Let’s face it – Apple’s never going to approve of Flash. HTML5 may take a while to realize its full potential, but Cupertino’s always been all for the technology of the future. So any hopes about Apple supporting anything that Adobe churns out can hardly be expected to blossom. When you can’t get your iDevice to offer you a satisfying web browsing experience impregnated with the web technology of today, just get an app to work it for you. Here’s our list of 5 alternative Flash players for iPad to help with the task.
1. Cloud Browse:
This app is designed to offer the full desktop Firefox browser session on all sorts of Apple iDevices. The basic service is designed to render 10 minutes of secure browsing per session. It rubs along just fine with Flash and Java content so that games, videos and other content which can’t be handled by iOS surface via this browser app. Additionally, Cloud Browse Premium is designed to save history and login details, and it delivers unlimited browsing sessions without those hosted advertisement. The creators even claim that this hosted desktop Firefox browser is quicker than Mobile Safari.
Price: $2.99
2. iSwifter:
Want to keep your Farmville well tended on the iPad? How about playing Google+ Games on the tablet? YouWeb will come to the rescue with iSwifter which happens to require a Wi-Fi connection. It can be downloaded and tried for free via iTunes. But after half an hour of usage, pop-ups will keep insisting that you drop the change for an in-app purchase. When we refused to give in to its demands, the app simply refused to react at all each time we hit the icon on the iPad home screen. It sells with the tag ‘The world’s first cloud-based Flash browser for Social Games and MMOs!’
Price: $4.99
3. Skyfire:
Skyfire Labs is probably one of the better known names when it waters down to alternative Flash players for iPad It claims to have more than 2,00,000 supported websites to boast of and the numbers will apparently keep climbing. The app bundles in a Video Recommendation Engine which suggests videos based on the stuff you’re watching. The integrated video compression technology even promises to save up to 75% bandwidth while streaming videos. If you want the nitty-gritties on savings, your monthly bills should be able to tell you all. The developers do mention that you can watch up to 4 times more videos and still stay within your data plan limits with Skyfire.
Price: $2.99
4. Photon Flash:
The Photon Flash app in iTunes mixes native browsing for normal websites and remote browsing for Flash-based websites. It’s not as limited as Skyfire in the sense that will permit you to play Flash games, use Flash apps, listen to music streamed through Flash player and even watch Flash videos. The application will be perfectly content to wait by as you open various domains and then respond when summoned by the ‘Lightning’ icon. This button is meant to be used when you come upon a Flash website and there’s the option to multitask by employing tabbed or multiple views while browsing.
Price: $4.99
A bit of an odd man out among the candidates on our list, Splashtop Remote Desktop is exactly what its name says it is. It basically functions as a remote desktop app for streaming video and audio content from your PC or Mac. The application enables you interact with PowerPoint, Keynote, Word, Excel, Outlook, IE, Quicken, Safari, Firefox, World of Warcraft, and other related PC or Mac software. Do we really need to mention that’ll it calls for a Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G connection in order to do so? In terms of Flash support, the app lets you play Flash games, watch Flash videos and so on.
Price: $1.99
All of these candidates on our list of alternative Flash players for iPad are priced below $5. And since you’re among those folks wielding the Apple slate, no one actually wants to hear you moan about iTunes hosting no free apps to support Flash. So try one from our list and tell us about it.