Phones and Flash

ChAoTiCpInOy

Diamond Member
Jun 24, 2006
6,442
1
81
Can someone help me understand why people want flash so bad on their phones? I don't understand. I'm not trolling. I just need help understanding.
 

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
I don't miss it much on my iPhone. At least I am spared all the ads when browsing the Web on it. Got Ad Muncher on my PC which solves it there - nothing similar in the mobile world. If there's something on YT I want to see, there's an App for YT for the iPhone. Only problem is sites that have trailers/video reviews that are flash like 99% of the time and those I can't watch. Gametrailers is nice here as it offers a lot of the content for iPhone users.

As for p0rn sites, there are mobile versions for most of them - not really a problem if you're looking for them.
 

pm

Elite Member Mobile Devices
Jan 25, 2000
7,419
22
81
I admit that there have been a few times that I've wanted Flash. Ideally I'd want to be able to turn it on and off though - to avoid Flash ads.

I was at a mall in Denver and I wanted to find a store so I pulled up their website and clicked the map only to find it's Flash only.

I was at a ski resort and wanted to pull up the lift map (I had 3G service on the mountain) while I was on the lift... their map was only in Flash.

I was talking about new cars with my wife (for her, actually) and went to Subaru's website and Saturn's website and found that the model information is only in Flash.

It's not like I really really want Flash... but it would be handy if I could view Flash sites occassionally, and then turn it off.
 

sygyzy

Lifer
Oct 21, 2000
14,001
4
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The only time I care about Flash is visiting a website I need for information and 100% of it is in Flash and I cannot use the site. For example, a restaurant to look up the menu or directions.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
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how about the fact that it uses 100% of your CPU cycles and drains your battery?

On crappy phones maybe but on phones like the Pre it'll use GPU acceleration so you need to be more informed. The fact of the matter is that all sites use it whether you like it or not. Yes ads use it as well but if you truly want to surf the web you need it. There are many sites that are purely made through Flash. The only ones that I see are trying to make a case that you don't need it are iPhone fans which is stupid cus they always touted that they had the best browsing experience. Sad that all it's competition is getting it.

The only true reason why it's not going on the iPhone is cus it'll give third-party developers an alternative “runtime” on which to develop and distribute apps for the iPhone, bypassing Apple’s control (and that of its partner carriers) and the iTunes App Store itself.
 

TheWart

Diamond Member
Dec 17, 2000
5,219
1
76
On crappy phones maybe but on phones like the Pre it'll use GPU acceleration so you need to be more informed. The fact of the matter is that all sites use it whether you like it or not. Yes ads use it as well but if you truly want to surf the web you need it. There are many sites that are purely made through Flash. The only ones that I see are trying to make a case that you don't need it are iPhone fans which is stupid cus they always touted that they had the best browsing experience. Sad that all it's competition is getting it.

The only true reason why it's not going on the iPhone is cus it'll give third-party developers an alternative “runtime” on which to develop and distribute apps for the iPhone, bypassing Apple’s control (and that of its partner carriers) and the iTunes App Store itself.

Can't you already make iphone web-apps, and thus end-run apple?

I think the ideal solution would be a browser that didn't play any flash unless you click it, thus giving users the option of using it but not auto-playing ads in the background, and thus lagging up the phone. As an iPhone user, I don't miss it that badly, but there have been times when I wish I could use flash - mostly when I am looking at a restaurant website, for example. For some reason a ton of them make the entire site in flash.
 

Qbah

Diamond Member
Oct 18, 2005
3,754
10
81
I never said I don't need it. I clearly stated I manage without. But yes, it would be nice to have it for the Web sites that are 100% Flash based. However, the iPhone gives me so many different things I enjoy, that I don't mind not having it (but it's not the point of this thread :)).
 
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
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I really think its unneeded, and it drains the battery like hell. Also, mobile and flash don't mix so well. The Hero has flash enabled, and it's a bit slow. Yes, you can blame the processor, but it makes webpages a bit too cluttery and just laggy overall. Even with a fast phone it's kinda unneeded.

I wouldn't mind getting it, but it should have an easy on/off switch in any browser. For those complaining about the iPhone, I think the lack of Flash is perfectly fine.
 

hanoverphist

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2006
9,867
23
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I admit that there have been a few times that I've wanted Flash. Ideally I'd want to be able to turn it on and off though - to avoid Flash ads.

It's not like I really really want Flash... but it would be handy if I could view Flash sites occassionally, and then turn it off.

same way i feel about it. for the most part, i use opera9 on my phone. when i NEED to see flash i use skyfire. when i need to remote in, i open up IE. i never see flash on my laptop unless i intentionally want to, and even tho i have to use 2 different progs on the phone its not so bad. youtube mobile website works fairly well for winmo, youo can surf the site and the vids open up in wmp for viewing. no need for flash there.
 

indamixx99

Golden Member
Oct 17, 2006
1,955
0
76
Apple and Adobe aren't on the greatest terms - which explains why flash is coming out for all other platforms besides the iPhone. Plus.. flash runs like crap on a mac - eating up close to 100% cpu while on a pc it consumes less than half of that. I'm sure the same will occur on an iphone.
 

zerocool84

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
36,041
472
126
Apple and Adobe aren't on the greatest terms - which explains why flash is coming out for all other platforms besides the iPhone. Plus.. flash runs like crap on a mac - eating up close to 100% cpu while on a pc it consumes less than half of that. I'm sure the same will occur on an iphone.

Well now with Flash 10.1 and the Flash that would be on phones like the iPhone would use the GPU to offload it from the CPU.
 

zylander

Platinum Member
Aug 25, 2002
2,501
0
76
Meh, in the year or so that I have had my 3gs I have come across maybe one website that I could not view because I didnt have flash. Not having flash really isnt a big issue for me.