Adobe Suggests Disabled Hardware Acceleration for Flash Player in OS X Lion [Update]

flash player 3d iconTUAW reports that Adobe has posted a list of known issues for its products running on OS X Lion. The list is unfortunately extensive, but the company's discussion of Flash Player issues stands out for the revelation that OS X Lion may have disabled hardware acceleration.

Flash Player may cause higher CPU activity when playing a YouTube video. Possibly related to disabled hardware acceleration.

Other issues with Flash Player include a loss of response to mouse clicks in the setting dialog and problems with animation of custom native mouse cursors.

In addition to the Flash Player issues, Adobe's support document lists a number of other issues with its products under OS X Lion, as well as a few general notes for users to be aware of:

- With OS X Lion now hiding the user Library folder by default, users may need to use Finder's "Go to Folder" command to access preferences and other user settings for Adobe applications. Alternatively, users can use the command line to make the Library folder permanently visible.

- OS X Lion's new reverse scrolling may throw off some users, not just in Adobe's applications but across the entire experience. Reverse scrolling can be disabled in System Preferences.

- A lack of Rosetta support in OS X Lion means that some older Adobe software such as CS2 or earlier will not run on the new operating system.

- Adobe is considering how it may adopt some of OS X Lion's new features such as Autosave, Restore, Versioning, Full Screen Mode, and new multi-touch gestures, but they haven't been implemented yet. Adobe specifically notes that the Restore feature which reopens all windows and files to their previous state when an application is relaunched does not function on Adobe applications.

Update: Adobe corrected their post to say that hardware accelerated Flash is supported in Lion.

The final release of Mac OS X Lion (10.7) provides the same support for Flash hardware video acceleration as Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6). The previous “Known Issue” described in a tech note suggesting that video hardware acceleration was disabled in Lion was incorrect and based on tests with a pre-release version of Mac OS X Lion that related to only one particular Mac GPU configuration. We continue to work closely with Apple to provide Flash Player users with a high quality experience on Mac computers.

Top Rated Comments

eliehass Avatar
159 months ago
I'm sorry, but this is just sad. Adobe is not some small no name developer. Apple has put out pre-release development builds of Lion for a while before its release. Adobe had plenty of time to put out a Lion compatible update. These comments make it sound like Adobe is just thinking about the implications of Lion now, after it's official release. They seriously dropped the ball here...
Score: 105 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gav2k Avatar
159 months ago
So really adobe are saying 'we couldn't be bothered to update our software' despite having months worth of opportunities to do so
Score: 70 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tempusfugit Avatar
159 months ago
You mean flash is a buggy POS? And it doesn't work well with os x?

This is an unexpected and earth shattering revelation.
Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)
paradox00 Avatar
159 months ago
So... what did Adobe do during the year that the beta was available?
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dscuber9000 Avatar
159 months ago
I suggest disabling Flash.

Seriously, a video took up 53% of my CPU yesterday...
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Porco Avatar
159 months ago
Hey, be fair, maybe no-one told them about Lion until this week! :rolleyes:
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

Apple Releases iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 With Bug Fixes, Plus iOS 17.0.2 for iPhone 15 Models

Thursday September 21, 2023 10:28 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates for the iPhone and the iPad, adding bug fixes to the new software. The iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates come just a few days after Apple launched iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. The software, which is build 21A340, can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There is a...
iPhone 15 Pro Lineup Feature

iPhone 15 Models Feature New Setting to Strictly Prevent Charging Beyond 80%

Tuesday September 19, 2023 2:04 pm PDT by
All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models feature a new battery health setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times when enabled, as confirmed by The Verge's Allison Johnson during a Q&A session today. The new setting is separate from the pre-existing Optimized Battery Charging feature on iPhones, which intelligently delays charging past 80% until a more...
emojipedia 15 1 emoji

Emoji Coming to Future iOS 17 Update Include Shaking Head, Brown Mushroom, Lime, Phoenix and More

Tuesday September 19, 2023 12:43 pm PDT by
As Apple was announcing new iPhone models last week, the Unicode Consortium was officially approving new emoji characters that are set to be added to smartphones starting in 2024. Mockup of new emoji from Emojipedia Approved Unicode 15.1 emoji include phoenix, lime, an edible mushroom, shaking head vertically (as in a "yes" nod), shaking head horizontally (a "no" head shake), and broken...
iPhone 15 Pro Max 5x Optical Zoom Limit Feature 1

Apple Explains Why iPhone 15 Pro Max is Limited to 5x Optical Zoom

Wednesday September 20, 2023 9:52 am PDT by
In an interview with Numerama's Nicolas Lellouche, Apple's VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack explained why the iPhone 15 Pro Max's tetraprism lens system is limited to 5x optical zoom, instead of 10x like on Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra. The interview is in French, so quotes below are computer translated. Apple says the Telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max features the...