App Brings Flash Support to iOS

Skyfire, a forthcoming mobile browser for iOS, may have a serious leg up on its App Store competition when it launches this Thursday. Unlike other third party browsers such as Opera Mini and Perfect Browser, Skyfire supports Flash…well, kind of.

An article featured on MacRumors details how the app works. Essentially the app–which is based on Apple’s iOS version of Safari–automatically detects Flash video within a webpage and offers you an option to play it. Here’s the catch, the app is actually converting the video to HTML5 behind the scenes. Utilizing Skyfire’s servers, the video is converted and sent to the device for playback. A YouTube demo from the developer shows that while not instantaneous, the conversion takes place quite rapidly.
The video also highlights a few of the additional features of the browser, placing an emphasis on social networking integration.

In a relatively surprising move, given their anti-Flash stance, Apple has approved the app for sale this coming Thursday in the App Store for $2.99. Assuming it functions as advertised, the app is poised to be a success. While Apple has spearheaded a web-wide transition to the more open HTML5, hundreds of thousands of videos remain in Flash. Though the undisclosed size and robustness of Skyfire’s in house servers raise a few initial concerns, if the app performs as well as it does in the demo, it could be a great utility for those seeking Flash support.