Our Lee Family 2020 Year In Review is now available, with prior editions available here. Depending on the device you are using, you might be prompted by Dropbox to sign in, download the mobile app, or continue to the website—you can simply select the option to continue or dismiss the dialog box.
As usual, our home movies are available on Victor’s YouTube channel.
My old iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 12.5 has a camera sensor that takes pictures in a 4x3 aspect ratio (3,264 x 2,448 pixels, which is approximately 8 megapixels). My new iPhone 12 Pro Max running iOS 14.3 provides an option to take pictures in either a 4x3 or 16x9 aspect ratio, as shown in the following settings:
I recently installed Security Update 2020-001 Catalina on my MacBook Pro, and I noticed that it re-enabled the startup chime that had been a familiar startup sound of Macintosh computers for a long time. According to the Mac Startup Tones Apple Support page, “Mac models from early 2016 and earlier make a chime sound when they start up. Mac models from late 2016 and newer don't have a startup chime, with the exception of MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017).” Unexpectedly, the installation of the latest Catalina security update made my Mac sing a tune on startup for the first time ever.
Some people like the startup chime, as it indicates that the machine does not have a major issue with RAM or EFI ROM (extensible firmware interface ROM, a.k.a. “boot ROM”). Others prefer their machines to be silent and have even written or downloaded apps like Silent Start to silence the startup chime.
There are other ways to enable and disable the startup chime on your Mac. Onyx is a free app with a setting that allows you to toggle the chime on or off. If you don’t want to install an app and are comfortable with the macOS Terminal, simply enter the following commands as reported in this article:
Turn chime on: sudo nvram StartupMute=%00
Turn chime off: sudo nvram StartupMute=%01
\I actually like the nostalgia of the startup chime, so for the time being I’m going to leave it on.
I read about information laundering in the context of this article about vaccine misinformation which is obviously a salient topic nowadays given that the first COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use in the United States, with more approvals on the way. When information laundering leads to misinformation in situations like this, it can adversely impact public health.
I am not an expert on the subject of media manipulation, but I believe that we should all critically appraise the information that we receive from any source. There are many fact checking websites summarized here and here. We’re all at risk of being exposed to laundered information through an endless number of media sources, so recognizing that possibility is the first step to ensuring that we’re getting our facts straight.
I received the following email message today from my bank:
It says, “Looks like the mobile phone number we have on file for you may be incorrect. This could be the result of changing your phone number and/or mobile carrier.” As I’ve recently discussed, I changed my mobile phone carrier (and kept the same phone number). I wonder how my bank knew that I changed my phone number and/or mobile carrier? My new mobile carrier would not have notified my bank, as they have no knowledge of my banking information—I only provided a credit card as a form of payment. If you know of the technology that was used to detect the change in my mobile carrier, please leave a comment. Inquiring minds want to know!
🤔
I was pleasantly surprised to receive the following email from Visible Wireless today, announcing the arrival of its 5G mobile network:
Visible Wireless runs on the Verizon Wireless network. Eager to see if the 5G network offered any noticeable advantages, I upgraded my iPhone 12 Pro Max to iOS 14.3 and updated my carrier settings as instructed. When turning off Wi-Fi, I could see “5G” in the upper right corner of my iPhone home screen where it would have otherwise displayed “LTE” (4G), so I was all set.
I felt that the best way to compare 4G and 5G speeds was to perform a head to head comparison of the two networks. Since my wife had not yet updated the operating system and carrier settings on her iPhone 12 Pro, she was still using the Visible 4G LTE network. Although we have slightly different phone models, I didn’t think it would account for any significant differences in speed, so effectively the only major difference was the 4G vs. 5G network.
I installed Speedtest for iOS on both phones, disabled Wi-Fi, and ensured that both phones were connected to their respective 4G and 5G networks. I then ran the speed tests 5 times on each phone, with each pass performed simultaneously on both phones. Here are the results of each speed test on the iPhone 12 Pro using 4G LTE:
Here are the results of each speed test on the iPhone 12 Pro Max using 5G:
Here is a summary of all results:
Surprisingly, download speeds were slightly higher on the 4G network (55.3 Mbps) than the 5G network (50.7 Mbps). However, upload speeds were more than twice as fast on 5G (9.59 Mbps) as compared with 4G (4.20 Mbps). Ping times showed slightly less latency on 5G (54 ms) than 4G (64 ms). Definitions of ping, jitter, and packet loss are provided on the Speedtest glossary.
In summary, 5G is supposed to offer faster speeds and lower latency than its 4G predecessor. While I found slightly lower latency and faster upload speeds with 5G, I was surprised to see slower download speeds with 5G than 4G. I’m not impressed so far, but I also recognize that 5G mobile networks are newcomers, and maybe they still need to be expanded and optimized. Another possibility could be that network deprioritization could have effectively throttled both 4G and 5G connections to approximately the same speed, thereby limiting the potential of 5G on Visible Wireless. Admittedly this was a small sampling, and results could have been influenced by various factors related to the status of the 4G and 5G cellular networks at the time of testing. A more thorough investigation could involve me repeating the above procedure at different times of day. Hopefully 5G will give me better performance in the future, as I cannot undo the update to my carrier settings.
Update 12/22/2020: This article reached similar conclusions as I did about 5G being slower than 4G LTE. It offers explanations as to why this is currently the case and provides instructions for how to turn off 5G and use 4G LTE in the meantime.
I previously wrote about Apple’s support for older iPads. This post is about support for older iPhones. Until recently, I had been using an iPhone 6 Plus which runs iOS up to version 12. It’s already been more than a year since Apple released iOS 13 (September 19, 2019) and iOS 14 (September 16, 2020). Today I was pleasantly surprised to receive notification that Apple released iOS 12.5.
According to the Apple support page, iOS 12.5 provides security updates for iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and iPod touch (6th generation). However, as shown in the above screenshot, the headline news for iOS 12.5 is that Exposure Notification capabilities are now available for these older iPhone models, whereas previously Exposure Notification was only natively available in iOS 13.5 and above. Apparently this feature is so new that Apple has yet to update its Exposure Notification documentation:
Previously, devices running iOS 12 could only perform exposure notification by installing apps such as SafePass, whereas users of iOS 13.5 and above could simply activate exposure notification directly within iOS, also referred to as Exposure Notifications Express, which is documented here.
Having exposure notification built into iOS circumvents the foreground/background issue that I wrote about here, so I’m excited to see Exposure Notification come to iOS 12.5 and hope that people turn it on. To read more about Apple (and Google’s) approach to preserving privacy with its exposure notification features, visit this website, and also refer to my previous posts about exposure notification and contact tracing.
Having lived in California for most of my life, I’ve felt many earthquakes. Some have been larger than others, but they are all scary to me. Of all the natural disasters in the world, earthquakes are unique in that people have the least amount of time to take action when they occur. Even with the latest technology, early warning systems may give only a few seconds of advance notice before shaking is felt. I am aware of 2 apps that have this goal in mind.
The ShakeAlertLA app is provided by the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, the Information Technology Agency and the Department of Emergency Management. It has been made possible by support from the Annenberg Foundation and the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles. ShakeAlertLA is an official pilot in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey. I previously wrote about it here, and more information is available at the ShakeAlert website.
The MyShake app is discussed on the Earthquake Warning California website. Earthquake Warning California is the country’s first publicly available, statewide warning system that could give California residents crucial seconds to take cover before shaking is felt. MyShake delivers ShakeAlert across California.
How does early warning work? When an earthquake happens, a rupturing fault sends out different types of waves. The first wave felt is the fast-moving P-wave. The slower-moving S-waves arrive later causing the most damage. Sensors detect the P-wave and immediately transmit data to an earthquake alert center where the location and size of the quake are determined and updated as more data become available. A message from the alert center is immediately transmitted to your computer or mobile phone with data on the expected intensity and arrival time of shaking at your location. Specifically, when your phone is stationary, MyShake is ready to collect data from its motion sensors. It then decides which motion is produced by earthquakes and which isn’t. So basically, when you install one of these apps, your phone becomes part of a seismic network for earthquake early warning, as described in this publication.
Both ShakeAlertLA and MyShake provided information about how to prepare for earthquakes and what to do during and after an earthquake. Both apps also provide maps of earthquakes, but the MyShake app shows and allows users to explore far more earthquakes, probably because it earthquakes of lower intensity. MyShake also has interactive features that allow the public (referred to as “citizen scientists”) to report their experiences. MyShake also lets users configure notifications about earthquake events—simply enter a location, radius, and intensity. Finally, MyShake has sensor that is fun to play with. It records movement along the X, Y, and Z axes and can display the information in a graph in the app (below) as well as allow users to record and export the raw data.
In summary, I find MyShake to have more robust features than ShakeAlertLA. Regardless of your choice, download one of them today. Even if it doesn’t save your life, you’ll be contributing to the advancement of earthquake early warning science.
I recently upgraded my iPhone 6 Plus to an iPhone 12 Pro Max. Although I’ve generally been happy with Verizon Wireless for many years, yesterday I activated my new phone on Visible Wireless because of their competitive rates, unlimited data, and rebate for new phone purchases. It makes sense that if you keep your phone number when you activate your phone on your new carrier, your new carrier will notify your old carrier, and it should automatically cancel your old account. Based on many sources I’ve read, it is still a good idea to contact your old phone carrier. This is what Verizon recommends as well.
Ironically, I found it very difficult to contact Verizon. First I tried to login to my Verizon account. However, I was unable to login because my account had presumably been disconnected. That was a good sign that my account was terminated, but I also wanted to verify that I had a $0 balance. So I tried the online chat feature. While it lets you ask any question, it then proceeds to ask you to login before it connects you to a chat agent. My last resort was to call Verizon to speak to a live customer service representative. On my first 2 attempts, I was on hold for 20 and 45 minutes respectively, and in both instances I had other obligations to attend to so had to hang up. On my third attempt, a representative answered my call after about 30 minutes. He was able to verify that my phone service was successfully disconnected yesterday and that there were no outstanding charges on my account.
I asked the Verizon agent if he could generate an email stating that my phone service was disconnected and that I had a $0 balance. I was told that there was no email template for this kind of communication, so he was unable to do it, but he verbally reassured me that everything was OK. I had no reason not to believe him, but I think it would have been nice if Verizon automatically generated an email to acknowledge my account transition and to confirm my account balance. It felt to me that the second I was no longer a customer, I was not worthy of their attention. I think it is not unreasonable for me to expect better, and I believe Verizon could do better. However, I do understand that this is probably par for the course.
UPDATE: After switching from Verizon Wireless to Visible Wireless on December 1, today (December 5) I received the following email entitled, “Your wireless bill is available on My Verizon”:
When I read the subject line, I thought Verizon was billing me for some kind of termination fee. However, upon reading the body of the email, it does acknowledge that all my lines are disconnected and that I have a small credit balance. Perhaps “wireless statement” would be a better phrase than “wireless bill” but at least Verizon eventually followed through with written confirmation.
Although Thanksgiving is behind us, we are still in the midst of the holiday season. It is a festive time of year that is normally accompanied by personal and work-related social gatherings. Many people are cutting down on social events either voluntarily or due to city-wide stay at home orders like the one that was issued in Los Angeles on November 27.
However, gatherings of individuals from different households are still being organized and attended across the country. If you are thinking about organizing an event or considering attendance at an event where there will be 10 or more participants, did you know that you can estimate the chance that at least 1 COVID-19 positive individual will be present? The COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool uses county-level COVID-19 data, in combination with the number of attendees. To get your estimate, simply move the “Event Size” slider to approximate the number of attendees and navigate on the map to the county where the event is to take place.
While the tool is intended to be simple to use, it has limitations like any other predictive model. Since we don’t test every American on a regular basis, the actual number of COVID-19 cases is greater than the number of documented cases. It has been estimated that for each confirmed case of COVID-19, there are 10 times as many unreported cases. Another study estimates that there are anywhere from 6 to 24 times the number of unreported cases for each reported case. Hence, the COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool includes a variable called “Ascertainment Bias” which denotes the number of actual cases for each documented case. The tool defaults to an ascertainment bias of 5 (i.e., for each documented case, there are 5 times as many actual cases) but allows you to change it to 10.
The tool has many other features including global risk estimates, real-time US and state-level estimates, and others. Read more about the risk assessment tool in this article, or click on the “About” tab in the tool to see data sources and links to articles about the tool. Stay safe everyone!
Several weeks ago, I wrote about the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) COVID-19 Testing Program which was also mentioned in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine. I have two experiences to share about the testing program from a parent perspective. The first is the usability of the appointment scheduler, and the second is testing process itself.
LAUSD COVID-19 Test Appointment Scheduler
I had received multiple email messages to proceed with scheduling an appoint for SARS-CoV-2 testing, and like any responsible parent, I complied. In a dedicated LAUSD COVID-19 test appointment scheduling website, parents are guided through a multi-step wizard interface to enter extensive information about their children, along with symptoms, exposures, testing history, and other questions. The same questions were repeated for parents who were also advised to get tested under the program. Only after completing all the questions and consenting to the test process are users allowed to choose a testing location and an appointment slot. The user interface for the appointment scheduler was quite simple—there were 2 dropdown menus, one for the Test Date and another for Test Time.
But that’s where the simplicity ended. After selecting a date from the first dropdown menu, the system would pause for 5-10 seconds while it loaded the time slots. Upon selecting a time slot and pressing the “Next” button, the system would pause for another 5-10 seconds, only to say that the time slot was not available. Naturally, one would try to pick another time slot and re-submit. Although another time slot could be selected, the “Next” button would remain grayed out, and the only way to pick another slot was to pick a different date in the first dropdown menu, wait for the system to load the time slots, re-select the original date, wait again, and then try another time slot.
The first time I attempted to schedule an appointment, I spent 20-30 minutes trying to pick different dates and times, only to be told that each slot I picked was unavailable, and eventually I gave up. As the days and weeks went by, I tried another 3-4 times, with each new session requiring that I start from the beginning of the wizard, re-entering all of my child’s information from scratch, and eventually giving up after being unable to find an open slot. I reported this issue to LAUSD and recommended that when displaying dates and times, the system should only show AVAILABLE dates and times. I also tried to work around the system by contacting the person in charge of the testing site at my daughter’s school, but I was told that in order to be properly registered, I must go through the website. When I tried again a few weeks later, they had finally fixed the site, and the dropdown menu options were constrained to only display open time slots. With the fix in place, I was finally able to successfully schedule an appointment on my “first try” (for that day anyway).
COVID-19 Testing Process
In my previous post, I briefly mentioned the contract that LAUSD awarded to SummerBio for SARS-CoV-2 testing (note that SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease, and you may see “SARS-CoV-2 testing” and “COVID-19 testing” used interchangeably). On the day of our appointment, we arrived at the testing site and noticed prominent signage about the LAUSD COVID-19 testing program:
After signing in, we were provided instructions for how to collect nasal (formally referred to as “anterior nares”) samples. Those instructions are summarized here:
Nasopharyngeal specimens were preferred at the beginning of the pandemic, but other specimen sources have since become acceptable alternatives, as outlined by the CDC with recommendations from earlier today displayed here, as guidance is subject to change:
One big advantage of the SummerBio nasal collection kits is that they can be self-collected (i.e., by the patient) and are less invasive than other collection methods. On the other hand, nasopharyngeal collection must be performed by trained personnel and often results in the patient coughing directly onto the person collecting the sample. In any case, the friendly staff were wearing personal protective equipment.
We were asked to lower our masks to expose our noses but to keep our mouths covered. The staff opened the test kit, we inserted the swab into our nostrils, rotated for 15 seconds, and repeated the process on the other side. The whole testing process took only about a minute. While we were told to expect test results within 48 hours, my daughter and I received our (negative) results later that same day.
Conclusions
Despite the arduous process of scheduling the appointment for the test, the actual testing process was seamless. I feel that LAUSD has taken heroic measures to understand COVID-19 from many angles (transmission, testing, contact tracing), educate students and families, and to execute on a complicated plan to safely return students to in-person instruction. However, the pandemic rages on, and the saga continues. I will likely write more about next steps for LAUSD students and families in the near future.
Google recently announced that in early 2021 it will be sunsetting Google Hangouts, a service that enables users to place video and phone calls and send text messages. But unlike its decision to rescind its free unlimited storage space for photos, all of the features of Google Hangouts are and will continue to be available elsewhere.
Additionally, text messaging is currently available through Google Chat which is available through a paid G Suite account.
G Suite has recently been rebranded as Google Workspace and includes Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Chat, Meet and other features that are geared toward business customers. Starting next year, Chat will become a free service and will be integrated into Gmail and also available as a standalone app.
Confused? You’re not alone. To summarize options for that come with a free Google account, you can use Google Meet for video calls and Google Voice for phone calls right now. For text messages, you can use Google Hangouts until sometime in early 2021 and then transition to Google Chat when available or the chat function in Gmail when available. So there you have it—with all those options, now you have no excuse for not communicating with friends and family!
Video conferencing via FaceTime, Zoom, and numerous other applications is wonderful when you want to have a real-time conversation with co-workers, family, or friends. The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust many people into the technological world of video conferencing apps. In the process, we have pushed the limits of what video conferencing can do. One such limitation is related to live group performances, and it is the focus of this post.
Live group performances require that performers synchronize their performances—whether it be playing instruments, singing a song, or executing dance moves. When done in person, performers can see and hear each other in real time. However, when done via video conference, there is a slight delay between the time that an event occurs and the time that other participants see and hear the event. The lag time may only be a fraction of a second, but it is enough to throw a piano duet or a group of kids singing “Happy Birthday” into dyssynchrony. So while video conferencing works well for conversations because the lag time is barely perceptible, things that require precise timing like music and dance don’t work as well because video conferencing is not exactly achieved in real time but rather in near-real time.
What is the concept of “real time” anyway? I would argue that if you consider the physical laws of the universe, it is difficult to synchronize any 2 events to occur at the exact same time because even when done in person, the speeds of sound and light have finite limits, so there is a slight delay between the event occurring and an observer in the same room perceiving the event to occur. However, from a practical perspective, the delays experienced in person are imperceptible and do not alter one’s sense of whether things are happening in real time, whereas internet-related delays may be perceived depending on the context. So I’d argue that the definition of “real time” is relative to the ability of an observer to detect a difference that has practical impact.
But I digress. Since we’ve established that music and dance performances are challenging to coordinate among multiple performers via video conferencing apps, I do have a couple of recommendations to share. For starters, let’s just acknowledge that video conferencing happens in near-real time. If all participants have the expectation that timing may be a little bit off, then we can accept the imperfect results for what they are. This may be perfectly fine for many informal gatherings, even if people plan to record and share their video conferences.
However, for situations where you need to sync performances for a higher quality video recording, there are some steps that you can take if you can do some preparation beforehand and have the means to do some video editing afterward. First you need to make sure that everyone is able to individually record their own performance and can perform at the exact same tempo. For groups singing a song and/or playing instruments, this might mean that everyone listens to the same song or the beat of a metronome via a headset and does their performance so that the video recording only picks up the performer’s audio. After everyone records and shares their individual performances, the clips can be imported into most movie editors, synchronized, and exported in a way that it looks like things were happening in real time.
While the video editing step is out of scope for this blog post, I’ll just say that video post-production work is correlated with the number of performances need to be synchronized into a single video. In all cases, I highly recommend writing out clear instructions that non-technical people can follow, and if getting things right is important, I also recommend rehearsals ahead of time to allow performers to get used to the technology that they will be using.
So in summary, while it is possible to sync performances in video post-production, consider all the prep work and video editing that must be done and whether you have the resources to do all the work. If you have school-aged children, you may have encountered these scenarios already. What additional tips might you have for people who want to record videos of group performances via video conference?
If you have ever anxiously awaited the delivery of letter-sized mail through the United States Postal Service (USPS) and wondered if it will arrive soon, you may be interested in signing up for a USPS service called Informed Delivery. According to USPS, “Informed Delivery is a free and optional notification feature that gives residential consumers the ability to digitally preview their letter-sized mail and manage their packages scheduled to arrive soon… Users receive emails to the email address in their personal USPS.com® account containing grayscale images of the exterior, address side of up to 10 pieces of incoming letter-sized mail that is arriving soon.”
To register for this service, visit informeddelivery.usps.com and click the “Sign Up for Free” button. From there, you’ll need to verify the eligibility of your address, create a USPS account (if you don’t already have one), and verify your identity. Users will be able to receive email and/or text notifications and will also be able to access images on the Informed Delivery dashboard at informeddelivery.USPS.com.
Informed Delivery was introduced about 3 years ago, and ironically my volume of US mail at that time had been and continues to be at an all-time low. Most of my communications with banks, credit cards, investment companies, schools, and other important accounts are done via email and their respective online portals. Rarely do I ever expect to receive important communication via US mail nowadays. That being said, I could see it potentially coming in handy from time to time.
WAH! I’m crying like a baby as I write this. Google announced that starting June 1, 2021, Google Photos will no longer offer free unlimited storage space. Oh well, it was great while it lasted. Here’s a summary of forthcoming changes:
When Google Photos was launched more than 5 years ago, it provided 2 options for photo storage. The first option was to store the original photo, in which case photos were counted against the default 15 GB storage limit that accompanied each Google account (note that there have been ways to expand beyond the default 15 GB; my account has a 17 GB storage limit). The second option was to store “high quality” images using Google’s image compression algorithms, in which case users were given free unlimited storage space. In my opinion, the high quality option would meet the needs of a vast majority of people since the image compression algorithms did a great job of preserving image quality. I can honestly say that I could not tell the difference between the original and “high quality” compressed images without significantly zooming in to each image. Google later also introduced a third “express backup” option which further limited the size of photos. Read about Google Photos backup options here.
But alas, the free unlimited approach is not sustainable in the long run, so it makes sense that Google would eventually count all photos toward its 15 GB quota. Starting June 1, 2021, users will either need to delete photos to make room for newer ones, or subscribe to a Google One storage plan.
For a customized overview of the Google Photos storage policy, including your personal storage limit and an estimate of how long it will be after you run out of storage, visit https://photos.google.com/storagepolicy.
I recently ordered a meal to be delivered to my home, and I expected to contend with the usual problems of not knowing where the delivery person is and when my food will arrive. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I received a text message from the restaurant that said I could track my order through VROMO.
As you can see from the screenshot, it is a typical map interface where you can see where the driver is located (indicated by the yellow “VR” symbol) in real time. While not pictured, you can also see your location pinned on the map. You can also click on the phone icon at the lower right of the screen to call or text your driver if needed.
One limitation is that you cannot see the driver’s intended destination. While my delivery guy was only 4 blocks away from me, he turned at an intersection and drove away from my home, so I figured that he had other deliveries on the route. I thought he was about 1 minute away, but in reality it was another 25 minutes before he arrived. It might be nice to allow the driver to enter all destinations and then show the customers how many stops the driver intends to make before delivering your food. This would also enable the app to provide somewhat accurate estimates of arrival times.
In any case, VROMO is a step in the right direction and a welcome addition to a suite of technologies that make it easier to have food delivered to your home.
Today is November 3, 2020 which means that it is Election Day. While you can read and watch in depth coverage of election results across the U.S. from various television and radio stations and websites which feature detailed analyses and forecasts, there is also a simpler way to to see the latest U.S. presidential election results. Simply go to www.google.com and search for “election” and you’ll be presented with a summary like this:
In addition to the overall race to 270 electoral votes, there are current projections by swing state. Whatever the result, I hope you exercised your right to vote.
Text to speech voice readers have been around for decades. In addition to several commercial offerings, there are free online options such as the ones from NaturalReader, TTSReader, and many others.
My daughter’s school has been doing a fantastic job of keeping parents and families informed about everything going on, including the school’s reopening plan amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also been sensitive to the fact that there is a large Spanish-speaking population, so it provides certain communications in both English and Spanish. Here is an example of one such message:
Did you struggle as much as I did to understand it? After a few seconds, I realized that they had mistakenly applied English text to speech against Spanish text. Totally honest mistake, but it made me chuckle because it reminded me of how certain students would pronounce words in my introductory Spanish class in junior high school.
I truly do appreciate the tremendous effort that my daughter’s school has put into communicating and over-communicating to families this year. The level of effort from school staff and volunteers is one constant amidst the craziness and unpredictability of this calendar year.
Adobe will hammer the final nail in the coffin for Flash on December 31, 2020. As announced by Adobe in July 2017, open standards like HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly have matured and are viable alternatives for web content (translation: Adobe admitted that Flash technology is becoming obsolete).
I suspect that Adobe’s announcement was a bitter pill for them to swallow because there was a lot of bickering between Apple and Adobe about the role of Flash on the web, especially because Flash is not well suited to touch-based gestures on mobile devices, and Apple had experienced tremendous success with the iPhone (released in 2007) and had recently released the iPad (on April 3, 2010). This in part led to Apple’s release of its famous “Thoughts on Flash” open letter on April 29, 2010 which is no longer available on Apple’s website, but fortunately I saved it and posted it here. As the late Steve Jobs summarized:
“Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.”
As stated in its announcement, Adobe will not provide security updates for Flash Player after the end-of-life date, and they recommend that all users uninstall Flash Player before the end of 2020. Today I received the notification to uninstall Flash from my 2007 iMac running Mac OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan).
I have not yet received the notification on my 2012 iMac or 2016 MacBook Pro but expect to see the notifications on those machines in the near future. If you are not prompted to uninstall Flash, you can do so manually. Simply follow the instructions that Adobe provides for Mac and Windows. Thank you Adobe for giving us the opportunity to enjoy many years of interactive Flash-based web content and for serving as a springboard to bigger and better things.
