“Other than Adobe and the few folks who make a living creating Flash games, Flash advertisements, and videos that require Flash, who likes Flash? Apparently, no one at Apple because Flash hasn’t shipped on a new Mac in a few years,” Ron McElfresh writes for NoodleMac.
“If you’re one of those unlucky folks who still has Flash installed on your Mac and it gives you grief from time to time by sucking up battery power and CPU power, here are a few tricks to kill Flash on your Mac,” McElfresh writes. “Your Mac will run faster, cooler, longer without Flash.”
McElfresh writes, “To give you an idea of Apple’s official position on Flash and why Flash doesn’t live on iPhone or iPad, read the Thoughts on Flash, penned by Steve Jobs back in 2010. That missive marked the end of the reign of Flash.”
Read more in the full article here.
Use Click-to-Flash to control it on your Mac. This prevents it from loading on a web page unless you click on the Flash item specifically, so you’re in control.
I used CTF too, but the fact is the browser reports it’s flash-capable and you’re served more flash ads. I just don’t have Flash installed and use Chrome for those few instances where I need it.
Sounds like you’re doing just what Google wants you to do.
CTF is the better choice for anyone who wants to avoid becoming Google’s product.
I prefer Click-to-Plugin. It automatically requests the site use HTML5 instead of Flash if it is available. It doesn’t always do the trick, but helps immensely. For those other sites (usually Facebook), I open the Developer menu on Safari and set the user agent to iPad.
Excellent iDea. Works for all kinds of sites.
I use click to Flash, but so many porn sites use Flash that it makes going Flash-free nearly impossible.
Amen, brother perv.
So Apple 💻📱products cannot be recommended for porn😛 addicts…😢
Just think of the sales💰 lost!😱
Only place a MacBook Pro laptop with Flash is comfortable is in Nome, Alaska!
Always wondered why people don’t just run video through a converter to HTML5?
HTML5 is not a video format. When used for video playback, Flash usually only servers as a player, with playback controls. The video itself is often encoded in H.264 (or some other flavour of the MPEG4 standard).
There is no need to convert video into anything. In fact, whatever is the way the video is produced, its output will always more likely be some flavour of MPEG-4 or MPEG-2, wrapped in QuickTime, rather than Adobe’s proprietary FLV (flash video wrapper). Before such video can be presented inside a Flash-based player, it has to be converted (or re-wrapped) into FLV. Using HTML5 makes this an unnecessary step; a QuickTime MOV (or MP4) file can be embedded in a website using HTML5 player controls without any additional conversion / processing.
Just to nitpick,
“Before such video can be presented inside a Flash-based player, it has to be converted (or re-wrapped) into FLV.”
That’s not true (although it used to be years ago). You can embed an MP4 in a Flash player without any conversion. I run a site with thousands of video files and all the video is H.264/MP4. If a user has Flash enabled, it serves the video through a Flash player, but if not, it serves the exact same video file via HTML5. We did go through a process years ago to transcode all of our old FLVs to H.264/MP4.
In a more direct response to BoC…
The reason we still serve MP4 embedded in Flash if it’s enabled in the client, is because so many people have Flash compatible browsers, and not everyone is using an HTML5 compatible browser. It’s easier for us to try to serve Flash, and if that fails, roll over to HTML5 to catch the most people. The only thing wrong with this is if someone prefers HTML5 but has Flash enabled, they’d get the Flash player, but on the plus side, there are things are Flash based player can do that can’t be done in HTML5.
Isn’t it ironic that MDN’s recap of a story about how to block flash is covered with flash adverts?
I could have sworn at first glance that this said “How to use Flash to kill your Mac!
The author talks about (and links to) the ClickToFlash “plugin,” which is outdated; recent versions of Safari use “extensions.”
The link for the ClickToFlash (and ClickToPlugin) Safari extension is here
http://hoyois.github.io/safariextensions/clicktoplugin/
This extension, in addition to stopping Flash-based content from playing automatically, and replacing it with HTML5 when possible, also provides a command to download an embedded HTML5 video. So, if you see see a video you like on YouTube, you can download its file.
Flash hasn’t completely disappeared yet? What’s taking so long?
I get still some consumer surveys damaged by Flash so I can’t respond with 📱iPad!😱😖😟👎
Some tech people still live in the previous millennium…😠😡😤👎
I think Flash would be useful on my iPad. Sometimes the light level is so low the photos it takes are dark and a bit blurry. Oh, you meant Adobe’s Flash. Nah, that one is perniciously vermicious.
What do you do if the organisation you work for uses Adobe Connect for meetings and tells you to buy a Flash-enabled browser for your iPad to view content. Apple products are “supported” but actively discouraged. No I can’t work for another company in this small city in my line of work.
Chrome for iPad is free. Of course, you end up back in the Google camp.
Chrome for iPad does not have the Flash plug-in. It’s never allowed. But see my post below…
No such browser. Flash is never allowed on iOS, period.
However, there is software for iOS that allows you to watch transmogrified Flash as long as the app and associated web service offers what you need. Go to the iTunes Store and search for “Flash Browser“.
Here are a few I found for iPad:
– Photon Flash Player for iPad… ($5.00, 4.5 stars)
– Adobe® Content Viewer (free, but verify this does what you require)
– Puffin Web Browser ($4.00, 3.5 stars. There is also a free version with $1.00/6 months in-app purchase required for Flash).
There are some sort-of, kind-of other apps that claim to play Flash. But read the details about what they actually do. Some are remote desktop apps. Some offer a paid access service. Some look like total scams. Etc.
I hope that helps!
SEVERELY disappointing article.
Every version of Safari from 6 through 8 includes Internet Plug-in control. That includes Flash!
Here is where to find it:
Preferences/Security/Internet Plug-ins: [ ] Allow Plug-ins:
If you check √ ON ‘Allow Plug-Ins’, you’ll activate a button to the right labeled “Manage Website Settings”. Clicking on that button, a window will drop down with settings. On the left are all your installed plug-ins. At the TOP you’re likely to find ‘Adobe Flash Player’.
Clicking on ‘Adobe Flash Player’ you can now alter settings specific to that plug-in on the right for each specific website. Near the bottom is a pop-up menu where you can choose “When visiting other websites:”
– Ask <-What I prefer. You have to CLICK to allow a plug-in.
– Block <- A great idea if you're sick to death of Flash
– Allow <- Allows all except OS X File Quarantined plug-ins
– Allow Always <- Just don't
– Run in Unsafe Mode <- Just don't
Full details can be found in Apple's document
Safari: About Internet plug-in management
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5954
The author of the article clearly didn’t do his homework. *sigh*
Speaking of ‘homework’ please not that not every Mac user uses Safari, not every Mac user uses the latest Safari, and most Mac users who don’t want Flash running automatically prefer inline controls which Safari does not provide in Preferences. The commenter clearly didn’t do his homework. “Sigh”
So you’re using Safari 5? 4? 3? 2? 1?
It’s too bad you didn’t bother to follow what I wrote or what I linked because EXACTLY what you talk about (“Mac users who don’t want Flash running automatically prefer inline controls”) is EXACTLY what Apple provides in Safari.
Now go into shock and apologize to me.
Apple’s Safari plugin controls are lame and antiquated. Flash is lame but sometimes a necessary evil. I prefer the extension add-ons instead of Apple’s lame controls.
I have the add-ons too. But obviously my point was to point out that there ARE Apple provided Flash (and other) plug-in controls that the article totally MISSED, which was severely disappointing.
But some people just love to make NOISE for the sake of NOISE. Kind of childish.
Much like the childish noise you made. So, you have an alternative to the extensions and tools which do some of what Apple does in Safari. Big whoop? Why bother to detract from the article, which was beneficial? Why be so snarky about it?
Just because someone reviews an iPhone does not mean their review is worthless because they didn’t compare it to an HTC phone. Loosen your grip on snark and be helpful without all the baggage.
Did your daddy hurt you when you were a child? Get over it.
Oh good. Another hater to rip to shreds.
But I have better things to do tonight. Darn! Isn’t that upsetting?! 😯
Oh and I stand by exactly what I stated. Further upset.
Occup Flash – The movement to rid the world of the Flash Player plugin
http://occupyflash.org
Theres another reason why Mac’s don’t come preloaded with flash..
From the time the Mac leaves the production floor to the end users hands, there is probably a new Flash update regardless. So why preload something that 9 times out of 10, the end user is going to have to download and install anyways.. So give them the choice if they want to do it from the get go..