By: Matthew Humphries
Although the iPad has been topping the news charts for the past couple of weeks, so has the debacle with Adobe over a lack of Flash on Apple devices.
With the iPhone it was a case of Flash being too slow and buggy. With the iPad the same case was pleaded, but Apple went one step further and updated the iPhone 4.0 SDK license agreement to block cross-platform compilers. In doing so, Apple rendered one of the new features of Adobe’s just released Creative Studio 5 completely useless. That feature is the ability to compile out a Flash project as an iPhone app.
Such a move has upset developers as it effects any such cross-platform compiling meaning converted Silverlight apps will never work on iDevices, and MonoTouch (converts C# and .NET to iPhone) is also rendered unusable. Other solutions, such as the popular Unity engine, may be ok, but clarification is required.
The loudest response to the SDK license change has been Adobe, and it’s an angry one. Flash isn’t on iPhone OS devices, and Flash developers now can’t convert existing projects for iPhone/iPad. If you need proof of how upset Adobe is just look to Lee Brimelow’s blog. He is an Adobe platform evangelist and signed of his entry on the matter with “Go screw yourself Apple”.
If you thought that the fight was over and Adobe must now accept defeat, think again. According to Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols at ITworld Adobe is gathering itself for a lawsuit against Apple. He refers to “sources close to Adobe” that have told him the company is not going to sit back and accept this, and Apple has a fight on its hands.
We await official word from Adobe on how they intend to move forward.
Read more at ITworld
Matthew’s Opinion
I think both companies are getting good and bad press over this “fight” so far. Flash-haters are applauding Apple for taking this stance, while Flash developers are denouncing Apple. But Apple did itself no favors with the SDK license changes as they managed to block a lot of developers from using their tools and the languages they know.
If a court case is started then things could get very messy. Adobe would likely focus on the fact Flash specifically was originally blocked as a case of its platform being blocked while others could remain. The company may also argue that the changes made to the SDK license were again aimed specifically at Adobe, and in a way meant to damage the launch of CS5.
Who would ultimately win such a court case? I believe Apple holds the stronger position here. It’s Apple hardware, it’s an Apple App Store, and it’s Apple’s own SDK. They can do what they like with it. Apple also isn’t in a monopolistic position in the market, so Adobe does have other platform options, which it already supports.
Is this a case of Adobe desperately trying to get Flash on to the most popular smartphone and Apple devices in general? Or is it a case of Adobe pushing back against an overbearing Apple intent on controlling everything without a care as to who it hurts?
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