Building iPad Applications with Flash
Today Apple announced the Apple iPad and like many of you, we at Adobe are looking forward to getting our hands on one of these devices. This is an exciting time to be a software designer with an explosion of new devices and we look forward to helping Flash developers and designers bring innovative applications to these devices using our tools and frameworks.
We announced the Packager for iPhone at MAX 2009 which will allow Flash developers to create native iPhone applications and will be available in the upcoming version of Flash Pro CS5. This technology enables developers to create applications for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad (though applications will not initially take direct advantage of iPad’s new screen resolution). It is our intent to make it possible for Flash developers to build applications that can take advantage of the increased screen size and resolution of the iPad.
Flash developers are used to being able to create rich expressive content that run well across multiple screens. The Flash Platform already provides developers with the ability to create applications without making assumptions about screen resolution and pixel density. Our very own Christian Cantrell has posted an in-depth article on the Adobe Developer Connection, Authoring For Multiple Screen Sizes, that details best practices in creating applications that run on multiple screens. If you want to prepare applications today that will work great on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, follow the guidelines from this article today.
While we put the finishing touches on the Packager for iPhone, we have invited a few developers and designers to join a closed pre-release program. As they are testing it and giving us feedback, they also have been able to use it to build some applications that they have submitted to the iTunes App Store. Here are some recent iPhone applications that you can find in the App Store now:
Gold StrikeThis popular action/puzzle game has been around for nearly a decade and played by millions. You are a miner who has struck gold! But the mine is unstable. Remove gold by finding groups of blocks as tremors fill the mine up.
Brush
Dr. Alan Acierno has created a Brush application which times every tooth and section of the mouth to help you brush 3 minutes twice a day
To follow news from the Flash Platform Team about the iPhone Packager and other new developments, follow us at @Flash_Platform
Update: As a result of Apple’s updated legal terms (section 3.3.1 of the Apple iPhone SDK License Agreement), Apple is no longer permitting these applications to be delivered to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users through the Apple App Store. This a legal restriction imposed by Apple and is not a technical limitation of Adobe AIR or Adobe Flash Professional CS5. At this time, we have ceased further development of the Packager for iPhone, and we plan to keep this completed work in CS5 to demonstrate the capabilities of the Flash Platform to support multiple platforms and devices. We have already started the pre-release of AIR for Android and will shift our investment there and to other technologies, in addition to the work we have already been doing on Flash Player 10.1 for Android. We believe Android will enable a series of very competitive devices in the market and are working closely with Google and other Open Screen Project (OSP) partners on this.
January 27, 2010
Igor writes:
when are you going to bring Flash to Android? The Beta doesn't count. Are you just waiting for Apple to cut a deal with you first?
January 27, 2010
Joshua Mostafa writes:
What about Flex apps?
January 28, 2010
Design ideas writes:
Mhm. That's nice
January 28, 2010
Kent writes:
Does it mean we will be able to play Facebook games on ipad after this?
January 28, 2010
Peldi Guilizzoni writes:
+1 for the "what about flex apps" request.
All I need is a "we're working on it", or even "yes but not until 2011". Throw us a bone! :)
Peldi
January 28, 2010
olivier writes:
Hi,
and flex ?
January 28, 2010
alan statham writes:
Flash is a waste of time technology, proprietary and inefficient.
January 28, 2010
John writes:
When are you guys going to fix the flash runtime on the mac? It still consumes 85% of the CPU for flash apps that do almost nothing. Also, the same thing exists for Linux platforms as well.
January 28, 2010
Dick writes:
I'm sorry to say this but it seems Flash will be made redundant by jQuery and HTML5 because of these actions by Apple (iPhone, iPad) and Google (YouTube -> HTML5). Just like Microsoft killed OpenGL (to push their own DirectX).
January 28, 2010
Jason Fincanon writes:
Hey guys, I'm not part of Adobe, but I thought I'd try to throw a couple of answers out there...
To JOSHUA MOSTAFA, PELDI GUILIZZONI and OLIVIER:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flex/mobile/
To JOHN:
The teams at Adobe can obviously speak to this more in depth than I can, but I've read (in several places) that it's an issue with the Mac allowing the Flash Player to access the "needed hardware decoding support" (like it can on a Windows machine) and I've also read that they are working on it. Check out the "On Mac vs. Windows performance" section of this post: http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2010/01/sympathy_for_the_devil.html
And finally, to ALAN STATHAM:
Great piece of helpful and constructive input you have there! Keep it up!
January 28, 2010
Greg Burch writes:
For those of you asking about Flex for mobile we announced plans at MAX 2009 that we have started working on it. We also showed demos of several applications running on the iPhone. You can get the latest information here from my blog:
http://mobilecontent.org
Also here is our labs page:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flex/mobile/
January 28, 2010
DICK RUBUTTLE writes:
Hey DICK,
OpenGL is killed? huh? OpenGL ES 1.1 and 2.0 is what drives Android, iPhone and is probably the underlying renderer for this Flash Packager. Windows Mobile may even adopt OpenGL ES. Also OpenGL is used on almost all video games today except Valves' (you can usually switch between directx and opengl). One such small company is Blizzard that WoW, Diablo etc are all built to run on a Mac with OpenGL.
Next time when you try to make a point don't shoot yourself in your own.
January 28, 2010
Jeff Johnson writes:
Please push out CS5 with Apple exports quickly guys. I have to deliver the likes of www.lookbookhd.com digitalmedia publishing like tomorrow ad would prefer to avoid appcelerator et al to get it done.
I know you can do this - i have faith. Been doing flash since John Gay and future splash, and now its my richmedia authoring preference - all platforms, one pile of source files. Pls over the years i have spent well over 15k on your software.
get 'er done up thanks
--jj
January 28, 2010
Aaron (EgoAnt) writes:
This is great news! I was wondering about this all day yesterday. One little think, your Twitter link goes to @FlashPlatform instead of @Flash_Platform
January 28, 2010
Dennis Gray writes:
Apps? How about browsing? How about developing a 'business class' web browsing device that can't view Flash. Steve Jobs boasts about the iPad being the ultimate web browsing device and while he's showcasing the New York Times website at his keynote speech he amazingly bypasses the fact that there's a dead spot on the site. Flash isn't important. Who cares...
Adobe and Apple used to be like peanut butter and Jelly. The only software people had on a Mac SE, FXII, Quadra G3, G4 or whatever piece of hardware was Adobe or Quark. Or maybe Aldus / Macromedia. Adobe wasn't even available on a PC back in the day.
Anyway, who cares about developing apps for the darn device if it can browse at the basic level. I don't want to hear about them waiting or HTML 5 because that's a generation away in tech years...
January 29, 2010
NQ Logic writes:
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January 29, 2010
Paul writes:
The iPad is a great prodakt an must be have flash.
January 29, 2010
segfault writes:
When will Flash stop being so poorly written that it's the number one cause of application hangs in Mac OS?
January 29, 2010
germ writes:
You can keep it. We do *not* want Flash on the iPad. Flash must die.
January 29, 2010
Nirav Mehta writes:
Flash CS5 got me interested, but we don't do Flash anymore. So good to see progress on Slider. Many customers are waiting for Slider to release, so that we can embrace the new platforms.
@Greg: Good going! Am really eager to try the prerelease!
@Peldi: Mockups on iPod / iPhone / iPad?? Mockups for iPad will really be cool.
January 29, 2010
Josh Strike writes:
Balls. I've been using Flash/Flex for development since 1998 and it never hangs, ever, unless something is poorly coded. It's also only marginally slower on OS X. People make a lot of this, but the truth is a well-coded AS3 program will only do a few things slower on a mac. If you get rid of Flash, there will be plenty of other ways to deliver ads. And yes, there are some crummy Flash sites out there that make poor use of the technology, but it's far more common to have your browser hung by a badly written Javascript site.
On the other hand, there's nothing out there that comes close for writing games and apps in the browser, and HTML5+JS frankly will not take its place for years, if ever. Moreover, AS3 is a very nice ECMA implementation that has a lot going for it, and it's very fast to develop with. The people showing up saying things like "flash must die" have been saying that for years; I remember guys telling me it was better to use animated GIFs for banners back in '98, because Flash wasn't going to be around much longer. Well, I'm glad it is, or else I'd be compiling source on three different platforms and life would be a much bigger pain in the *** for my clients.
January 30, 2010
Zac writes:
When are you guys going to fix 30-60% CPU usage on my Ubuntu Linux and Mac OSX boxes?
I rarely have crashes but the high amount of CPU usage is pathetic. As a result, the fans run at a higher speed, the PC is louder and uses more power. Fortunately, I am plugged in the power socket and can burn more coal to play those time wasting Facebook games or watch those annoying Flash ads.
January 30, 2010
Shell writes:
Adobe really, really, really needs to support iPad from day 1. There is a real opportunity to 'own' the platform if they get in there quickly: objective-c is just horrific IMO - it's not something a UI web developer can step into easily at all.
Personally AS3 is probably the language I'm most comfortable with (apart from JS), and having missed the iPhone boat, and with not enough hours in the day to learn objective-c from scratch, writing AS3 apps for our magazine bound for iPad would be liberating, not to mention fun!
But if support ships a significant time after iPads are first hit the market, it would be too late I think.
My dream would be to be able to dedicate some time right now to work on our magazine project as a native iPad app too, and using AS3 would be perfection (we could focus on the UI, rather than the pain of coding).
June 15, 2010
Penelope writes:
The iPad is a wonderful, new, and innovative object. Thank you for working on it. I look forward to more amazing things.
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June 21, 2010
Lisa32 writes:
I really love to make ipad apps. This was a great flash tutorial. I really appreciate all of your great information and valuable tips.
Thanks Lisa Wilson
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June 22, 2010
Jane47 writes:
It is so much fun to build these applications. I appreciate you showing me how its done. I really love this site. Keep up the hard work.
Thanks Jane Mansfield
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June 28, 2010
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July 5, 2010
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If we can get flash to work on the ipad would be so great. I think this is one of the great things missing from the ipad. I am such a big fan of the ipad and just love it.
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