Google is planning to run HTML5 default in the Chrome web browser, instead of the flaw ridden Flash plugin. The company plans to make Flash by default for only the top 10 companies that really require the plugin and still depend on it. Google plans to make this happen by the beginning of the last quarter of the year. If HTML5 is available on the website that the user is on, then Chrome will run that one, but if Flash is needed rather than HTML5, users will be asked if Chrome can run Flash or not.
Many developers have stopped working on Flash with most of the market favouring the use of HTML5. Flash has been slowly moving out of use over the past few years. It is thought to be a garden for security vulnerabilities with new flaws on it almost every time, so people are now wary of using it. In addition to that Flash and Chrome have never been compatible together in a good way.
Flash has been Google Chrome’s by default, but over the years, it’s slowly been moving out. September 2015 saw the launch of Chrome 45, a browser which began to pause and stop all less important Flash content which included ads, animations and anything that was not contributing anything to the web page. Google is now trying to focus solely on the important parts of the games and videos on its browser.
Google has the following plans in store for the Chrome Web browser:
- If one site on the web browser offers HTML5 experience, then it will automatically change the default experience
- A user on a web page which needs Flash Player will receive a prompt message at the top of the screen, which will give the user an option as to whether to allow Flash Player or not.
- If the user wants Flash Player on the page and accepts, Chrome will refresh the page and advertise the Flash Player.
- On that for future visits, Flash Player will be used.
- Avoidance of constant prompts, a top ten whitelist of sites which can use Flash Player without prompt will be used by Chrome. The list will expire after 1 year.
The whitelist that the company will make is to reduce annoying users about using Flash player on most of the sites they go to. Chrome’s internal metrics reveal that if the new measures were to be put up today, the top 10 domains to be whitelisted would be, YouTube.com, Facebook.com, Yahoo.com, VK.com, Live.com, Yandex.ru, OK.ru, Twitch.tv, Amazon.com, and Mail.ru. The search giant said after one year the list would be updated and sites which no longer need Flash player would be removed from the list.
Google also said that they planned on also adding up policy controls for the various enterprises. Settings such as “Allow Sites to ask to run Flash,” “Allow Sites…” and “Never run Flash content,” would be made available. Users can manage their individual preferences for every site in the settings menu.
Clearly Google has played an active and big part in the downfall if Flash. January 2015 saw the switch from Flash to HTML5 by Google-owned YouTube. Google also began to switch all Flash ads to HTML5, and they plan to stop Flash ads altogether by January 2, 2017.
Flash’s parent company did not do themselves a favor either when they opted not to develop the content for mobile devices. Developers pushed it out as they looked for a substitute and now in one of the biggest shares on the market, Flash is irrelevant. Flash’s death cannot come soon enough for some, performance and security considered.
