Announcement: Retiring Adobe Flash Flipbooks

We will be removing Adobe Flash-based Flipbooks from the platform on December 31, 2020. Learn why we're doing this, and how it affects you.

What's changing?

Adobe has announced that they will "end-of-life" Flash Player on December 31, 2020. As a result, our Flash-based Flipbooks viewer will stop working on January 1, 2021, and we will be removing the Flash-based Flipbooks viewer functionality from the platform in early January.

Only customers who are still using Flash Flipbooks are affected by this change. As of January 1, 2021, any Flipbooks that are still set up to use the Flash Flipbooks viewer will remain accessible, but visitors must choose to use the alternative HTML5-based Flipbooks viewer instead. To provide a better user experience, we strongly recommend configuring your Flipbooks to automatically open in the HTML5 viewer before this date. Please read on for further details.

Additionally, note that some features which were available with Adobe Flash-based Flipbooks are not available with (or not applicable to) HTML5-based Flipbooks.

Why are we making this change?

In July 2017, Adobe announced their plan to end-of-life Flash Player by December 31, 2020. After this date, Adobe will consider Flash Player a "dead" technology, and will no longer distribute, update, or support it. Adobe will also prompt all remaining users to uninstall Flash Player, and will block Flash Player from displaying content after the end-of-life date even if it remains installed. For these reasons, Uberflip can no longer support the Flash-based version of the Flipbooks viewer, and must retire it.

We understand that some of our customers are still using Flash-based Flipbooks, and will be disappointed by this news. However, better and more secure technologies (i.e. HTML5) have largely replaced Flash on the web, and most browser vendors have blocked Flash by default for several years now. In fact, We have already partly deprecated Flash Flipbooks: due to the increasing number of web users who do not have Flash (including mobile users), we have for some time now offered an alternative HTML5 version whenever a Flash Flipbook is displayed.

Although we have supported the Flash-based Flipbooks viewer for as long as possible, the writing is on the wall: with the end-of-life date set by Adobe, we had no choice but to retire Flash-based Flipbooks at the end of 2020.

Who is affected by this change?

This change only affects customers who are still using Flash-based Flipbooks, i.e. those who have Flipbook Folders set to the Flash on Desktop/HTML5 on Mobile setting. 

Customers who are only using non-Flash Flipbooks types (i.e. HTML5, HTML5 (SVG) and Native PDF) are not affected by this change.

Does this mean I can't use Flipbooks at all anymore?

The Flipbooks product is not going away: you will still be able to create and publish Flipbooks using any of the other available options, i.e. HTML5, HTML5 (SVG), and Native PDF. Only the Adobe Flash option is being retired.

What do I need to do to prepare?

After December 31, 2020, your visitors will still be able to view Flipbooks configured to use the Flash-based viewer, but the viewer itself will no longer work. Instead, visitors must manually select the backup HTML5 option to view any Flash-based Flipbook:

This experience may be confusing to your visitors. As a result, we strongly recommend that you switch your Flash Flipbooks Folders to the HTML5 setting as soon as possible. This will automatically launch your Flipbooks in the HTML5 viewer, providing a much smoother experience for your visitors.

To make the switch, simply change the Reader Version dropdown on any applicable Folder from Flash on Desktop/HTML5 on Mobile:

 To HTML5:

The change will take effect immediately, and Flipbooks within that Folder will now automatically open in the HTML5 viewer right away.

(You may also choose a different option, but we recommend using the HTML5 option as it is the closest equivalent to Flash Flipbooks.)

Because certain features of Flash Flipbooks are not available in HTML5, we also recommend that you review the Additional information section (below) prior to December 31, in order to understand how your and your visitors' experience may change.

What will happen if I don't do anything?

As noted above, Flipbooks set to use the Flash viewer will still be viewable with HTML5 after December 31, but the user experience will not be ideal.

In addition, we will be retiring the Flash Flipbooks technology from our platform by January 15. In practical terms, this means that the Flash on Desktop/HTML5 on Mobile option will be removed from the product, and it will no longer be possible to create new Folders with this setting, or to enable this setting on existing Folders. At the same time, any Flipbooks Folders that are still set to the Flash on Desktop/HTML5 on Mobile setting will be switched to the HTML5 setting automatically.

Additional information

The HTML5 Flipbooks viewer supports the vast majority of features that were present in the Flash Flipbooks viewer. However, certain specific features are not available. These are primarily features that Uberflip has retired because they were not widely used, or were no longer necessary/applicable with HTML5.

The main features from Flash Flipbooks that were not implemented in HTML5 Flipbooks are:

• The Custom Embed widget (sidebar displaying custom code)
• The Interface Language option (an option to change the language of the Flipbooks viewer UI)
• The My Account tab (an options tab displayed in the Flipbooks viewer UI as part of Subscribers functionality)
• Various Flash-specific Desktop Flipbooks toolbar functions and options
• Various Flash-specific PDF-to-Flipbook processing options

Below is a detailed breakdown of the Flash Flipbooks viewer features that are not available in the HTML5 Flipbooks viewer. Any workarounds or alternatives are noted where available.

Settings: Basics > Options

These settings are related to language options for Flipbooks. The overall feature has been retired, as the HTML5 viewer has few text labels, and does not have text tooltips.

Settings: Basics > Options > Desktop Flipbook Options

These settings are related to the behavior of the Flash Flipbooks viewer on desktop, in particular the toolbar shown at the top. Some portions of this feature have been retired, while for others, equivalent functionality is available in the HTML5 viewer or the browser.

Settings: Widgets > Custom Embed

These settings are related to the Custom Embed widget, a banner shown to the left of the Flash Flipbooks viewer that can contain custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The overall feature has been retired.

Settings: Advanced > Parser Defaults

These settings are related to the Flash Flipbooks parser, which analyzes PDF content and processes it into a Flash Flipbook. Because these particular settings are not applicable to the HTML5 Flipbooks parser, they have been removed.