As noted here yesterday, Google's new version 4.1 of Android, "Jelly Bean," is a substantial upgrade of the mobile OS. It's faster, has slick predictive features, and overhauled user interface components. However, it is worth noting that just as version 4.1 arrived, Adobe announced that there will be no certified implementations of Flash Player for Android 4.1.
"Beginning August 15th we will use the configuration settings in the Google Play Store to limit continued access to Flash Player updates to only those devices that have Flash Player already installed" says a post from Adobe. "Devices that do not have Flash Player already installed are increasingly likely to be incompatible with Flash Player and will no longer be able to install it from the Google Play Store after August 15th."
Adobe's partners usually build Flash into their devices, but many users of Android devices have been accustomed to downloading Flash players for their devices. Beginning with Android 4.1, Adobe will absolutely limit access to Flash Player via Google Play to devices that already have the program installed.
This may annoy many Android users, but the news isn't a surprise. In November, Adobe said that it would abandon Flash development for mobile browsers. Adobe has also drawn the ire of Linux users for standoffish policies toward the platform.
The underlying problem is that Flash is a form of Esperanto on the web. Numerous analyses have determined that approximately 80 percent of the video housed on the web is Flash-based. Flash is also a platform that new applications get built around, so limiting its flexibility on popular platforms ranging from Android to mobile browsers to Linux is very territorial behavior.
You can read more about Adobe's decision here.
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