The Live Indian Entertainment Blog

It appears Adobe is not going to be suing Apple over the changes recently made to the iPhone OS 4 developer agreement, after all. Instead, the company has decided to focus its efforts on Android.

Adobe recently shipped CS5, which included a tool to convert Flash into iPhone / iPad applications. However, the changes Apple made the iPhone OS developer agreement "outlaws" that sort of tool.

According to a blog post by Mike Chambers, Flash platform product manager for Adobe:

We will still be shipping the ability to target the iPhone and iPad in Flash CS5. However, we are not currently planning any additional investments in that feature.

It wouldn't be an Adobe post vs. Apple without some commentary, however. Chambers went on to state that the CS5 development efforts proved that:

1. There is no technical reason that Flash can’t run on the iPhone
2. Developers can create well performing and compelling content for the device with Flash

Chambers added that:

The primary goal of Flash has always been to enable cross browser, platform and device development. The cool web game that you build can easily be targeted and deployed to multiple platforms and devices. However, this is the exact opposite of what Apple wants. They want to tie developers down to their platform, and restrict their options to make it difficult for developers to target other platforms.

While Adobe and Flash are what people assume are the targets of Apple's moves, it's obvious that it is in Apple's vested interests to lock down development and make it harder for developers to program cross-platform.

Chambers said that Android will be a focus for Adobe, and that Apple's restrictive moves harm the consumer in the end. That is true, but only if the consumer knows what they are missing, which for many iPhone users, is not the case.

This now sort of pits Adobe and Google (who has just the pile of cash needed to combat Apple) against Apple. May the best platform win.