In 2017, Adobe announced plans to end support for its Flash browser plug-in in late 2020. Now that it is officially 2021, support for the software has ended and Adobe will begin to block content from playing in Flash Player from January 12th.
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The elimination of Flash should not have a strong impact on users because many popular browsers have already abandoned the format. In addition, iPhone and iPad users are not affected by the change, as iOS and iPadOS have never supported Flash.
Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs offered his “Reflections on Flash” in an open letter from 2010, criticizing Adobe software for its reliability, incompatibility with mobile sites and battery consumption on mobile devices. Jobs also said that Adobe was “painfully slow to adopt improvements to Apple’s platforms” and that further Apple innovations would not be hindered by a “cross-platform development tool”.
In the past, Adobe’s Flash Player continually suffered from vulnerabilities that exposed Mac and PC users to malware and other security risks that made vendors like Microsoft and Apple work tirelessly to keep up with security fixes.
Since Flash Player will no longer receive updates, Adobe recommends that all users remove the software immediately “to help protect their systems”.