Google had made its intention clear that Chrome will help in the elimination of Adobe Flash. However, it remains to be seen whether the new Chrome 55 update actually blocks the Flash player as promised.
In August, Google announced that they will start to limit the display of Flash content in their Chrome browser along with other major players such as Firefox and Opera. Adobe Flash has been carrying a bad reputation for years because of its negative impact in the resources department and its plethora of vulnerabilities.
Google supposedly wants HTML5 to be the standard which is why they are limiting Flash on their Chrome browser, Chrome Unboxed reported. Chrome 55 aims to do that but there seems to be no blocks yet. It was expected that all flash content will be blocked and users will be asked if they want to allow the content to be displayed.
Adobe Flash has been repeatedly criticized for being too resource-heavy and its vulnerability allowed hackers to infect computers across the world. There are even hacking teams that sell Flash exploits to the highest bidder.
HTML5 is slowly becoming the standard as it is more versatile and secure compared to Adobe Flash. Google Chrome is also planning to block the Flash content depending on the Site Engagement score relative to the Internet user, PC World reported.
If a user frequently visits a site and uses its Flash content, it will not be blocked. Flash content will be blocked on sites that the user rarely visits. However, there seems to be no one universal solution offered.
Google is reportedly increasing the SE requirement for sites in 2017. The search engine giant has not yet officially announced their plans nor their comments regarding Chrome 55.
For now, users can change their Flash settings in the Chrome options. They can choose whether to allow of block all Flash content.
Find out more about the Chrome 55 update in the video below: