ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Flash Player Is Officially Dead With Content Being Blocked From Today

Flash Player Is Officially Dead With Content Being Blocked From Today

Once a staple for browsing the World Wide Web, the Flash Player has now been officially retired.

Jessica Lynch

Jessica Lynch

It's officially the end of an era: the Flash Player is now dead.

Adobe will now be blocking content made with Flash from running on web browsers from today (January 12).

No longer can people indulge in a bit of nostalgia by frittering away our time on free video game sites like Newgrounds or Addicting Games.

On Flash's final update page, the company stated: "Since Adobe will no longer be supporting Flash Player after December 31, 2020 and Adobe will block Flash content from running in Flash Player beginning January 12, 2021, Adobe strongly recommends all users immediately uninstall Flash Player to help protect their systems."

Adobe first announced the once-popular program's end-of-life plans in 2017.

According to ZDNet, several months prior to its final Flash update, Adobe added code to prevent Flash from running inside the browser plugin, meaning that you couldn't just avoid installing the final update to keep allowing Flash content to work.

Line Rider

Flash's final nail in the coffin came about as Apple decided not to support Flash on iOS devices back in 2010. HTML5 soon became widely used, with speed and security enhancements overtaking Flash's known security hole.

As more and more websites adopted HTML5, fewer sites used Flash.

Prolific flash developer Anthony Lavelle, best known for the Flash puzzle game Shift, recently reflected on the program in a Reddit AMA.

"There were very few hours of my day I wasn't making Flash games, and I would have likely filled all of my spare time making them anyway even if I wasn't being paid because it was a fun tool to use," he wrote.

If you feel like taking a walk down memory lane at the flash games that shapes many of our youths, you can check them out preservation projects like Flashpoint and the Flash Game Archive.

Featured Image Credit: Flash

Topics: News, Technology