We're hearing now that Adobe has tools in private beta that generate native iPhone applications from Flash projects. Some Flash-derived applications are even listed in App Store already; click the link for pointers to a few of them, because their descriptions make no mention of being authored in Flash.
With this PR bombshell, Adobe sought the attention that it didn't get when it made the more significant announcement earlier in the year that Flash intellectual property (the source code for the Flash runtime) was delivered to handset makers and mobile platform owners. I had given up on Flash as a unifying technology for mobile, but the more Adobe returns to its creative, developer-focused self, the more hopeful I am.
[ Read why InfoWorld's Neil McAllister believes that Flash for iPhone is a Hail Mary pass for Adobe. ]
That said, I see Adobe's journey as a difficult one. If Adobe simply smears Flash Lite circa 2006 across mobile platforms, it'll crash into the wake being raised now by HTML 5, H.264, HTTP streaming, and OpenGL ES native code. Adobe will have to surprise us to get noticed, but judging from the release of Flash-derived content to App Store, Adobe knows that.
Flash, and not Flash
Despite a frank and concise treatment in a FAQ on the Adobe Labs site, there is still confusion about how Adobe managed to squeeze Flash content onto a device that expressly forbids it. Adobe itself explains that it can't do a Flash Player for iPhone because Apple's SDK agreement excludes Flash. It also excludes Java, Silverlight, Python, Ruby, LISP, and Reverse Polish Notation. All interpreted or dynamically linked code (except JavaScript in Safari) is against the rules. Since Apple holds the only keys to App Store, those rules are law.
Adobe hasn't found a backdoor, and this isn't a crack through which Microsoft, Sun, and others can slip. Flash Professional 5 doesn't supplant the need for an iPhone Developer Program membership or for a Mac running Xcode. Flash content embedded in Web sites still won't play in Safari. If someone sends you a URL to a nifty Penguin Hunt applet that runs on their Flash Lite device, your iPhone won't open it.
Adobe has traded away a lot of the qualities that developers associate with Flash, characteristics that end-users don't necessarily notice, in order to get a toe in the door. Adobe's hope is that once Flash developers and iPhone users get a taste of the combination, they'll scream for more.
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