aurora's blog: Skyfire browser brings Flash video to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Friday, November 5, 2010

Skyfire browser brings Flash video to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

After a rigorous review process lasting more than a month, Skyfire will become available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch from Thursday. Skyfire's main trick is the transcoding of Flash video into HTML5 video, which iOS supports. There's a video of it in action after the break.

Skyfire for iOS -- assuming it's functionally identical to the Android version that we reviewed in July -- is also a competent Web browser. The Flash-to-HTML5 video is obviously the unique selling point, but there's a nice 'social' layer that it adds on top of your built-in Safari browser. It lets you one-click share with Twitter and Facebook, and you can find 'related' content to the page you're on. The Skyfire website also touts a 'private browsing' function, though if your phone finds its way into someone else's hands you probably have more important things to worry about.

The Flash-on-iOS thing -- which is only video, not games or interactive websites -- is enabled by on-the-fly transcoding of Flash video into a format that your iOS device can display. Yes, Skyfire has a big bank of servers that actually re-encodes video while you browse -- and that's why the app will cost you $2.99 when it goes live on Thursday.

[via AppleInsider]