Submitted by Bob Bhatnagar on
It may be experimental and reference an animal you've never seen, but Adobe has released Wallaby to help developers convert Flash content into HTML5. In theory this allows the Flash content to be viewed on iOS devices including the iPhone and iPad. Apple has been clear about it's dislike for Flash technology, and will not allow plug-ins to view Flash content on its devices.
Steve Jobs claimed the technology was outdated and inefficient, and Apple has much to gain from its own App Store content. Adobe has been battling the Flash restrictions from the beginning. The company has been working on Flash app development tools, which were stalled temporarily when Apple changed the terms of its developer agreement to ban the tools.
Apple has since relaxed the iOS development rules and Adobe continues to forge ahead. Wallaby, a cross-platform AIR application is offered by Adobe Labs and converts Flash files into HTML5. Although the application supports many Flash features such as keframes, movieclips, vector art, rollover buttons and tweens, Wallaby is limited when it comes to video, audio and actionscript.
Several other features aren't supported because HTML5 standards don't yet exist. Some of these Flash items include 3D transforms, blend modes and dynamic masks. Adobe explains on their website that the Wallaby tool is experimental and they will not comment on whether or not it will be integrated into any Creative Suite products. Large swaths of the web are moving to the open HTML5 standard, but in the meantime Adobe seeks to provide help for developers faced with problems that need to be solved.
In the meantime, iOS apps such as the Skyfire browser help to fill the gaps and allow some degree of Flash viewing on the iPhone.