Google Chrome Joins the Shift from Adobe’s Flash to HTML5

Hot on the heels of Mozilla’s recent move, Google Chrome is the latest to announce plans to gradually phase out support for the ageing Adobe’s Flash technology in favor of HTML5. Just last month, Mozilla revealed their shift, signaling the ongoing trend among major tech entities.

In an update on their official blog published on a recent Tuesday, Google specified: “Today, more than 90% of Flash on the web loads behind the scenes to support things like page analytics. This kind of Flash hinders your web browsing experience by slowing it down. Starting this September, Chrome 53 will begin to block it. HTML5, being much lighter and faster, is increasingly favored by publishers in an effort to speed up page loading and save precious battery life. You’ll see an improvement in responsiveness and efficiency for many sites.”

HTML5 is set to become the default choice by December, in line with the anticipated release of Chrome 55. However, before that lands, we’re expecting the arrival of Chrome 53 in September which will commence the process of Flash-blocking.

Google’s intention to pull the plug on Flash has not been kept hush-hush, after Chrome 50 was released back in April, hinting at the company’s future direction away from Adobe’s outdated technology. That said, for websites which continue to use Flash, Google has assured that access will continue, albeit under a user-controlled discretion to activate Flash on these pages for individual site visits.

The driving force behind this technological alteration is to provide a faster, more efficient web browsing experience. This move aligns Google Chrome with other leading browers such as Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s Edge, both of which have already taken the leap away from Adobe’s Flash in favor of HTML5.