Adobe Flash Player is a popular plug-in browser used for watching video animation, rich content and also allows audio and video streaming. However, there are also vulnerability issues thrown at the Flash and updated versions are released periodically to resolve these problems. But for users who are looking for other ways to view rich content other than using Flash Player, here are several options to choose from.
Unity Web Player
This popular plugin allows users to watch 3D content directly in the browser and like Adobe Flash Player, updates automatically. With Unity, animated 3D games can be created which are loaded with excellent graphics. After a game is created, it can then be uploaded to the web, desktop and mobile devices. Created by Unity Technologies, Unity Web Player is used to create games for Mac OS X-run machines, mobile devices and Windows. It usually uses cross-domain policies. This signifies the limitation in resources of the application visited by the user on the same website. That is, it will not be able to access local file systems or other websites.
GNU Gnash
An effective alternative for Adobe Flash Player, Gnu Flash movie player is based on GameSWF. This is an open source Public Domain library used for rendering and parsing SWF movies. It uses 3D hardware APIs and functions as a UI library or console games and computer. Written in C++, it compiles under Linux, Mac OSX and Windows. Moreover, it supports some features of SWF v8 and v9 as well as most SWF v7. It is also available as a stand-alone application and can also be used as a plugin for web borwsers. Gnash can also play media via streaming or from a disk.
Silverlight
Created by Microsoft, this is a powerful development tools that works like Adobe Flash Player. Powered by the .NET framework, Silverlight is a free plug-in and is supported by several browsers, operating systems and devices. Browsers include Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari while operating systems include Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. The features of Silverlight include PivotViewer, SketchFlow, Deep Zoom and Media Format Extensibilty, among others. This plug-in can be used for media, mobile and business applications. With it, business applications can be created that allows users interactivity with the use of skills and tools. It can also be used to build mobile apps with the use of familiar tools.
LightSpark
Considered to be the best alternative for Adobe Flash Player, this software was developed on C and C++ language. As a browser plugin and an open source flash player, LightSpark allows users to view views that are not normally viewed using Adobe Flash Player. Released in 2013, it has a plug-in that is compatible with Mozilla and also supports most of ActionScript 3.0. It also supports OpenGL-based rendering as well as LLVM-based ActionScript execution. LightSpark is also compatible with H.264 videos on YouTube. One of the best features of this plugin is portability. It can run on Linux, Windows and FreeBSD.
Meanwhile, those who want to stay with Adobe Flash Player are advised to update to the latest version 24.0.0.221 due to critical reasons.
