I recently got this email from a customer. “I tried using Language101.com via Safari on my iPad, but it did not have sound. Anything special that I need to do?”
Unfortunately, Steve Jobs has decided that Apple isn’t going to support Flash on the iPad or iPhone. Seventy-five percent of the video on the web uses Flash, so most web video won’t play on an iPhone or an iPad. There isn’t anything broken on our site.
iPhone and iPad Options
First you could call Steve Jobs and say something like, “Steve, I love you and I love my iPad, but I really need my iPad or iPhone to run Flash. Would you please make Flash available as an option for me?”
Wish him good wishes for his health while you are at it, because he hasn’t been as well as he would like to be.
Seriously, please do call him. Of course, you’ll get some administrative assistant, but he’ll get the message.
Apple
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
Phone: 408-996-1010
Alternatives to the iPhone
Another option is to buy an Android phone. Language101.com works just fine on the Android. Read my post called
Learn a Language on Your Android Phone
to make sure you get the right version.
Another option is to “jailbreak” your iPhone or iPad and install Firefox with Flash support. This will make Language101.com work just fine on your iPhone or iPad.
“Jailbreaking” an iPhone or iPad is a process in which you modify the software of the iPad so you can run other software that wasn’t purchased through the Apple store.
“Jailbreaking” your iPhone or iPad is not illegal, immoral, or fattening, but it may void your warranty and it may have to be redone every time you get a software update from Apple. Then again, when was the last time you used a warranty?
Options That Won’t Work
There are programs that will re-route web content from a regular browser to your iPhone or iPad. I wouldn’t bother to try them on our site because they will be too slow to work well.
I have an iPhone 3gS and it’s safe to say that I definitely would have gone with another phone (and service provider) unless jailbreaking existed. Having a jailbroken phone is like getting the iPhone all over again.
Any word on whether the new iPhone 4 has the same problem?
Yes, the iPhone 4 has the same problem. It still doesn’t support Flash.
Jailbreaking is pretty easy these days and would definitely be an option. I have my iPhone 4 running flash content with the jailbreak.
I can dig up some links if anyone is interested.
Hi Michael,
Thanks very much for the feedback. Would you please try our demo and let me know if it works on your iPhone.
Thanks.
Did it work on your iphone, Michael?
Hi Brent,
Yes, you can ignore the millions of iOS users or blame Steve, but you do have the ability to reach this audience without him if you decided to do it.
I imagine converting your videos from flash to an HTML 5 video format supported by iOS and other browsers could be costly, but it is within your power to act. You don’t have to be at the mercy of Steve’s whims.
Would you sell enough to cover the expense if you had millions more potential purchasers? That’s the real question.
Cheers,
Greg
Thanks for the suggestions Greg. We are actually working with some web developers to explore the options of making the website available to both Flash and HTML5 based browsers. This is no small feat and we need to proceed carefully if this is the course of action we choose to take. The way technology changes and grows we want to be on the lookout and prepared for a more widely compatible format to be coming out. Mac vs PC is getting outdated as more and more users demand cross-platform interoperability.
I have found that your program is very good. I see that you already have an offering of a language from Scandinavia in that of Danish but would love to see it expanded to include Norwegian. I would love to expand my proficiency in this beautiful language and know that there would be many others with the same interest in seeing a more advanced offering of Bokmal Norwegian in your language program.
Thank you for the great program.
Hi Ben,
We would absolutely love to add Norwegian soon. Thank you for your kind remarks. It’s encouragement like this that will make it happen sooner.
Brent Van Arsdell
is your webapp still dependent on Flash?
I read the comments on the Flash vs. HTML5 issue and noticed that they go far back in time. Has there been any progress made since then on providing content in the HTML5 format? I would love to have access to your programs without having to ‘jailbreak’ my iPad.
We are working on HTML5 with all the resources available at this time. I can’t offer a prediction as to when it will be completed right now.
Thomas
João -
We are currently developing a twin application in HTML5. It’s quite a complex bit of programming and we look forwards to the day it is complete and can be released. Language101.com intends to use a compatibility sensing algorithm to determine which application to load for the browser being used. This will help bring more users into a place of compatibility.
Thomas