Adobe Ceases Development of Mobile Flash, Will Refocus Efforts on HTML 5

The time has finally come – Adobe has briefed developers that they will cease development of their mobile Flash plug-in, and will focus on HTML 5 and their Adobe AIR platform.

Sources close to Adobe have disclosed this upcoming announcement to ZDNet:

Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores. We will no longer adapt Flash Player for mobile devices to new browser, OS version or device configurations. Some of our source code licensees may opt to continue working on and releasing their own implementations. We will continue to support the current Android and PlayBook configurations with critical bug fixes and security updates.

The e-mail briefing to partners has been summed up as follows:

• Adobe will halt development on its Flash Player for browsers on mobile.
• Development efforts will be focused on mobile applications, content on the desktop, and increasing investments in HTML 5.

Further, Adobe has officially confirmed the news in a new official blog post this morning, taking this exciting idea straight from rumor to confirmed fact.

It sounds like Adobe finally saw the writing on the HTML 5 wall, and will finally surrender in a battle they just couldn’t win (mostly because Flash is awful, especially on mobile devices).

Somewhere this morning, Steve Jobs is meditating with a subtle grin on his face…