Flash Is Dead … Long Live WebGL
- 05.07.14
- 9:45 AM
Image: dalcrose/Flickr
For the past decade Flash has been regarded as the de facto standard for deploying rich graphics and multimedia on the web. Flash has indeed done a lot for the web as an interactivity and entertainment platform, but recent years have shown that it is time to move on.
The future is HTML5, and with the WebGL standard for high-end HTML5 graphics entering the scene, the landscape is about to change dramatically. Steve Jobs initiated the transition with his open letter on Flash in 2010 (available here), concluding:
“New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too).”
He is indeed about to be right. Again.
In fact, our recent research shows that WebGL is now supported on more devices than Flash. It’s the bigger platform. In fact, WebGL powered HTML5 is now the largest platform on the planet for interactive browser graphics. And considering that WebGL also can be packaged into native apps and run independent of a browser on both desktop and mobile, the device reach is even vaster.
To arrive at this conclusion, we have combined WebGL support number from real life devices tracked by webglstats.com, including sites like Youtube.com, with estimated global device volumes. Since Flash is not supported on mobile browsers out of the box, Flash primarily reaches Mac and PC desktop browsers, which we estimate to be about 1.81 billion in total.
WebGL support is not fully developed on some device types but the recent fast adoption on Android with its more than 1 billion devices active globally leads us to believe that WebGL now is supported on more than 1.88 billion devices. Relatively speaking, 70 million is not a large gap, but since WebGL support is growing and Flash is retracting, it’s a very important milestone for the Internet ecosystem, highlighting the ongoing shift to open web standards such as HTML5.
So what are the benefits of WebGL & HTML5 compared to Flash?
Firstly, HTML5 is an integral part of the web. Since the web is HTML, interactive graphics on HTML5/WebGL blend right in. It’s all open JavaScript and fully integrated with any web site. Flash is a closed platform, requires installation of a plug-in, and as such is more sealed off from the website it’s published on.
Secondly, the graphics capabilities of WebGL are game changing, with 3D and most of the richness from high-end games and interactive multimedia available. WebGL enables access to hardware-accelerated graphics, and we would argue that WebGL is the largest leap in capability in the history of the web. The possibilities are huge and the applications stretch over multiple areas, such as web games, online advertising, e-learning and virtual reality.
Recently, Facebook announced the acquisition of Oculus Rift, the VR headset, and by leveraging new web technologies such as WebGL for 3D visualizations, that marriage can very well mean fundamentally new ways of experiencing the social web.
Thirdly, it runs on mobile. WebGL support has been behind on mobile but recent months have shown a massive increase in mobile support with Android leading the way. In fact, it goes beyond mobile too. WebGL powered HTML5 is about to be rolled out on many more types of units, including smart TVs, set-top boxes and gaming consoles over time.
All in all, it’s clear that the transition from Flash to HTML5 has now really gained momentum and what Steve Jobs foresaw in 2010 is now not only a theory, but is happening in reality too.
Figure 1 Estimated ratio of devices supporting WebGL across devices types (%)
Figure 2 Estimated Device Volume (millions)
Marcus Krüger is founder and Executive Chairman of Goo Technologies.
