If you’ve been trying to use a site or service that tells you that you need Flash on your Mac, or you’ve seen an “Adobe Flash Player blocked” message, are you wondering what to do?
In this article, we explain why you should be careful when downloading Flash on your Apple computer. To avoid this use, we offer you other alternatives.
Why is Flash Player not recommended?
Adobe ended support for Flash Player on December 31, 2020 and has been blocking Flash content from playing in Flash Player since January 12, 2021.
Adobe goes so far as to recommend that all of its users uninstall it immediately in order to protect their systems.
So, if you’re on a site or app, which indicates that it needs Flash Player to function, there’s a good chance that you’re in contact with a potential virus. Therefore, do not click on any link to download this software.
The company asserts that the reason it discontinued Flash support was due to the advent of open standards, including HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly, all of which are viable alternatives to Flash.
However, another reason could be the large number of fake Flash Player downloads which has become one of the most popular ways to embed malicious code on Mac.
Over the years, it has become increasingly vulnerable to online threats. When Apple released Safari 14 in September 2020, it actually stopped loading Flash Player and playing Flash content. Then many other web browsers, such as Chrome, Edge, and Explorer, soon followed suit.
Is it safe to use Flash Player?
The answer is clear: no.
Since Adobe has stopped developing Flash Player, there will be no more security updates. So you can be sure that installing it on your Mac would be a bad idea and could expose you to security risks.
We even advise you to uninstall it if you already have it.
Alternatives to Adobe Flash Player
If your reason for wanting to play Flash Player is to play old Flash games, why not check out the Internet Archive? This service retains some flash-based games and animations, and since they are emulated, you can still enjoy them. Here is the set of emulators that can be found in the Internet Archive:
ruffle
Ruffle is a Flash Player emulator, and it works as a standalone application. You can use it on both iOS and Mac to view Flash content.
If you want to get it working in Safari, you’ll need to convert the extension to make it compatible with Xcode 12+, and the developers explain how to do that on their site.
flash point
BlueMaxima describes Flashpoint as a web game preservation project. In Flashpoint Secure Player, it’s possible to play web-based media “without leaving any permanent changes or security holes on your computer,” according to BlueMaxima.
Note that Mac support is described as “beta”.
Flash Player 2022
Flash Player 2022 from ModernKit.one is an emulator that allows you to play Flash Player content. It is an extension for Firefox.
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