Comparison of HTML5 and Flash: Difference between revisions

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}}</ref> Both include features for playing audio and [[video]] within [[web page]]s. Flash was specifically built to integrate [[vector graphics]] and light games in a web page, features that HTML5 also supports.
 
OnAs of December 31, 2020, Adobe endedno supportlonger supports Flash Player. As of January 12, 2021, they have blocked Flash content from running in Flash Player.
 
"HTML5" in this article sometimes refers not only to theThe [[HTML5]] specification, which does not itself define ways to do animation and interactivity within web pages,.<ref name="williamson">{{cite video
|people=James Williamson
|title=What HTML5 is (and what it isn't)
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|medium=Online video
|url=http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=67161
}}</ref> "HTML5" in this article sometimes refers not only to the [[HTML5]] specification, but to HTML5 and related standards like [[Scalable Vector Graphics|SVG]], [[JavaScript]] and [[CSS 3]]. Animation via JavaScript is also possible with HTML 4.
 
Animation via JavaScript is also possible with HTML 4.
 
==Comparison table==
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| Work began in 2003 <br/> Working Draft as of 2011<ref>{{cite web
|title=HTML Current Status
|date=21 December 2023
|publisher=[[World Wide Web Consortium]]
|url=http://www.w3.org/standards/techs/html#w3c_all
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* [[Android (operating system)|Android]] 2.3 and newer<ref name="html5phones">[http://html5test.com/results/mobile.html Mobile HTML5 Support] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708054431/http://html5test.com/results/mobile.html |date=2013-07-08 }}, TheHTML5Test.com</ref>
* Apple [[iOS]] 6 and newer<ref name="html5phones"/>
* [[Chrome OSChromeOS]]
* [[Symbian]] Belle<ref name="html5phones"/>
* [[BlackBerry]] OS 7 and 10<ref name="html5phones"/>
* [[Windows Phone]] 7 and newer<ref name="html5phones"/>|}}
|}}
| {{terminated|<!-- Please do NOT specify unofficial versions! -->
* [[Android (operating system)|Android]] 2.1 to 4.1<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Daniel |last=Ionescu |title=Flash Player 11.1 Arrives for Android Ice Cream Sandwich |magazine=PC World |url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/246362/flash_player_11_1_arrives_for_android_ice_cream_sandwich.html |access-date= November 16, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Zach |last=Walton |title=Adobe May Have Dropped Flash Support For Android, But You Don't Have To |date=26 July 2012 |url=http://www.webpronews.com/adobe-may-have-dropped-flash-support-for-android-but-you-dont-have-to-2012-07 |access-date= November 17, 2012}}</ref>
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| {{n/a}}
| {{yes|
* [[PlayStation]]&nbsp;([[PlayStation 4|PS4]], [[PlayStation 3|PS3]] and [[PlayStation Vita|PS Vita]])<ref name="html5consoles"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://totalrevue.com/ps3-receives-4-10-firmware-update-browser-html5-support/ |title=totalrevue.com |publisher=totalrevue.com |url-status=dead |access-date=2014-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074842/http://totalrevue.com/ps3-receives-4-10-firmware-update-browser-html5-support/ |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://functionsource.com/post/netflix-feature |title=ArchivedFunctionSource: copyCoping with over Four Hundred Devices: How Netflix Uses HTML5 to Deliver Amazing User Interfaces |access-date=2012-11-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124131418/http://functionsource.com/post/netflix-feature |archive-date=2013-01-24 }}</ref>
* [[Nintendo Switch]] and [[Wii U]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neowin.net/news/nintendo-html5-support-for-wii-u-browser-but-no-flash |title=Nintendo: HTML5 support for Wii U browser, but no Flash |publisher=Neowin |access-date=2014-06-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nintendo-nation.net/wii-u-browser-html5/ |title=Wii U browser first for HTML5 compliance, powered by Netfront? |publisher=Nintendo Nation.net |date=2012-11-02 |access-date=2014-06-29}}</ref><ref name="html5consoles">{{cite web|url=http://html5test.com/results/gaming.html |title=How well does your browser support HTML5? |publisher=HTML5test |access-date=2014-06-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2012/11/01/wii-us-browser-is-better-at-html5-than-internet-explorer-10-on-pc/ |title=Wii U's browser is better equipped for HTML5 than Internet Explorer 10 on PC &#124; GamesBeat &#124; Games &#124; by Jeff Grubb |publisher=Venturebeat.com |date=2012-11-01 |access-date=2014-06-29}}</ref>
* [[Nintendo 3DS]] family (partial)<ref name="html5consoles"/>
* [[Xbox One]] and [[Xbox 360]]<ref name="html5consoles"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SteveFulton/20121023/179970/Xbox_360_Internet_Explorer_Plays_HTML5_GamesBut_Not_Flash.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025233632/http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/SteveFulton/20121023/179970/Xbox_360_Internet_Explorer_Plays_HTML5_GamesBut_Not_Flash.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |title=Steve Fulton's Blog - Xbox 360 Internet Explorer Plays HTML5 Games...But Not Flash |website=Gamasutra |date=2012-10-23 |access-date=2014-06-29}}</ref>
|}}
| {{terminated|
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| {{n/a}}
| {{yes}}, implemented in most browsers, for system and custom fonts
| {{yes}}, in most cases<sup><span style="font-weight:normal">{{noteefn|b|2name=note2}}</span></sup>
|-
! Text [[tab stop]]s
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| {{depends|No, but text fields can be arranged into a grid}}
|-
! Linked text frames<sup><span style="font-weight:normal">{{noteefn|a|1name=note1}}</span></sup>
| {{depends|{{As of|2016}}, two specifications compete: CSS Regions<ref>{{cite web|publisher=W3C|title=CSS Regions|url=http://www.w3.org/TR/css-regions-1/|access-date=August 24, 2015}}</ref> and CSS Overflow<ref>{{cite web|publisher=W3C|title=CSS Overflow|url=https://drafts.csswg.org/css-overflow/|access-date=August 24, 2015}}</ref>}}
| {{depends|With CSS Regions, supported by Safari, IE11 and Edge}}<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Can I Use...|title=CSS Regions|url=http://caniuse.com/css-regions|access-date=February 12, 2016}}</ref>
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! Video formats
| {{depends}}
| {{yes|90+% support of [[H.264]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caniuse.com/mpeg4 |title=Can I use the MPEG-4/H.264 video format? |publisher=Caniuse.com |access-date=2016-02-12}}</ref> varying support of [[WebM]] and [[Ogg Theora]] (see [[HTML5HTML video]])}}
| {{yes|H.264, [[Sorenson Spark]], and [[VP6|On2 VP6]]}}<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Adobe Systems|title=Supported Codecs|url=http://helpx.adobe.com/flash/kb/supported-codecs-flash-player.html|access-date=July 29, 2012}}</ref>
|-
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! Audio formats
| {{depends}}
| {{yes|~94% support of [[MP3]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caniuse.com/mp3 |title=Can I use MP3 audio format? |publisher=Caniuse.com |access-date=2016-02-12}}</ref> [[Advanced Audio Coding|AAC]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://caniuse.com/aac |title=Can I use AAC audio file format? |publisher=Caniuse.com |access-date=2016-02-12}}</ref> and [[WAV]] [[Pulse-code modulation|PCM]]; varying support of [[Ogg]] [[Vorbis]], and [[WebM Project|WebM]] [[Vorbis]] (see [[HTML5HTML audio]])}}<!-- future: Opus -->
| {{yes|[[MP3]], [[WAV]] and [[Advanced Audio Coding|AAC]] audio files or embedded sound}}
|-
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| {{yes}}, via ByteArray class<ref>{{cite web|url=http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FlashPlatform/reference/actionscript/3/flash/utils/ByteArray.html |title=ByteArray - Adobe ActionScript 3 (AS3 ) API Reference |publisher=Help.adobe.com |date=2014-05-28 |access-date=2014-06-29}}</ref>
|-
! [[BLOBBinary large object|Large binary data]]
| {{no}}
| {{yes|Via Web Sockets to stream binary or other data}}
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===Notes===
{{notelist|refs=
#{{noteefn|name=note1|a}}Allows text to overflow into other text boxes, useful for [[desktop publishing]].}}
#{{noteefn|name=note2|b}}Static text created via [[Adobe Flash Professional|Flash editor]] is automatically embedded and anti-aliased. Text fields created via ActionScript need fonts to be manually embedded for anti-aliasing to work.}}
|}}
 
==Comparison==
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==== Flash ====
 
Originally, web browsers could not render Flash media themselves, and required the [[proprietary software|proprietary]] freeware plugin [[Adobe Flash Player]]. Until 2008, there was no official specification by which to create an alternative player. Alternative players were developed before 2008, but they supported Flash to a lesser degree than the official one.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/manual/gnashref.html#runs-on |title=Gnash Reference Manual |publisher=Gnu.org |date=2008-05-18 |access-date=2014-06-29}}</ref> Flash support iswas built in tointo [[Google Chrome]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2010/03/dev-channel-update_30.html|title=Integrated Adobe Flash Player Plug-in|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131084726/http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.cz/2010/03/dev-channel-update_30.html|archive-date=2013-01-31|work=Chrome team blog}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.chromium.org/2012/08/the-road-to-safer-more-stable-and.html|title=Porting Flash to sandboxed PPAPI platform|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725110647/https://blog.chromium.org/2012/08/the-road-to-safer-more-stable-and.html|archive-date=2018-07-25|work=Official Chromium Blog}}</ref> [[Internet Explorer 10]] (and later),<ref>{{cite web|title=Flash Player issues &#124; Windows 8|url=https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/flash-player-issues-windows-8.html|publisher=Adobe Systems|access-date=2016-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220210445/https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/flash-player-issues-windows-8.html|archive-date=2016-12-20|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Flash Player Issues &#124; Windows 10 &#124; Internet Explorer|url=https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/flash-player-issues-windows-10-ie.html|publisher=Adobe Systems|access-date=2016-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220210544/https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/flash-player-issues-windows-10-ie.html|archive-date=2016-12-20|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Microsoft Edge]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Flash Player issues &#124; Windows 10 &#124; Microsoft Edge|url=https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/flash-player-issues-windows-10-edge.html|publisher=Adobe Systems|access-date=2016-12-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220210517/https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/flash-player-issues-windows-10-edge.html|archive-date=2016-12-20|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
The last version of the Adobe Flash Player ran on [[Microsoft Windows]], Apple [[macOS]], [[Research In Motion|RIM]], [[QNX]] and [[Google TV (operating system)|Google TV]].
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|archive-date=November 22, 2011
|url-status=dead
}}</ref>) (Flash 11.2), [[Linux]] (Flash 11.2, except for Pepper Flash which is maintained and distributed by Google, not Adobe), [[PlayStation 3]] (Flash 9), and [[PlayStation Portable|PSP]] (Flash 6). [[Adobe Flash Lite]] runsran on [[Wii]], [[Symbian]], [[Maemo]] Linux, [[Windows Mobile]], and [[Chumby]].
 
Apple never allowed Flash to run on [[iOS]], the operating system which runs on [[iPad]], [[iPhone]], [[iPod Touch]] and [[Apple TV]].<ref name="thoughtsFlash"/> Apple officially dropped support for Adobe Flash from the macOS version of Safari 14 released on September 17, 2020 for macOS 10.14 Mojave & macOS 10.15 Catalina.
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<!-- need to replace this with list of browser HTML5 compatibility -->{{As of|2013|12}}, versions of browsers such as [[Google Chrome|Chrome]], [[Firefox]], [[Internet Explorer]], [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]], and [[Safari (web browser)|Safari]] implement HTML5 to a considerable degree. However, some portions of the HTML5 specification were still being implemented by browser makers.
 
As of January 2015, [[YouTube]] defaults to HTML5 players to better support more devices. HTML5 needs less processing power making it run faster on all browsers. The [[multimedia]] integration with HTML5 is quite easy and creates better support for live video [[Streaming media|streaming]] on mobile devices also.<ref>{{cite web|work=YouTube Engineering and Developers Blog|title=YouTube now defaults to HTML5 <video>|url=https://youtube-eng.googleblog.com/2015/01/youtube-now-defaults-to-html5_27.html|access-date=2018-11-03|archive-date=2018-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910204225/https://youtube-eng.googleblog.com/2015/01/youtube-now-defaults-to-html5_27.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
=== Vendor neutrality ===
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|archive-date = 2008-09-28
|url = http://www.openmedianow.org/?q=node/21
|url-status = deadusurped
}}</ref> and itself could not be copied, printed out in more than one copy, distributed, resold or translated, without written approval of Adobe Systems Incorporated.<ref name="swf10spec">{{cite web | title = SWF File Format Specification Version 10 | url = https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/swf/pdf/swf_file_format_spec_v10.pdf | access-date = 2012-11-13 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120131083755/http://www.adobe.com/content/dam/Adobe/en/devnet/swf/pdf/swf_file_format_spec_v10.pdf | archive-date = 2012-01-31 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
 
Flash was not an [[open standard]]. It was controlled by one firm, [[Adobe Systems]]. In contrast, HTML5 is controlled mostly by a committee, the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group ([[WHATWG]]).<ref name="thoughtsFlash">{{cite web|last=Jobs|first=Steve|authorlink=Steve Jobs|date=April 29, 2010|title=Thoughts on Flash|url=https://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615060422/https://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/|archive-date=June 15, 2017|accessdate=March 24, 2022|website=[[Apple Inc.]]}}</ref>
 
Various people have praised Flash over the years for rendering consistently across platforms. Constructing sites in Flash was a way to prevent [[Fork (software development)|''code forking,'']], whereby different versions of a site are created for different browsers.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ka Wai Cheung and Craig Bryant |title=Flash Application Design Solutions: The Flash Usability Handbook |page= 6 |publisher=Apress |year= 2006 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=49OwlbrMc-oC&q=flash+cross+browser&pg=PA6|isbn=9781590595947 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Rob |last=Huddleston |title=Flash Catalyst CS5 Bible |publisher=Wiley |year= 2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crN1zsYwYAYC&q=flash+cross+browser&pg=PT39|isbn=9780470767948 }}</ref>
 
Speaking at 'Adobe Max' in 2011, Itai Asseo likewise said that, unlike HTML5, Flash offers a way to develop applications that work across platforms. HTML5, he said, is currently implemented differently (if at all) by different browsers. Although the Flash browser plugin is not supported on the Apple iPhone OS, Flash applications can be exported to Adobe AIR, which runs on that operating system as a native application. In the same talk, Mr. Asseo lamented the return to another browser war (as seen in the late 1990s). If Flash falls out of favor, he said, web developers will either have to develop many different versions of their web sites and native applications to take into account different HTML5 implementations, deny access to browsers that do not support their version of HTML, or dramatically reduce the functionality of their sites in order to deliver content to the least-advanced browser.<ref>{{cite web|author=Itai Asseo|title=The Death of Flash|url=http://tv.adobe.com/watch/max-2011-envision/the-death-of-flash/|access-date=November 19, 2011}}</ref>
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{{Portal|Internet}}
* [[Comparison of vector graphics editors]]
* [[CSS animationanimations]]
* [[Flash animation]]
* [[HTML5test]]
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== External links ==
* [httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20160304072340/https://www.epaperflip.com/adobe-flash-vs-html-5-who-will-win-cold-war/ Infographic - The Cold War Between Adobe Flash and HTML 5]
* [httphttps://html5demosbestvpn.comorg/html5demos/ Demos of browser support for HTML5] <!-- not a reliable source, but useful to a user making her/his own comparison -->
 
{{Adobe Flash}}