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'''Flash''' (previously FutureSplash Animator, before that SmartSketch) is a software platform created by FutureWave Software, and currently owned by Adobe (previously Macromedia). Originally a drawing program for PenPoint OS, later ported to Windows and Macintosh when pen computing failed to take off, frame-by-frame animation features were added to it in a new program called FutureSplash Animator. The company was acquired by Macromedia in December 1996, rebranding FutureSplash Animator to Flash, an amalgamation of "Future" and "Splash". In turn, Macromedia was acquired by Adobe on December 3, 2005. Their operations, networks, and customer care organizations were merged shortly after.
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
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|Adobe Flash Player
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|Web}}<ref group=N name=plugin />
|[https://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/debug_downloads.html 32.0.0.465]
|{{✗}} ||{{~}}<ref group=N>Adobe versions discontinued. Harman versions currently maintained for enterprise customers only.</ref> ||{{✓}}
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|[https://github.com/vidkidz/waflash WAFlash]
|align=left|{{Icon|Web}}
|[https://clubpenguinadvanced.github.io/waflash-demo/ Web]
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✓}}
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|[https://ruffle.rs/ Ruffle]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|Web}}
|[https://githubruffle.com/ruffle-rs/ruffle/releases #downloads Nightly builds]|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}<small> (WIP)</small>|-|[https://awayfl.org/ AwayFL]|align=left|{{Icon|Web}}|[https://github.com/awayfl/awayfl-player git]|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}||{{~}}<small> (WIP)</small>
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|[https://lightspark.github.io/ Lightspark]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|Web}}<ref group=N name=plugin>Web version is only available as an NPAPI/PPAPI plugin, and is therefore not OS-agnostic.</ref>|[https://github.com/lightspark/lightspark/releases 0.8.35]|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}<small> (WIP)</small>
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|[https://swf2js.com/en/ swf2js]
|align=left|{{Icon|Web}}
|[https://github.com/swf2js/swf2js JavaScript file downloadDownload (Free Version only)]<br />Demo sites:<br />[https://swf2js.com/free/index.html Free Version]<br />[https://swf2js.com/prod/index.html Production Version]|{{✓~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{~}}
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|Adobe [https://leaningtech.com/cheerpx-for-flash/ CheerpX for Flash Player]|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|Web}}|[https://wwwdocs.adobeleaningtech.com/supportcheerpx-for-flash/Changelog Version 33]|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}|-|[https:/flashplayer/debug_downloadsopen-flash.html 32github.0io/ Open Flash / Doμ Player]|align=left|{{Icon|Web}}|[https://github.0com/open-flash/domu-player git]|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}|-|Shumway|align=left|{{Icon|Web}}|[https://github.465com/mozilla/shumway git]|{{✗✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
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|[https://gnu.org/software/gnash GNU Gnash]
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
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|[httpshttp://open-flashtulrich.githubcom/textweb.iopl?path=geekstuff/ Open Flash / Doμ Playergameswf.txt GameSWF]|align=left|{{Icon|WebWindows|Linux}}|[https://githubsourceforge.comnet/open-flashprojects/domu-player Git]|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}|tu-|[https:testbed/files/mozilla.github.iodemos/shumwaygameswf-2009-08-08/ Shumway]|align=left|{{Icon|Web}}|[https://github.com/mozilla/shumway Git2009-08-08]
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|}
<references group=N />
===Comparisons===
;''Common aspects''
:''Pretty much all of the HTML5 players listed here are specifically designed to be used as [[wikipedia:Polyfill (programming)|polyfills]] by webmasters who want to keep their Flash-based sites going despite the forced obsolescence of Adobe's in-browser Flash plugin; these players are therefore really not intended for personal use, although it's usually not impossible.''
;Adobe Flash Player
:The proprietary reference implementation, which Adobe stopped directly supporting in 2020. The web version relies on [[wikipedia:NPAPI|NPAPI/PPAPI]], an obsolete browser plugin system that for many years only stuck around specifically because of Flash Player; as Adobe was phasing out the plugin, so too was the plugin system gradually being dropped by all the major browser vendors. The discontinued desktop player version is still available for download from the debug downloads section of Adobe's website, and Harman International is also [https://airsdk.harman.com/flashplayer maintaining an extended support version specifically for enterprise users].
:;CheerpX for Flash
::A payware HTML5 software package which basically just takes the Harman version of Flash Player and uses CheerpX, an x86 emulator in WebAssembly, to make it run in modern browsers. No-one on this wiki has had the chance to properly evaluate it, but we'd expect reference-level accuracy at the cost of woeful performance.
;WAFlash
:A closed-source C++-to-HTML5 implementation that technically hasn't been made available to outside users, although there are a few sites where you can use it. It seems to be the most accurate of the unofficial Flash players, as of December 2021.
;Ruffle
:A Rust implementation that compiles to, among other systems, WebAssembly. This allows Ruffle to be directly hosted sponsored by websites without the need for anything to be installed client-sidemultiple veteran Flash game sites, such as is the case with other Newgrounds and CoolMathGames. It mainly targets HTML5-based Flash implementations, although Ruffle in particular but is also available as a browser extensiondesktop player. The devs state it has ActionScript 1 and 2 support, with AS3 support coming later, estimated to be several months. Being sponsored by Newgrounds, it has It's progressed to the point where it can play run many early Flash games, including the original Flash version of [https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/59593/format/flash?emulate=flash Alien Hominid], many early Flash games, and as well as playing the vast majority of [https://old.homestarrunner.com Homestar Runner] toonscartoons. Notably, unlike the other HTML5 options, Ruffle can be installed as a browser addon, although sometimes a website will still load its own hosted copy even if the addon version is more recent. ;AwayFL:An HTML5 implementation developed by the Away Foundation, under sponsorship from Poki.com. Sometimes works better than Ruffle, depending on the specific Flash file you're trying to run.
;Lightspark
:A C++ implementationthat's designed specifically to provide drop-in FLOSS replacements for both the desktop and NPAPI versions of Flash Player. Says it has 7879% of the APIs coveredas of January 2022.
;swf2js
:An open-core HTML5 implementation that uses a dynamic recompiler. The opensource-source available "Free Version" version supports limited features, such as AS1, AS2 and ZLIB compression, whereas the payware "Production Version" supports further version is better suited to newer Flash files using such features, such as AS3 and LZMA compression. ;Adobe Flash Player:The official closed-source implementation by Adobe. It was discontinued in 2020Uses more "traditional" JavaScript rather than WebAssembly, so performance is less than ideal.
;GNU Gnash:Another A desktop-only C++ implementationthat went inactive in 2017, with the most recent stable release dating back to 2012. It focuses on older versions of Flash that Lightspark was historically less focused on supporting properly, hence why Lightspark could (and still can) use Gnash as an automatic fallback if both are installed simultaneously. However, newer versions of Lightspark have all but completely superseded Gnash and there's not much reason to use it at all anymore.:;GameSWF::The original basis for Gnash. An ''extremely'' old C++ implementation, definitely one of the first serious efforts to reverse-engineer Flash Player into an open-source package. It hasn't been updated at all since 2009.
;Shumway
:An A relatively very early HTML5 implementation. It was sponsored by Developed rather actively under Mozilla sponsorship between 2012 and 2016, but later ultimately abandonedbefore it could reach a usable beta state.
==See also==
* [[Flashpoint]] - preservation effort for games designed in commercial web frameworks (not just Flash).
== Resources ==
* [https://nosamu.medium.com/flash-player-emulators-how-to-play-swfs-in-2021-and-beyond-d56c3899b7e6 Article by nosamu (of Flashpoint): Flash Player Emulators: How to Play SWF Files in 2021 and Beyond]
[[Category:Not really emulators]]
