Flash is dead, long live Adobe Animate CC

Alongside a host of new features for its CC applications, today Adobe has announced that it’s finally killing Flash…sort of.

Flash is being repurposed as Animate CC, a brand new solution for animation on the Web, that will be more than a little familiar to anyone who’s used the erstwhile darling of the hipster designer.

Flash was doomed the moment Apple chose not to support it on the iPhone but it has continued to be used by the advertising industry because it packed assets, animation, and code, into a single embeddable package. However, the recent rise in ad blockers, repeated security issues, and the ongoing lack of mobile support has finally pushed Flash over the edge.

Flash has always had something of an identity crisis, with Adobe eventually branding the app as ‘Flash Professional’ to distinguish it from the Flash Player, and Flash Builder. This latest name change makes absolute sense: with Flash generally perceived as a toxic brand by both designers and business owners, the only surprise is that Adobe didn’t make this break earlier.

Flash already features HTML5 Canvas and WebGL support, and Animate CC will continue to support SWF and AIR formats; so no changes there. However, there will be a series of new features added before the release date in early 2016, which include:

• export for SVG animation;
• 4k+ video support;
• vector art brushes;
• colored onion skinning;
• rotatable canvas;
• deep integration with Adobe Stock;
• integration with shared libraries.

The community response to the news has so far been cautiously optimistic.

BIG things to come for “FLASH” users!… https://t.co/rjfkFYhsu4

— Josiah Brooks (@JosiahBrooks) December 1, 2015

Goodbye Flash, welcome Animate CC… https://t.co/mQnUIWJq8b

— Nicolas Gans (@nicolasgans) December 1, 2015

i’m cautious, but it looks like adobe finally listened. https://t.co/YikWBs9cC5

— psychicpebbles (@psychicpebble) December 1, 2015

.@AdobeFlashCC changing to AdobeAnimate https://t.co/G1nOHN2HAH As a studio using Flash for broadcast animation we welcome you (I think)

— Barry Monkey (@RumpusAnimation) December 1, 2015

Adobe Flash becomes Adobe Animate. Hopefully a sign of finally recognising the strengths of the software: https://t.co/U8ISRBNaT4

— Jason Tammemagi (@jasontammemagi) December 1, 2015

Adobe Flash Pro renamed to Animate CC to better convey its capabilities: export to SWF, canvas, video, WebGL and SVG https://t.co/kdbm1sNwFQ

— Razvan Caliman (@razvancaliman) December 1, 2015

So happy to hear that Adobe Flash is finally dying and HTML5 and WebGL standards are being adopted. https://t.co/UUinxhd7Kf via @theloop

— Aaron Douglas (@astralbodies) December 1, 2015

http://polarb.com/232636

Ben Moss

Ben Moss has designed and coded work for award-winning startups, and global names including IBM, UBS, and the FBI. When he’s not in front of a screen he’s probably out trail-running.