Adobe’s support for Flash for mobile browsers is nearing its end as the company announced that they would no longer release support for newer Android versions.

The company reiterated what they announced back in November: that they would focus on Flash for PC browsing and and mobile apps packaged with Adobe AIR.  Adobe sees to it that Flash for mobile browser plugin is integrated tightly to a device’s browser and multimedia subsystem to ensure that it functions as expected to provide a good user experience.  Adobe certifies a device based on how they implement the Flash Player so not all Android devices are compatible with Flash.  In some cases, though, a company that’s not certified by Adobe Flash works just fine.  But with the upcoming Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, any device upgraded to it would no longer be supported.

“[W]ith Android 4.1 this is no longer going to be the case, as we have not continued developing and testing Flash Player for this new version of Android and its available browser options,” according to Adobe’s blog post.  “There will be no certified implementations of Flash Player for Android 4.1.”

Starting August 15 of this year, the Flash Player on Google Play will be configured in a way to only allow updates for those devices which already have Flash Player installed in their devices.  And to ensure that Flash Player works without any hiccups, one must use an Adobe certified device (the list of certified devices can be found here), or a device that came pre-installed with Flash Player.  The other option is to download it on Google Play before August 15.  They’ve added that devices upgraded to Android 4.1 may experience glitches when Adobe Flash is installed.  They’re urging 4.1 users to uninstall Flash Player from their devices.

“If a device is upgraded from Android 4.0 to Android 4.1, the current version of Flash Player may exhibit unpredictable behavior, as it is not certified for use with Android 4.1,” Adobe added.  “Future updates to Flash Player will not work.  We recommend uninstalling Flash Player on devices which have been upgraded to Android 4.1.”

Adobe is actually referencing specifically to Google’s Nexus 7 as it’s the only device that currently runs the 4.1 version of the Android Platform.  You’d think that Flash support could be one of the selling points of the Nexus 7, too bad Adobe burst their bubble.

The Google Nexus 7. (CC) SiliconANGLE / Kien Tran. Re-use with attribution.

As for developers who needs access to released versions of Flash Player, those will still be available on Adobe’s archive but those will not receive updates from Google Play.
It looks like the late Steve Jobs’ prediction that Flash Player won’t last for mobile is coming true.  Sucks for Android, as it was one of their biggest selling points compared to iOS devices, as they don’t have support for Flash.

Adobe also upgraded their security features back in May after attacks from custom crafted e-mails with malicious attachments infected Adobe Flash Player on Internet Explorer for Windows platforms and targeted defense-related businesses.  They were quick to notify the Adobe community of the attack in the hopes of maintaining the trust of their users.  They’ve addressed the issue, updated their versions and urged users to update them in order to solve the vulnerability.