Google has concluded plans to phase out Flash multimedia player from its Chrome web browser in favor of HTML5 before the end of 2016. Google would automatically run HTML5 on websites that offer it, adding it would not advertise the presence of Flash. HTML5 offers a “more integrated media experience with faster load times and lower energy consumption,” according to Google.
When a user visits a website that has had its Flash content blocked, a popup will appear to ask if the user wants Flash to be enabled for the website. If the content is allowed, Chrome will remember and will run Flash on the website for subsequent visits.
The proposal will not affect every website with Flash-based content as 10 “top” websites will be under a whitelist that will allow them to show Flash content without prompting the popup for users to choose if they want to see the Flash components. The 10 websites mentioned as part of the whitelist are YouTube, Facebook, VK, Live, Yandex, OK.ru, Twitch, Amazon, Yahoo and Mail.ru.
“Later this year we plan to change how Chromium hints to websites about the presence of Flash Player, by changing the default response of Navigator.plugins and Navigator.mimeTypes. If a site offers an HTML5 experience, this change will make that the primary experience,” said a Google developer in a Google Groups thread.
“We will continue to ship Flash Player with Chrome, and if a site truly requires Flash, a prompt will appear at the top of the page when the user first visits that site, giving them the option of allowing it to run for that site,” he added.
