Adobe realizes SDK not enough for Flash on iPhone
Adobe has admitted it can't bring Flash to the iPhone just because it thinks that would be a neat idea. — Comments made Tuesday by Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen were widely interpreted this morning as confirmation that Adobe and Apple …
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple's earlier position that Flash Player was not suited to the iPhone had already framed compatibility as a technical and platform-level issue, not simply an application-development task. Separate coverage on March 19 said Adobe was developing Flash with Apple, underscoring that the SDK did not give Adobe an independent route to browser support.
First-order effects
- Adobe cannot use Apple's newly released SDK alone to put Flash on the iPhone; its iPhone effort depends on cooperation with Apple.
- Apple retains the decisive role in whether and how Flash reaches the iPhone, despite opening native application development through the SDK.
Second-order effects
- Developers and publishers whose iPhone plans rely on Flash remain dependent on Adobe and Apple resolving the platform integration rather than building around the SDK.
- The distinction between an app-development kit and browser-runtime access makes Apple’s platform boundaries a product constraint for software vendors, not merely a distribution channel.
Third-order effects
- The episode points toward mobile platforms where an SDK expands third-party app creation without granting third parties control over core web technologies; platform owners set those terms.
- If this model holds, software vendors such as Adobe will need platform partnerships alongside developer tools to reach major mobile devices.
The trend: Mobile platforms are separating application development access from control of the browser and its underlying runtimes.