Android developers got a nice boost from Adobe. As Apple continues to abandon and oppress potential developers. Adobe has officially announced it will stop pursuing iPad and iPhone development with Adobe Flash. While the feature will still be included in CS5 it will not be developed any further. Instead, Adobe has decided to shift focus on Android development with Flash.

"Fortunately, the iPhone isn’t the only game in town."

-Mike Chambers, Principal Product Manager for developer relations for the Flash Platform at Adobe

With a vast number of Flash developers out there this is most certainly welcome news to any Android user. Comparing the Apple AppStore Games to Android Market Games reveals a large weakness in the Android platform. If Adobe truly throws their weight behind this project Android users will certainly benefit. As much as Flash has grown in the past ten years this also means a lot for basic applications on Android. The ability to leverage web services through Flash will make it a powerful productivity platform as well as gaming platform for development. This is something that has really taken off in recent years and many people tend to think of Flash as only for fancy menus and games.

Flash has been unwelcome in many Web Development circles due to accessibility and usability issues. I think the true problem regarding flash in Web sites relates to its abuse and not its intended purpose. Development for mobile devices is where Flash truly shines. For any mobile company, to leave Flash out of equation, just sounds like bad business. Mike Chambers, Principal Product Manager for developer relations for the Flash Platform at Adobe, said on his blog: "The primary goal of Flash has always been to enable cross browser, platform and device development."

Sources:

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8639240.stm
• http://www.mikechambers.com/blog/2010/04/20/on-adobe-flash-cs5-and-iphon...