Google’s Labs page has recently added an experimental new tool for web developers that helps them to convert their Flash content to HTML5. The new tool, called Swiffy, could make a lot more flash content available on iOS devices.
Google even admits this themselves – On the Google Labs description of Swiffy, Google says that Swiffy allows you to “reuse Flash content on devices without a Flash player (such as iPhones and iPads)”. While, at first glance, it might appear strange that Google, sworn epic enemy of Apple (not really) is doing this, it’s also worth considering that Google is invested in HTLM5 for their own reasons.
Swiffy reportedly does a fairly decent job in its conversion task – It’s already been tried on several simple Flash animations, and converts them over rather well, with the exception of files that contained certain custom fonts, which found their text magically missing.
While this is still a far way from being able to port complicated Flash projects, such as games, it’s certainly a step in the right direction, and fortunately, it’s actively being worked upon by the smart people at Google.
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