Developers and users worldwide are all speculating about the precise reason why Adobe is considering kicking Flash to the curb. There are a few points worth discussing, which mainly revolve around the software’s overall security and the broad-spectrum attacks happening through it frequently. However, Flashpoint remains a widely used web browser that enables many of your favorite games.
Some developers can’t help but reminisce about the unexplored and under-utilized potential welled up in Adobe Flash. Whichever way you look at it, the fact remains that, although Adobe Flash Player is still needed to run most of your apps and games, it could be something of the past. It’s time to prepare your online environment and platforms for whatever comes next to uninstall Flash without losing usability or apps.
Why are Flash websites redundant?
- Flash websites rank very low Google PageRank;
- Search engines can’t read websites that are 100% Flash creations;
- You can’t optimize Flash sites for mobile use;
- Flash websites are more expensive to develop due to the lack in the market of Flash website developers.
What comes next when Adobe Flash Player is no longer supported?
Most developers have already transitioned to platforms such as HTML5, WebAssembly, and WebGL. Adobe will in no way leave users in the dark once they finally discontinue Flash in Explorer, Chrome, or other browsers. There are countless speculations, and according to Forbes, millions of Flash websites will be left unusable, so it might be valuable to migrate your Flash website to a new browser before the Adobe Flash Player End of Life.
The transition will be much smoother for end-users than for the developers, and you’ll most probably only have to do a software update on your already installed apps to enable other formats.
How to uninstall Adobe Flash Player
Remove flash from your windows PC:
- Step one is to download the official Adobe uninstaller on your PC
- Close all your apps, tabs, and browsers
- Double-click the Uninstaller you downloaded
- You click ‘Yes” to all the prompts
- Restart your PC when completed
- Hold in the Windows key while pressing ‘R’ – it’ll activate the ‘Run’ command
- When asked what to ‘open’ type in: C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash and press ‘Enter.’
- Delete all the files in the specific Flash folder, repeat all 3 preceding steps again and this time delete all the content within the folders of:
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\Macromed\Flash
%appdata%\Adobe\Flash Player
%appdata%\Macromedia\Flash Player
Remove Flash from your Mac:
- Download the official Adobe uninstaller for your Mac version (you can determine it by pressing the Apple icon and then select ‘About this Mac.’
- Run the uninstaller version that you selected
- As soon as the uninstaller starts to run, click on ‘Uninstall.’
- Ensure that all your browsers and apps are closed
- Once the unistaller finished its process, delete the following folders individually:
<home directory>/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash\ Player
<home directory>/Library/Caches/Adobe/Flash\ Player
Other browsers to consider
The most used web extensions used by web developers and end-users of late include HTML5, WebAssembly, and WebGL. These software platforms allow for seamless mobile optimization, which is vital in today’s day and age as we do most of our business, payments, and even play our games from our phones. Although it may seem like an unnecessary move, it’ll be better in the long run for developers and end-users.
