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Browsing on iOS made me finally realize how unimportant Flash is to me. I've since disabled it on every computer I use.

danilocampos 16y ago
I actually had the reverse chronology. I discovered how using ClickToFlash gave me significantly better battery life on my MBP, along with faster page loads and zero mysterious pinwheels. ClickToFlash has a better price-performance ratio than upgrading to an SSD – and I love my SSD. So when I got an iPad, I was especially mystified at why anyone should complain about this garbage being missing. edit: Useful links. Go grab ClickToFlash (Safari, OS X): http://clicktoflash.com/ http://clicktoflash.com/ Or the Safari extension for Mac or Windows: http://hoyois.github.com/safariextensions/clicktoflash/ http://hoyois.github.com/safariextensions/clicktoflash/ Or the Firefox equivalent: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/flashblock/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/flashblock/
- zdw 16y ago
  rentzsch's clicktoflash is actually considerably out of date at this point. The new, Safari-extensionized version that is mentioned second is much better and updated frequently. (this link: http://hoyois.github.com/safariextensions/clicktoflash/ http://hoyois.github.com/safariextensions/clicktoflash/) (mathematical stickler: seeing as ClickToFlash is free, it's price/performance ratio is always zero)
  - danilocampos 16y ago
    Haw, quite so. Still, even if the SSD were given to you for free, and we measured cost in installation time, the cost in time to install each one versus the resulting gains would be tremendously in favor of ClickToFlash, so awful is Flash.
- feverishaaron 16y ago
  Don't forget FlashControl for Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mfidmkgnfgnkihnjeklbekckimkipmoe https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mfidmkgnfgnkihnj...
  - 1880 16y ago
    I prefer enabling Click-to-play in about:flags.
    - CrazedGeek 16y ago
      Click-to-play doesn't let you disable it temporarily, which is a problem for some sites that rely on background Flash files. On Chrome, I prefer https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/gofhjkjmkpinhpoiabjplobcaignabnl?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/gofhjkjmkpinhpoi...
      - 1880 16y ago
        I am not 100% sure if that extension is totally blocking the Flash files. Last time I checked it, it was only applying a "display: none" with CSS, and some files slipped past it, making it ineffective against 0-day exploits.
      - asb 16y ago
        I'm not sure I understand your meaning. Using just click to play in about:flags, on a page with blocked plugins you can click the icon which appears next to the bookmark star and select "Run all plug-ins this time". Is that not sufficient?
        CrazedGeek 16y ago
        Ugh, I honestly hadn't noticed that. Maybe it wasn't enabled yet on the dev build or something. Still, per-site whitelisting is nice.
        16y ago
machrider 16y ago
Yeah, I've been noticing something similar. Since upgrading my Android phone to 2.2, with Flash support, browsing the web got slower and clunkier. So many pages have flash advertisements on them, and the phone just doesn't have the horsepower to render them and stay responsive. I wonder if I can turn it off...
- daleharvey 16y ago
  go to settings, enable plugins, on demand I did it fairly early getting my android, it makes a big difference
  - machrider 16y ago
    Thanks, this is a great tip.
- there 16y ago
  in the browser, go to settings, then click 'enable plug-ins' and choose 'on demand'. it will work like clicktoflash and show you a container with an icon wherever flash applets are on a page, which you can just tap on to start playing if you want to.
BoppreH 16y ago
That's fine if you don't play flash games.
flexd 16y ago
I just use noscript. No flash will load unless i tell it to, no javascript will load unless i allow it. It's like we first intended, i am the god of my browser. NONE SHALL PASS!
mkramlich 16y ago
Agreed. What you lose is about 99% ads or games or overly complicated restaurant websites UI's. For cases where its like a Flash video player, i just click on the NoFlash/ClickToFlash placeholder rectangle, that then allows the actual Flash asset to load, and I partake of it. I've generally seen less freezes, crashes and memory use since switching to this approach.

I actually had the reverse chronology. I discovered how using ClickToFlash gave me significantly better battery life on my MBP, along with faster page loads and zero mysterious pinwheels. ClickToFlash has a better price-performance ratio than upgrading to an SSD – and I love my SSD. So when I got an iPad, I was especially mystified at why anyone should complain about this garbage being missing. edit: Useful links. Go grab ClickToFlash (Safari, OS X): http://clicktoflash.com/ http://clicktoflash.com/ Or the Safari extension for Mac or Windows: http://hoyois.github.com/safariextensions/clicktoflash/ http://hoyois.github.com/safariextensions/clicktoflash/ Or the Firefox equivalent: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/flashblock/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/flashblock/

zdw 16y ago
rentzsch's clicktoflash is actually considerably out of date at this point. The new, Safari-extensionized version that is mentioned second is much better and updated frequently. (this link: http://hoyois.github.com/safariextensions/clicktoflash/ http://hoyois.github.com/safariextensions/clicktoflash/) (mathematical stickler: seeing as ClickToFlash is free, it's price/performance ratio is always zero)
- danilocampos 16y ago
  Haw, quite so. Still, even if the SSD were given to you for free, and we measured cost in installation time, the cost in time to install each one versus the resulting gains would be tremendously in favor of ClickToFlash, so awful is Flash.
feverishaaron 16y ago
Don't forget FlashControl for Chrome: https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mfidmkgnfgnkihnjeklbekckimkipmoe https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mfidmkgnfgnkihnj...
- 1880 16y ago
  I prefer enabling Click-to-play in about:flags.
  - CrazedGeek 16y ago
    Click-to-play doesn't let you disable it temporarily, which is a problem for some sites that rely on background Flash files. On Chrome, I prefer https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/gofhjkjmkpinhpoiabjplobcaignabnl?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/gofhjkjmkpinhpoi...
    - 1880 16y ago
      I am not 100% sure if that extension is totally blocking the Flash files. Last time I checked it, it was only applying a "display: none" with CSS, and some files slipped past it, making it ineffective against 0-day exploits.
    - asb 16y ago
      I'm not sure I understand your meaning. Using just click to play in about:flags, on a page with blocked plugins you can click the icon which appears next to the bookmark star and select "Run all plug-ins this time". Is that not sufficient?
      - CrazedGeek 16y ago
        Ugh, I honestly hadn't noticed that. Maybe it wasn't enabled yet on the dev build or something. Still, per-site whitelisting is nice.
        16y ago

machrider 16y ago

Yeah, I've been noticing something similar. Since upgrading my Android phone to 2.2, with Flash support, browsing the web got slower and clunkier. So many pages have flash advertisements on them, and the phone just doesn't have the horsepower to render them and stay responsive. I wonder if I can turn it off...

daleharvey 16y ago
go to settings, enable plugins, on demand I did it fairly early getting my android, it makes a big difference
- machrider 16y ago
  Thanks, this is a great tip.
there 16y ago
in the browser, go to settings, then click 'enable plug-ins' and choose 'on demand'. it will work like clicktoflash and show you a container with an icon wherever flash applets are on a page, which you can just tap on to start playing if you want to.

BoppreH 16y ago

That's fine if you don't play flash games.

flexd 16y ago

I just use noscript. No flash will load unless i tell it to, no javascript will load unless i allow it. It's like we first intended, i am the god of my browser. NONE SHALL PASS!

mkramlich 16y ago

Agreed. What you lose is about 99% ads or games or overly complicated restaurant websites UI's. For cases where its like a Flash video player, i just click on the NoFlash/ClickToFlash placeholder rectangle, that then allows the actual Flash asset to load, and I partake of it. I've generally seen less freezes, crashes and memory use since switching to this approach.