2020 ~ Gone in a Flash?
2020 is a remarkable year for the number of things that went away; from the corner news stand to a crowd-packed Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Most of it was caused by the pandemic, but not all. It was easy to overlook those things that just died a natural death.
Like Adobe Flash.
Flash was once the dominant web media software to view video, multimedia content, and games online. Pretty much anything that had motion or interactivity depended on the Adobe Flash Player to make it work. Spending much time online required regular software updates to add Flash features, squash bugs, and improve security. Flash became the Big Dog of web interactivity because it was the only dog.
It was hard to believe that Flash could ever fall from grace until Apple shined a light on the security flaws, the power usage, and the poor fit with mobile devices. As a result, Apple never supported Flash on their mobile devices. Developers were unhappy. Users didn’t get it. The press blamed Apple “proprietary” Operating System instead of Adobe’s proprietary plug-in. But it turned out that there were other, better ways to deliver an interactive web experience and developers found them.
So on December 31st, 2020, Adobe officially discontinued Flash. Ten years after Steve Jobs raised the issue and almost a lifetime in computer years.
For most people the loss of Flash is a non-event. On the percentage scale of losses in 2020, it's a rounding error. And yet, in 2010, it was above-the-fold news in tech circles. The internet moved on and adapted, and for most of us Flash is long gone and rarely missed.
The thing is that Flash may still be on your Mac, and in a few days it won't be supported by Adobe. Which makes it a smart idea to deauthorize and delete any remaining parts that could unnecessarily compromise your security.
To bid your own fond farewell to Flash on your Mac, take these steps:
In System Preferences, look for a Flash Player preference pane.
Launch the Flash Player Preferences and click on the Deauthorize This Computer . . . button.
For good measure you can use the Delete All . . . button to trash any Flash related content still on your Mac.
(Optional) Use CleanMyMacX or other utilities to find and delete any remaining Flash components.
Start off 2021 with a clean, Flashless slate.
