Flash video on iPhone with the Skyfire browser coming 11/4
If you've been craving an iPhone but you consider the lack of Adobe Flash video support on iOS devices as a dealbreaker, there's nothing standing in your way anymore.
At 9 AM ET on Thursday, November 4, the Skyfire browser will hit the App Store for US$2.99 and provide a way to watch Flash video on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. The app has been available on the Android platform, and was finally approved by Apple after a "rather rigorous review."
The app is a standalone WebKit browser for the iPhone (like iCab Mobile and others), with a key difference; when visiting a page with a Flash embed, a thumbnail appears that allows the content to be streamed to the device. The video is transcoded on Skyfire's servers and converted to HTML5. Flash games won't work due to the interactivity required, and Hulu has also blocked Skyfire to guarantee that users who want to watch the streaming TV service on the iPad have to continue to pay $10 per month for Hulu Plus.
Skyfire is sure to be popular on iOS devices, as it provides an viewing solution for the half of all Web video that is still Flash-only. The Android version of the app has sold over 1.5 million copies, so the new iOS version may well be a hit in the Apple App Store.
There's a video clip on the next page demonstrating how the app works.
[via AppleInsider and Download Squad]
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If you've been craving an iPhone but you consider the lack of Adobe Flash video support on iOS devices as a dealbreaker, there's nothing...
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Its out now.I say a half ass app. Not working well at all for me.
November 03 2010 at 5:49 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWill it work with Airplay? IE: can I use this to watch ABC.com TV shows on my iPhone 4, and airplay them to my Apple TV for free?
November 03 2010 at 11:24 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIt might not mean much to the guys above but many financial websites use Flash to display dynamic graph and charts. The iPhone, iPad iTouch are useless in the financial world and I am sick of not being able to see Flash based video. Looks like I still won't be getting any of these Apple products since it is only video. I will not be told by any company what I should and shouldn't be able to see in my browser. Apple are getting too dictatorial as they get mega rich. Sounds like like another company I know.
November 02 2010 at 6:49 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyCough, cloudbrowse.
November 02 2010 at 4:55 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyBah. I'd rather we iOS users keep shunning Flash entirely to force the Web to drop its proprietary ways and move to open standards.
No Skyfire for me.
open standards? irony much?
November 02 2010 at 5:37 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhat irony are you talking about?
November 02 2010 at 6:03 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIsn't it more like Streaming Free Pr0n Comes to the iDevices?
November 02 2010 at 4:24 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyPretty sure there are some porn sites that do H264 streaming already.
November 02 2010 at 5:03 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI think this is great. I love seeing Apple open up the app store a little bit to allow for apps like this. Think about it: last year everyone would be saying, "there's no way it'll get approved."
Say what you will about Flash, but there are still lots and lots of sites built on it. I hate being out on the town and wanting to look up a restaurant or a band/venue's website and finding that I can't because it's all written in flash. I've even VNC'd to my mac at home just to check a flash-built site from my iPhone (iTeleport). Truth is, lack of flash is a real limitation.
I, for one will happily buy this browser if it works as well as advertised.
You still won’t be able to. This only works for Flash VIDEO.
Meh.
Well, access to Grooveshark would certainly be a plus.
November 02 2010 at 3:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyCrossing fingers for video out
November 02 2010 at 3:43 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyis officially nonplussed
November 02 2010 at 3:34 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyDeals of the Day
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