Since Apple slammed the door on Adobe, Flash fans all over the globe thought that it would be impossible to see anything remotely related to Flash on their iPhones. If you are one of them, you would be glad to know that a workaround has been found by a developer named Chris Smoak.
The solution is called “Smokescreen” and even though it is just in its preview release, it is able to play Flash content, specifically banners, on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
Just how does the 175 KB Smokescreen work its magic on the trio of Apple devices? It apparently translates the SWF code to Javascript and HTML5 as a substitute for the required Flash plug in. Simon Willison describes the process on his blog:
“It runs entirely in the browser, reads in SWF binaries, unzips them (in native JS), extracts images and embedded audio and turns them in to base64 encoded data:uris, then stitches the vector graphics back together as animated SVG.”
The JavaScript written technology is set to be open sourced and available for anyone who wants to give it a go. Thing is, it is still unable to match (meaning it is really, really slow) a proper Flash plug in when used for code heavy SWFs such as games and embedded Flash videos. At this point, it is only efficient in running simple animation because it even runs multi layered Flash banners in turtle speed.
Though it still has a long way to go, the important thing is that it has potential. Perhaps, it being open sourced and all, a few more talents can tweak and refine the technology to make Flash magic really happen on Apple devices. This may just be the shining ray of light a lot of Adobe Apple fans are waiting for.
Tags: Adobe, Adobe-Flash, Apple, Apple-iPad, Apple-iPhone