Adobe to Start Blocking Flash Content from Playing from January 12, 2021

Adobe has released the final scheduled update for its Flash Player and announced that it would start blocking Flash content from running on January 12, 2021. The company has also recommended that users uninstall Flash Player before it reaches its end of support on December 31. The new update comes months after Microsoft announced that it would be ending support for Adobe Flash Player on Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer by the end of 2020. Alongside Microsoft's browsers, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are also set to say goodbye to Adobe Flash Player, which was once a popular solution to run multimedia content on the Web.

“Adobe will no longer support Flash Player after December 31, 2020, and Adobe will block Flash content from running in Flash Player beginning January 12, 2021; Adobe strongly recommends all users to immediately uninstall Flash Player to help protect their systems,” the company wrote in the release notes of the final Flash Player release.

By blocking content, Adobe will ultimately restrain users from accessing any Flash content on their Web browsers.

As clarified to ZDNet, the mechanism to kill Flash Player completely isn't actually a part of the latest update and is available for some time — as a part of previous releases. This means that you won't be able to skip the end of life of Flash Player even if you don't install the final update. The new update, however, carries modified language to prompt users to uninstall Flash Player before it stops running completely.

Adobe first announced the retirement of its Flash Player back in July 2017. The company made that decision in partnership with Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Mozilla. It had also started encouraging developers to move to modern programming standards and newer software technologies to help ease migration.

Introduced back in January 1996, Flash Player brought rich applications to the Web world and enabled early netizens to play games and run animations on their Web browsers. It, however, started losing its charm with the growing adoption of HTML5. Developers also started embracing JavaScript over Flash to bring newer experiences.

Apart from the expansion of HTML5 and JavaScript, Adobe Flash Player faced challenges to retain its leadership in the space due to a host of severe security issues and flaws detected in the recent past. Companies including Google and Microsoft had to fix some vulnerabilities from their end to protect their users.

Adobe has provided a Flash Player EOL General Information page to help users uninstall Flash Player from their systems. The company has also thanked all customers and developers who have made the software so successful in the past.

“We are proud that Flash had a crucial role in evolving web content across animation, interactivity, audio, and video. We are excited to help lead the next era of digital experiences,” the company said.

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