in that format. And the negative things you ‘heard’ about Macs applies to all versions for all platforms including Windows. Flash is obsolete, riddled with security holes (which is why it is updated so often) and a resource hog but is still used by many, many websites so we still need to have it installed for the most part. Go to Adobe’s website and update from there. The latest version of Flash installs a Preference Panel that allows you to update automatically or manually going forward.
There is no alternative, but you can reduce your dependence on it by installing either the "ClickToFlash" or "ClickToPlugin" Safari extension. They can be found in a web search.
Using Chrome will help. With using HTML5 and Google owning YouTube, in Google Chrome, YouTube videos will play without Adobe Flash Player. That might help you circumvent having it at all since YouTube is probably the most often use of Adobe Flash Player.
I believe you have received poor, inadequate information here. Use FlashtoHTML5, paired with the ClicktoFlash extensions in Safari.
Being that Flash is very insecure, I've completely removed it from my MacBook Pro. The best alternative is to uninstall Flash from your system and download Google Chrome as it has Flash build into it and you're not vulnerable unless you're browsing in Chrome. If Safari is your main browser, as mine is, then you need to open Safari Preferences, go to Advanced and click the checkbox for 'Show Develop menu in menu bar'. Once you've done this, the Develop menu bar menu shows up and you can click it and choose 'Open Page With' and choose Chrome. It is a bit cumbersome, but it removes the vulnerability when browsing in Safari as many sites are now using HTML5. Hope this help.
FYI, no longer offering the HTML5 app as too many problems. Lovely. I think I spend more time FIXING Adobe Flash player than actually WATCHING it. BASTA!
Alternative to Adobe Flash Player for Macs running Yosemite
