Adobe Officially Ends Flash Support, Recommends Uninstalling Immediately

Adobe in 2017 announced plans to end support for its Flash browser plug-in at the end of 2020. Now that it's officially 2021, support for the software has ended, and Adobe will begin blocking content from running in Flash Player beginning on January 12.

adobe flash logo
Flash's elimination should not heavily impact users because many popular browsers have already moved away from the format. Additionally, iPhone and iPad users are not affected by the change, as iOS and iPadOS have never supported Flash.

Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs offered his "Thoughts on Flash" in a 2010 open letter, criticizing Adobe's software for its reliability, incompatibility with mobile sites, and battery drain on mobile devices. Jobs also said that Adobe was "painfully slow to adopt enhancements to Apple's platforms" and further innovation from Apple would not be hindered by a "cross platform development tool."

In the past, Adobe's Flash Player had continually suffered from vulnerabilities that exposed Mac and PC users to malware and other security risks that caused vendors like Microsoft and Apple to work tirelessly to keep up with security fixes.

Since Flash Player will no longer receive updates, Adobe recommends that all users immediately remove the software "to help protect their systems."

Popular Stories

iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says iPhone Driver's Licenses Will Expand to These 8 U.S. States

Tuesday July 8, 2025 11:26 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states, Puerto Rico,...
macbook pro blue green

M5 MacBook Pro No Longer Coming in 2025

Thursday July 10, 2025 12:38 pm PDT by
Apple does not plan to refresh any Macs with updated M5 chips in 2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models are now planned for the first half of 2026. Gurman previously said that Apple would debut the M5 MacBook Pro models in late 2025, but his newest report suggests that Apple is "considering" pushing them back to 2026. Apple is now said to be...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

Leaker Reveals Amount of RAM in iPhone 17 Through iPhone 17 Pro Max

Wednesday July 9, 2025 8:08 am PDT by
Three out of four iPhone 17 models will feature more RAM than the equivalent iPhone 16 models, according to a new leak that aligns with previous rumors. The all-new iPhone 17 Air, the iPhone 17 Pro, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max will each be equipped with 12GB of RAM, according to Fixed Focus Digital, an account with more than two million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo. The...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

Foldable iPhone Display Production Begins Ahead of Launch Next Year

Wednesday July 9, 2025 10:59 pm PDT by
Production of foldable OLED displays for Apple's first foldable iPhone have begun ahead of its expected launch next year, Korea's ETNews reports. The first foldable iPhone's displays are being produced by Samsung Display, who are establishing a production line dedicated to the upcoming Apple device its A3 factory in Asan, Chungcheongnam-do. The production line will make displays exclusively...
apple tv 4k new orange

New Apple TV Expected Later This Year With These New Features

Saturday July 12, 2025 3:09 pm PDT by
A new Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Rumors Faster Wi-Fi Support The next Apple TV will be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. He said the chip supports ...
iphone 16 pro pro max

iPhone 17 Pro Models With BOE Displays Will Be Sold in China Only

Thursday July 10, 2025 11:59 pm PDT by
iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max models with displays made by BOE will be sold exclusively in China, according to a new report. Last week, it emerged that Chinese display manufacturer BOE was aggressively ramping up its OLED production capacity for future iPhone models as part of a plan to recapture a major role in Apple's supply chain. Now, tech news aggregator Jukan Choi reports...

Top Rated Comments

Agent47 Avatar
59 months ago
Good riddance to Flash, RealPlayer, Divx, SilverLight, and all of the other crap codecs and plug-ins that made early multimedia such a catastrophe. Some of it may have been necessary, but in the end it seem to serve everyone except the end-user.
Score: 44 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eRondeau Avatar
59 months ago
A little perspective...

Flash was released by Macromedia 25 years ago, which was purchased by Adobe in 2005. At that time the web was in an uncomfortable transition from a text-based environment to a multimedia environment. The demand for rich content was strong except nobody knew quite how to do it. The eventual winner (HTML-5) was still years away, so for a decade Flash was about the only reliable way to get video & multimedia online. Flash dominated "Web 2.0" for years and professional Flash websites were stunningly impressive indeed. Its downfall is well-documented in Steve Jobs' open letter and elsewhere, but in the years before many young adults reading this were born -- Flash was ubiquitous online and in many ways was the backbone of the public internet.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Abazigal Avatar
59 months ago
The lesson that Apple keeps teaching, and which others keep ignoring, is that to bring about meaningful change, you have to be bold and unapologetic in forcing about the change you want to see.

What will be next, I wonder.
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
59 months ago
What cracks me up is that some of the same people who currently complain about Apple’s non-support of X, Y or Z are the same people who insisted Apple was doomed for not supporting flash on iPhoneOS.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ghanwani Avatar
59 months ago
If only websites stopped using it. I stopped using Flash a while ago and yet I have visited so many websites (e.g. banks, car sites) that need Flash, so I just end up leaving.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hot-gril Avatar
59 months ago

If only websites stopped using it. I stopped using Flash a while ago and yet I have visited so many websites (e.g. banks, car sites) that need Flash, so I just end up leaving.
I'd be very scared if my money were managed in a Flash program.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)