The world was in stands until we found out that Microsoft was discontinuing our beloved Adobe Flash Player. YES!!! Microsoft has given an official statement informing all users that it is going to discontinue its support to the Flash support. Adobe has dropped all support and has said that after December 2020 there will be no further updates and neither will Adobe Flash Reader be available on the website for download. What’s more is Google, Mozilla and Microsoft have said that they too will stop Flash Reader from their web browser Chrome, Firefox & Edge respectively. And this is the only reason why users have started searching for Adobe Flash Player alternatives. Of course, it cannot be replaced but there are various substitutes for the same!
Contents
- 3 Best Adobe Flash Player Alternatives
- 3.5 #5. BlueMaxima Flashpoint Secure Player
Why did Adobe Flash Player Shut Down?
Adobe Flash Player without a doubt has been the turning point in industry when it was launched and created havoc upon websites making them look primitive if they had not used the software to update their contents online. This trend took a go and everyone adopted the type and fame of Adobe Flash Player to make their sites look more eye catching and attractive.
Adobe Flash Player is the main tool used for this operation and found on most computers today. Greatly enhancing your web surfing experience. Adobe Flash Player 32.0.0.465 on 32-bit and 64-bit PCs. This download is licensed as freeware for the Windows (32-bit and 64-bit) operating system on a laptop or desktop PC from media players without restrictions. Adobe (Macromedia) Flash Player 32.0.0.465 is available to all software users as a free download for Windows. Adobe Flash Player works with most operating systems and functions as a plugin that allows your computer to support apps that require Flash. With Adobe Flash Player, you can now play Flash games on any computer. Whether you're a fan of first-person shooting games, racing games or even farming games, you'll find that many of those games require that you have a current version of Flash on your computer. Adobe Flash Player experiences some issues with both Firefox and Chrome. It may issue a message that states it had problems before or after crashing. This occurs more frequently among those who use Flash with other apps running in the background and those who have multiple windows or tabs open at the same time. Official support for Flash ended on December 31, 2020. Adobe has removed download links for Flash from its website and will not be updating Flash with any security updates. Adobe has even included a kill switch for Flash content. Starting January 12, 2021, recent versions of the Adobe Flash plug-in will refuse to run Flash content.
Even with the spread like a wildfire, some big guns in the industry like Google and Apple did not support or accept this software from the word go. Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple took it on a public stage to list out all the disadvantages of the Flash Player. Since then, step by step, we have gradually seen the demise of this software to the point now that it has vanquished and now users have started looking for Flash Player replacement options as well.
Here are a few reasons pointed out by the technology experts as to why Adobe discontinued Flash Player.
- Battery Consumption – Flash files were consuming a lot of ram and battery as they used to exploit resources and hence the batteries of mobile phones as well as laptops drained quickly.
- Performance Damage – As the Flash Player was constantly hungry for resources, it caused damage to the overall computer or mobile speed and often browsers crashed due to them.
- Weak Security – It was long understood the Flash Player was rife with glitches and flaws that Adobe always appeared hesitant to patch. Because it operated within the web browser as a third-party programme, it also became a target for hacker attacks, serving as the weakest link in the chain.
- No Patch for Touch Control – The software was designed in the early times when touchscreen wasn’t a thing. So when the technology developed, the software couldn’t. This caused a major gap and hence a breakoff in the usage of Adobe Flash Player.
This strain increased until 2017, when Adobe, Google, Apple, and Microsoft agreed that Flash would have to be absolutely abandoned by the end of 2020. Even the most committed fans of Flash began searching at Adobe Flash Player replacement after the news broke. Since then, people have gone all the way to try and find the best Adobe Flash Player alternatives.
What is the Best Flash Player Alternative?
It is always difficult to replace the best there is. It is nearly impossible to replace Messi from Barcelona, M.S Dhoni from Indian cricket team and Kobe from our memories since they were the best there was. Yet as it is said, life moves on and so should we.
Some of the alternatives to Adobe Flash Player for both Windows 10 & Android are HTML5, Photon Flash Player & Browser, Supernova, Lightspark, BlueMaxima Flashpoint Secure Player.
Best Adobe Flash Player Alternatives
We’ve listed down all the above mentioned software and explained in detail about them so you can know better and select wisely. Choose which flash player suits you and try it for yourself as the Adobe Flash Player has discontinued and we have to move on!
#1. HTML5
HTML5 is the most predominant and most common alternative to Adobe Flash Player. The announcement by Adobe that Flash support is ending is a straightforward answer as to how long HTML5 will go. Now, HTML which stands for Hypertext Markup Language, in its fifth edition. It is a type of coding language that enables online display of text, images, programmes, tags, and other components.
By distributing content on the web, HTML5 has slowly replaced Flash Player. Adobe Animate CC also provides HTML5 canvas with the ability to publish basic Flash content. The plug-ins that depend on Adobe Flash are going down and are going to stop entirely in 2020 after Adobe officially pulled the Flash plug off. Without a doubt HTML5 is the best Adobe Flash Player alternative.
#2. Photon Flash Player and Browser
Photon Flash Player and Browser is a web browser for Android with Flash Player support. What makes Photon Flash Player and Browser helpful is that in order to play the flash content, users do not need to install any other app. All you need to do is start using this flash-based web browser and it will display all the icons and flash-based content.
This is the best replacement for Adobe Flash Player because of its directive and the interface. It is easy to use and if you are switching from Adobe Flash Player to this application. It is worth noting that as good as it is, it does not solve all the issues Adobe version of this app was facing.
#3. Supernova
Supernova is an extension, like Flash Player, that is readily accessible on the Google Chrome Store and can be enabled on your web browser almost as easily. You will play Shockwave Flash (.swf) games that are optimised for use with Adobe Flash Player. In addition, it also provides a standalone player that can be loaded and run from any web browser on your PC.
Adobe Flash Player End Of Life
Supernova is listed as one of the best Adobe Flash Player alternative as it brings in a choice to do what you could do with the Adobe Flash Player and much more. This is why the following software has cracked our list in the top choices.
#4. Lightspark
Lightspark is an open-source alternative to the Adobe flash player on the list that is written in C/C++ and runs on Linux. You will find Lightspark’s code on Github. This is the reason why Lightspark is another best Adobe Flash Player alternative.
Lightspark has not been changed for a while; that means any of the new Flash-based contents won’t be played. Keep in mind that this is Linux based and hence you are bound to get all the new updates and patches from time to time.
#5. BlueMaxima Flashpoint Secure Player
What Happens When Adobe Flash Ends
A project was launched at the beginning of 2018 to preserve the internet’s history and the loved games and videos that were thought to be extinct when the Adobe Flash Player was gone. Therefore, with the main intention of protecting and promoting anything on the internet that only supported Flash Player at the time, a non-profit programme was created known as BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint.
Started as a small initiative, Flashpoint is now an international success that gives an indication of the importance and legacy of the internet. Not only does it deliver a single Stable Player for Flashpoint, but 2 separate versions and hence is definitely a prime contender for one of the best Adobe Flash Player alternatives.
Closing Thoughts!
There is no doubt all of us are still missing how Adobe Flash Player worked and solved all our issues online, yet, it is what it is. These new replacement options have brought in more features, trends to the usage of flash players and have eradicated the issues which were previously faced by the users while using Adobe Flash Player.
There is no doubt that one of these flash players is going to be your alternative to Adobe Flash Player and hence let us know in the comment which of the following was the one you’re going to choose and why. Stay tuned to know more about the day in and day outs of these software and all the happenings in the technological market.
Important notes
Adobe Flash Player is out of support as of December 31, 2020. For more information, see Adobe Flash end of support on December 31, 2020.
Applying this update will remove Adobe Flash Player from your Windows device.
After this update has been applied, this update cannot be uninstalled.
This update only removes Adobe Flash Player that was installed by your version of Windows. If you installed Adobe Flash Player manually from another source, it will not be removed. For more information about how to remove Adobe Flash Player, see the Uninstall Flash Player | Windows topic on the Adobe website.
Summary
This update removes Adobe Flash Player that is installed on any of the Windows operating systems that are listed in the 'Applies to' section. After you apply this update, it cannot be uninstalled.
Note If you must use Adobe Flash Player again on your device after this update has been installed, use one of the following methods:
Method 1: Reset your device to an earlier system restore point. This feature must be explicitly enabled and a system restore point must have been created on your Windows device before you apply this update.
For more information about system restore point, see Back up and restore your PC.Method 2: Reinstall your Windows operating system, but do not apply this update.
Known issues in this update
Issue | Resolution |
When this update is applied, registry settings for the third-party provided version of Adobe Flash Player may be removed. | To resolve this issue, reinstall the third-party version. |
How to obtain and install the update
Windows Update
This update is an optional update in Windows Update.
Microsoft Update Catalog
To get the standalone package for this update, go to the Microsoft Update Catalog website.
Windows Server Update Service
Adobe Flash Player 2020 Free Download
This update is an optional update in Windows Server Update Service (WSUS).
References
Adobe Flash Player For Windows 7
Learn about the terminology that Microsoft uses to describe software updates.