YouTube no longer uses Flash by default

If you’ve been trying to live without Flash, because of its never-ending security vulnerabilities, take heart. YouTube now shows videos using HTML5 instead of Flash by default. YouTube will still use Flash in browsers that don’t support HTML5, but all the major browsers do now support it.

Flash use is still pervasive on the web. But this change by YouTube – arguably the biggest user of Flash up to now – is going to reduce Flash usage enormously.

Note that while YouTube started experimenting with this change some time ago, it’s only recently shown up in Firefox, with version 37.

If YouTube was the only place you were using Flash, you should be able to completely disable Flash in your browser now.

About jrivett

Jeff Rivett has worked with and written about computers since the early 1980s. His first computer was an Apple II+, built by his father and heavily customized. Jeff's writing appeared in Computist Magazine in the 1980s, and he created and sold a game utility (Ultimaker 2, reviewed in the December 1983 Washington Apple Pi Journal) to international markets during the same period. Proceeds from writing, software sales, and contract programming gigs paid his way through university, earning him a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) degree at UWO. Jeff went on to work as a programmer, sysadmin, and manager in various industries. There's more on the About page, and on the Jeff Rivett Consulting site.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *