What is Adobe Flash Player and what is it for?
Hello, friends! When we watch videos, movies, listen to music on the Internet, a Flash player is needed to display them. Not all browsers have built-in players and sometimes there is a problem with playing media content in them.
For example, to watch a video, they write the following message: “Launch Flash to view.” To solve this problem, we need to look at what Adobe Flash Player is and what it is used for.
Adobe Flash Player is a player that is needed to play videos in the browser. It is installed on your computer as a special player program. There may be other players on your computer, but they do not work in browsers.
Next, we will look at the advantages and disadvantages of Flash Player and install it on your computer.
Why do you need Adobe Flash Player?
What is Adobe Flash Player and what is it for?
Until recently, this issue was quite relevant for many new Internet users, but every year the importance of this technology is fading, and the World Wide Web is gradually starting to do without the usual tool. However, many resources still continue to use outdated technology, which means you still need to have an idea about it.
Thanks to Adobe Flash, once Macromedia Flash or simply Flash, multimedia content was once widely distributed on the Internet, which could be viewed in real time without first downloading to your computer. The technology made it possible to create special web applications, multimedia presentations, spectacular banners, animation, games, as well as play audio and video on web pages. Adobe Flash allowed developers to work not only with raster and vector graphics, but also with three-dimensional ones.
In recent years, the popularity of flash technology has begun to decline significantly, the reason for which is the high load of such applications on the resources of ordinary users’ devices, which, in particular, affects the loading speed of Internet pages. In addition, errors within Flash applications could cause Internet browsers to fail, and many experts were critical of the unsafe use of Adobe Flash. This is also why it is recommended to regularly install the latest Flash Player updates, which can always be done from the official Adobe website.
Some browsers, like Google Chrome, automatically update Flash Player when a new release is released, saving the user a lot of hassle. However, in some cases you have to update yourself (Chrome itself needs to be updated periodically).
Flash technologies are rapidly being replaced by the HTML5 video playback format; some use Silverlight from Microsoft. In particular, iOS devices generally do not use Flash Player, and on Android, Adobe has stopped releasing updates to its player since September 2013. Moreover, starting from the fifth version of Android, in principle, there was no flash, although third-party developers continue to offer alternative versions of the old technology, which is probably doubly unsafe.
In 2016, Flash technology itself turned 20 years old, 11 of which were spent under the reliable wing of Adobe. However, even the popular video viewing service YouTube began to abandon previous standards a couple of years ago, switching to HTML5 by default. Moreover, manufacturers of popular browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome have already announced that they will block Flash content when visiting portals where Flash is not important for a particular site as a whole. And starting from 2017, all Flash content on websites will be launched with the additional consent of the user.
Therefore, if you have only recently become acquainted with Internet technologies, then do not rush to install Adobe Flash Player at all costs. Most authoritative resources have either already switched to HTML5 or will do so in the near future. And the new format, in principle, does not require you to install additional applications (unless you are using a browser that is five years old and has never been updated), and is faster and safer.
3.7 / 5 ( 3 voices)
Pros and cons of Flash Player
Before installing Flash Player on Windows, let's talk about its pros and cons. Pros of the player:
- Videos work correctly in browsers. Flash Player supports players in the browsers you use. It will help you ensure that you watch video content with good quality.
- Maximum video quality resolution. Using Flash Player, you can view videos with high resolution 1280 x 720 pixels.
- Supports all browsers on your computer. This player installs quickly and no additional actions are required from the user.
- Videos can be embedded on your website. Flash Player allows you to place video code on websites, blogs, without loading it with unnecessary elements.
Flash Player also has disadvantages:
- Flash Player has a low security level;
- may load your computer with unnecessary files.
So, we figured out what Adobe Flash Player is and what it is needed for, and we also looked at the pros and cons of Flash Player. Now, it's time to install the player on your computer.
Why is Flash bad?
Unfortunately, there are no downsides, and the main disadvantage of Flash is that to support it, the Flash Player component must be installed on the computer. It is this component that allows flash elements to work in all their glory on the site.
The Flash Player component (player) is built into popular browsers automatically, and you can download it from the official website - get.adobe.com/ru/flashplayer/.
Without Flash Player installed, the user will see only an empty space instead of a “Flash”, but if the site is made correctly, then instead of an empty space a picture can be displayed in advance.
If the flash player is not installed, the browser will prompt you to install it immediately. For example, you cannot install additional software on work computers, so the main disadvantage of flash technology is the requirement in the form of an installed Flash Player.
Starting with Windows 7, a flash player is already built into the system. It can only be updated in the future.
But for all the beauty of flash you have to pay, namely, for colorful objects, sound, all of this has size. And sometimes the weight can reach hundreds of kilobytes, and in some cases reach several megabytes. When using, for example, mobile Internet, this will be expensive, and it is better to disable Flash in the browser.
The disadvantages include resource consumption. Flash can load the processor well relative to the entire page, since the technology is still a bit resource-intensive. Therefore, flash on a modern computer can be smooth, but on an older computer it can be jerky.
By the way, popular video hosting YouTube already uses not only Flash to display its content, but also HTML5 capabilities - so in the future there may even be a competitor to Flash technology.
How to install Adobe Flash Player on your computer for free
Flash Player can be downloaded to your computer from the site – “get.adobe.com/ru/flashplayer/otherversions/”. It is official and will not require you to register. Installing Flash Player consists of three consecutive steps.
First, choose your operating system that is installed on your computer. For example, Windows10/8 (Screen 1).
Secondly, install the version of your browser. In our case, this is “Opera and Chromium” (as written in the settings). Then, pay attention to the “Additional offers” section. There you will be prompted to install MacAffe antivirus. If you don't need it, just uncheck two boxes.
And thirdly, click the “Download” button so that the Flash Player installation file is downloaded to your computer. The total file size is 20.1 Megabytes.
The next step in installing the program is “Initialization” (Screen 2).
After it is finished, open the Flash Player boot file in the downloads on your computer by left-clicking. At the same time, you will be notified that the player will be installed soon. And then Flash Player will load (Screen 3).
When Flash Player is installed, click the “Finish” button to complete the third step of installing this player.
Update Adobe Flash player to the latest version
First, let's see if we have this program installed and what version it is. To do this, go to the Control Panel via “Start”. In Windows 7, click on “start” with the right mouse button, in the top ten with the left mouse button. In the control panel, select “Large icons” at the top right. Then, “Programs and Features”.
Now, we just have to look at our Adobe and when it was installed.
As you can see, all my Flash data was installed on January 15, 2018, one is 16. Since I am writing an article on January 16, it means they are all new versions. But, I will still install a new version of the plugin with you.
How to remove Adobe Flash Player from your computer
If you no longer want to use Adobe Flash Player, you can completely remove this program from your computer. To do this, open the Start menu, Control Panel. Next, go to “Programs and Features” (Screen 4).
Find the program of this player there and right-click on it. Then, click the “Delete” button. The Uninstall a Program Wizard will open. Just follow its instructions to ensure Flash Player is removed correctly.
If the program is not completely removed from the computer, you can use alternative programs that will delete its remaining files.
How to remove flash player?
Everything is simple here too:
- First, close all browsers!
- Hold Win + R, write the command appwiz.cpl, click OK. Or simply open Control Panel and look for the Programs and Features icon there.
- The installed software window will open. Find Adobe Flash Player here, right-click, select Uninstall.
- Then the uninstallation wizard will appear, follow the instructions... it seems like you need to click Next, Next, Uninstall... in general, there is nothing complicated.
I even found a picture that will give you a hint (this is the Programs and Features window):
Yes, you can have several - start with PPAPI, NPAPI, and then remove ActiveX. Well, here is the flash player removal window itself:
Flash Player support will end in December 2020
According to official sources, it turned out that Adobe will completely stop supporting Flash Player in December 2020. For what reasons will support for this player stop? There are several of them.
The first of them is the unsafe use of Flash Player. Increasingly, it began to be “hacked” and users’ computers were infected with viruses.
Also, new technologies have begun to develop on the Internet that can easily produce any media information. We list the popular ones:
- WebAssembly.
- WebGL.
- HTML5.
They are the serious competitors of the Flash Player. In the near future, you will be able to watch videos on the Internet without installing additional software.
Pros and cons of using Flash
Pros:
- Smooth animation that does not require waiting for loading and does not “eat up” traffic.
- Sound accompaniment for user actions, integration of video and audio inserts into flash videos.
- Built-in ActionScript programming language that makes Flash elements highly interactive.
- Possibility of creating programs and videos for PC.
Minuses:
- To view Flash animation in browsers, you need to install AdobeFlashplayer on your PC. Otherwise, sites with flash elements will not be displayed in full. Instead of an animated picture, the visitor will see an empty field. To solve this problem, in some cases, site developers install an alternative image parallel to the swf file.
- Content made in Flash is heavy and cached for a long time; its loading is affected by the speed of the Internet connection.
- Flash technology loads the processor and consumes a lot of RAM, which means that smooth playback of all animation elements is guaranteed only for owners of modern PCs.
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Removing Adobe Flash Player
Close all applications and run the plugin removal utility.
Uninstalling Adobe Flash Player
If a similar warning appears during the uninstallation process, this means that the application specified in the message needs to be closed or wait for it to complete.
Warning
After eliminating the causes of the conflict, the program will continue to work and a window will appear indicating the completion of the uninstallation process.
Removing the Adobe Flash Player plugin
Press the "DONE" key. The removal process is complete.
Adobe Flash Player - Complete the removal process
We would like to remind you that on our resource you can also download various useful plugins and add-ons for web browsers, for example, Adobe Shockwave Player, Java or Microsoft Silverlight.
