Adobe Flash facts for kids
Logo of Adobe Flash Pro CS6, a version of Adobe Flash
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| Developer(s) | Adobe Systems, before that Macromedia |
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| Type | Rich internet application |
| License | Closed source |
Adobe Flash, which used to be called Macromedia Flash, was a special computer program. It was made by Adobe Systems. Flash and its player, Adobe Flash Player, helped people create and watch animated content. This content could be placed on web pages. Many websites used Flash for animations, games, and videos that you could see right in your web browser.
Contents
The Story of Flash
How Flash Started
Flash was first created in 1995 by a company called FutureWave. At that time, it was known as "FutureSplash Animator." This was like the very first version of Flash.
A few years later, in 1997, a company named Macromedia bought FutureWave and Flash. For many years, from Flash version 2 to version 8, the program was called "Macromedia Flash."
Flash Joins Adobe
In December 2005, a big company called Adobe Systems bought Macromedia. After this, the program became known as "Adobe Flash."
Flash Changes Over Time
Over the years, Flash changed. In 2012, Adobe stopped making Flash Player for some computer systems, like Solaris. They also made the Linux version mostly for Google Chrome. The Linux version for Firefox still got security updates for a while.
The Android version of Flash was removed from Google Play, but you could still download it from Adobe's website. It wasn't officially supported on newer Android phones, but sometimes it still worked.
The End of Flash
Adobe announced that Flash would no longer be supported after 2020. This meant that Adobe would stop updating it and fixing problems. Companies like Microsoft planned to remove Flash from Windows computers by the end of 2020. Other web browsers, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari, also planned to stop using Adobe Flash around the same time. This was because newer, safer technologies became available for showing animations and videos on the internet.
Images for kids
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Some websites relied heavily on Flash and became unusable without Flash Player, or with Flash blocked.
See also
In Spanish: Adobe Flash para niños
