Automatic Flash Conversion to HTML5 / Javascript enables Flash on the iPhone and the iPad!

I’m sure that you already know by now that Steve Jobs doesn’t like flash. Ok, this is not exactly how he said it… but close enough. (read about his thoughts on Flash). Either way, the fact is that iPhones and iPads doesn’t run Flash. Steve says that all sites should be developed in HTML5 and no flash is needed and flash drains your batteries and flash is the root of all evil, etc.

I won’t go into the discussion whether he is right or not but I think you can take his word when he is saying that he won’t allow his gadgets to run flash. BUT… now Flash can be converted to HTML5 and JavaScript. Get THIS Steve! There is an open source tool out there that can do exactly that. What? Play flash without the plugin. WHOAA! You can still develop on your beloved flash platform and you can publish your work in all iPhone and iPads out there.

Where you can find it? This is where.

Current Status

Smokescreen, as the tool’s name is,  is currently in a preview release but it actually works (I tested it on the iPhone myself) and they are going to release it in full in two weeks time. In the meantime you can check the demos out.

I’m sure that it will have some limitations… and it won’t be blazing fast or save your battery but still it’s quite impressive… and if a third party can do that… imagine what Adobe itself can do! In addition I’m positive that since it will be open sourced, there will be significant speed up in the future by the help of the community.

Browser Compatibility

As for browser compatibility… copying from their site “Use the latest version of your browser. Smokescreen currently works in Firefox 3.6, Chrome 5, Safari 4, and MobileSafari. There are known, fixable issues with Opera 10.5. No luck in IE yet, though IE9 looks promising.”

No luck in IE??? Why don’t I consider this a surprise??? But wait… didn’t we wanted to use this on iPhones and iPads? That’s right… Safari will do just fine then!