Momentum continues to build against Adobe Flash after Facebook announced it had switched to HTML5 for videos on its site.
The social network’s Daniel Baulig explained in a blog post that the change had now been shipped to all browsers by default.
Using HTML5 means faster development as Facebook programmers don’t have to recompile code and can apply changes directly in the browser, he argued.
It also allows the development team to make use of various web testing tools like jest and WebDriver, whilst supporting accessibility requirements for visually impaired users.
It wasn’t all plain sailing though. Initially Facebook found that old browsers actually performed worse on HTML5 than Flash, although continuous development enabled it to fix these bugs.
Other development challenges included slow page loading times and video page logging issues, Baulig explained.
However, HTML5 is very much the preferred choice today over Flash player.
“Not only did launching the HTML5 video player make development easier, but it also improved the video experience for people on Facebook. Videos now start playing faster. People like, comment, and share more on videos after the switch, and users have been reporting fewer bugs,” said Baulig.
“People appear to be spending more time with video because of it. Videos are an enriching way to connect with the world around you, and we're happy we could make the Facebook video experience better.”
This is not the end of Facebook and Adobe’s relationship: the social network still uses Flash for gaming on its platform.
However, its decision on videos is yet another nail in the coffin for the bug-ridden Flash platform.
The news follows YouTube’s decision to drop Flash in favor of HTML5 at the beginning of the year.
The most recent Patch Tuesday saw Adobe release fixes for a whopping 78 bugs in Flash player.
Photo © Verticalarray
Momentum continues to build against Adobe Flash after Facebook announced it had switched to HTML5 for videos on its site.
The social network’s Daniel Baulig explained in a blog post that the change had now been shipped to all browsers by default.
Using HTML5 means faster development as Facebook programmers don’t have to recompile code and can apply changes directly in the browser, he argued.
It also allows the development team to make use of various web testing tools like jest and WebDriver, whilst supporting accessibility requirements for visually impaired users.
It wasn’t all plain sailing though. Initially Facebook found that old browsers actually performed worse on HTML5 than Flash, although continuous development enabled it to fix these bugs.
Other development challenges included slow page loading times and video page logging issues, Baulig explained.
However, HTML5 is very much the preferred choice today over Flash player.
“Not only did launching the HTML5 video player make development easier, but it also improved the video experience for people on Facebook. Videos now start playing faster. People like, comment, and share more on videos after the switch, and users have been reporting fewer bugs,” said Baulig.
“People appear to be spending more time with video because of it. Videos are an enriching way to connect with the world around you, and we're happy we could make the Facebook video experience better.”
This is not the end of Facebook and Adobe’s relationship: the social network still uses Flash for gaming on its platform.
However, its decision on videos is yet another nail in the coffin for the bug-ridden Flash platform.
The new follows YouTube’s decision to drop Flash in favor of HTML5 at the beginning of the year.
The most recent Patch Tuesday saw Adobe release fixes for a whopping 78 bugs in Flash player.