Η Google released today Chrome 88, permanently removing support for the Adobe Flash Player and ending an entire internet era.
Adobe Flash officially reached the end of its life (EoL) on December 31, 2020, when Adobe stopped supporting the software. On January 12, Adobe also began blocking content playback in Flash.
Google isn't the only company to stop supporting Flash. The decision was made together with Adobe and other browser makers such as Apple, Mozilla and the Microsoft, since 2017. Apple and Mozilla have already stopped supporting Flash, and Microsoft plans to end support later this month.
At present, according to web technology research site W3Techs, only 2,2% of today's websites use Flash, down from 28,5% in early 2011.
But today's version of Chrome 88 comes with more features, removal, bug fixes, and security updates. One of the most important changes is the removal of support for accessing FTP links (ftp: //) through Chrome.
With Chrome 88, Google also completed a project it launched last year. With today's release, Chrome will now block some file downloads over the HTTP protocol.
One case where Chrome will stop downloads is when a user accesses a webpage that starts with HTTPS, but the file they're trying to download comes from a URL that starts with HTTP. Chrome considers this case "mixed" and "unsafe" and Chrome 88 will completely block the download for protection of users.
