It’s been known for a long time that Flash is far from a stable platform, and while Apple have been trying to fix the major outstanding issues with a stream of updates, new ones have been popping up on a regular basis. At the same time, the companies behind the major browsers on the market have unanimously decided to move away from technologies such as embedded Flash and Java players, as well as a variety of similar plugins, and towards a more unified platform. Apple have recently issued a notice that old versions of Flash Player are now blocked and will not be able to launch on OS X systems, due to serious security concerns.
In particular, users running a version of Flash below 15.0.0.223 would need to download an update before they’re able to view Web pages containing embedded Flash content. They will instead see a link to Adobe’s download page for Flash, where they can get an updated version of the application. Apple have not specified the nature of security issues that they were addressing with this, but it could be easy to deduct by looking at the changelog for versions 15.0.0.223 and onward.
It’s also not known what a percentage of users this would affect, although it’s expected that there would not be that many OS X users still running this Flash version. This isn’t the first time Apple have resorted to blocking an older Flash Player version on OS X, so users who have been on the system for a while should be familiar with this practice already.
Meanwhile, more and more members of the industry have been growing tired of dealing with the security flaws constantly introduced by browser plugins like Flash, Java, and more. According to experts, the best solution would be to attempt to get rid of all external platforms, and give Web developers a platform that can be more directly controlled by browser developers. This could not only mean better security, but a richer set of features for developers, which would ultimately benefit the end user as well.
There has already been a move in this direction, with major browsers blocking plugins like Flash and Java, even Unity and some less used applications, and instead encouraging developers to use WebGL and JavaScript engines for their needs. A more standardized platform is expected to be developed at some point in the future as well, and according to most, this will be a messy process for a while, but it’s ultimately necessary in order to improve the overall security of Web applications, and to make Web development a more unified process.