YouTube Punts Adobe Flash in Favor of HTML5

[[Coi] Mr.CLuBBeR]

A major win for open standards

Thanks to the continued advancements into HTML5, YouTube has decided to kick Adobe Flash to the curb and default to the open standard instead for playing videos. YouTube would have made the move earlier, but said there were limitations that prevented HTML5 from becoming its preferred platform -- most notable was the lack of support for Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) that allows the streaming site to show more videos with less buffering.
"Adaptive Bitrate streaming is critical for providing a quality video experience for viewers - allowing us to quickly and seamlessly adjust resolution and bitrate in the face of changing network conditions," YouTube explained in a blog post. "ABR has reduced buffering by more than 50 percent globally and as much as 80 percent on heavily-congested networks. MediaSource Extensions also enable live streaming in game consoles like Xbox and PS4, on devices like Chromecast and in web browsers."
YouTube said it's been working with browser vendors over the last four years, along with the broader community to close the gaps and get to this point. Now satisfied with the state of HTML5, YouTube now uses the HTML5 tag by default in Chrome, Internet Explorer 11, Safari 8, and in beta version of Firefox, the Google-owned streaming site said.
"We're also deprecating the 'old style' of Flash embeds and our Flash API," YouTube added. "We encourage all embedders to use the API, which can intelligently use whichever technology the client supports."
By making the switch the HTML5 for video, YouTube joins content providers like Netlifx and Vimeo, along with companies such as Microsoft and Apple, that have backed the open standard.
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