iPhone Flash Player progress confirmed

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 01 October 2008 03:50

Business IT - Technology

The latest news in the saga of Flash for iPhone is that a senior executive has confirmed progress is being made.

According to Norway-based Flashmagazine, Adobe's senior director of engineering Paul Betlem this week told the Flash On The Beach 2008 conference that Adobe is actively developing a Flash Player for the iPhone and it could be available quite quickly if Apple gives the go-ahead.

Flashmagazine's Jens Brynildsen wrote "He said (not direct quote) 'My team is working on Flash on the iPhone, but it's a closed platform.' He noted that Apple makes all the decisions, so in other words, the ball is in Apple's yard at this time. If Apple says yes, Adobe will have the player available in a very short time."

The reason Adobe needs Apple's involvement is that the only officially supported way of distributing iPhone software is through the App Store. While some small developers have produced iPhone applications that can be installed on 'jailbreaked' iPhones, it is unlikely that a company like Adobe would do so.

Apple's policies - or at perhaps the absence of comprehensive and clearly stated policies - about what will or won't be allowed into the App Store have not gained the love and respect of developers. The trivial and immensely overpriced I Am Rich was initially accepted, while last month Podcaster was rejected for duplicating iTunes functionality when it provides a distinctive feature of streaming or downloading podcasts directly to an iPhone or iPod touch.

Anyway, I'm sure there are plenty of iPhone users that would like Apple to leave it to them to decide whether or not Adobe has been wasting its time. But one question that you have to ask is "what's in it for Apple?"

Given some of the things that have been said, it seems unlikely that Apple's attitude towards Flash for iPhone will get any warmer than grudging acceptance. If that's right, why would it want to pick up the distribution costs?

While the usual deal is that Apple keeps 30 percent of the sale price even if that's 30 percent of nothing in the case of free applications, it wouldn't surprise me at all that if Flash does make it to the App Store it will be as the result of a back room deal that sees Adobe compensate Apple.

My guess is that it's the commercial negotiations that are holding back Flash as much as any technical issues that are still to be overcome. Does Apple need Adobe more than Adobe needs Apple?