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Facebook has stopped using Adobe Flash technology to show videos across the social network, instead moving its support to the now widely used HTML5 technology.
Adobe’s Flash has been gradually phased out by many websites as a means of playing videos – with many seeing it as a security issue as bugs within the software have been exploited by cyber criminals in the past.
Earlier this year, YouTube – the world’s biggest video website – also switched to HTML5. A version of the BBC iPlayer app that runs HTML5 also launched this year.
Daniel Baulig, a developer at Facebook who was involved in the switch, said the move makes it easier for Facebook to continue to evolve as the site grows larger and adds new features.
“Not only did launching the HTML5 video player make development easier, but it also improved the video experience for people on Facebook,” he said.
“Videos now start playing faster. People like, comment, and share more on videos after the switch, and users have been reporting fewer bugs. People appear to be spending more time with video because of it. Videos are an enriching way to connect with the world around you, and we’re happy we could make the Facebook video experience better.”
Facebook confirmed that its games would continue to run using Flash, and said it will continue to work with Adobe to offer a “reliable and secure” experience for those who play games on the site, which has more than 1.4 billion users globally.
