The demise of Flash is drawing ever closer as Facebook revealed it has switched to a video player built around HTML5.
Announcing the news in a post on it’s engineering website, the company said it has switched from Adobe’s once ubiquitous technology for all of Facebook’s video services.
That includes videos in News Feed, on pages, and in the embedded player.
Games will still use Flash for the time being, but the company is looking into ways of changing this in the future.
Facebook has been running its HTML5 player alongside the Flash version to ensure its stability for some time, and has now rolled out the new player across its entire site.
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The firm says that using HTML5 will improve development, allow allow for better testing methods, and provide better accessibility to users.
The post states: “Moving to HTML5 best enables us to continue to innovate quickly and at scale, given Facebook’s large size and complex needs.”
It also claims that the move to HTML5 will mean videos start playing faster and reduce the amount of bugs users experience.
Last month Adobe announced that it would be discouraging content creators from using their Flash technology, encouraging them to use HTML5 instead.
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It also announced that although Flash would continue to exist, it would be renamed Animate CC in 2016.
Flash was once a popular plugin but its usage has steadily declined over the years, and it never became popular as a smartphone plugin.
Facebook adopting HTML5 is the latest sign that Flash is in its final days, with other major websites such as Youtube switching to an HTML5 player earlier this year.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
