Are websites telling you to install Flash in Safari, even though you’ve already installed it? Here’s what’s going on, and how to get those sites working again.
Safari 10, the latest version of Apple’s desktop browser, does not tell websites that Adobe Flash is installed. The idea is that such sites will default to a non-Flash solution, the way they do on mobile. When this works, it’s wonderful. Playback is smoother, and features like picture in picture mode actually work. Many sites, however, don’t offer a non-Flash option, which is why you’re being told to install a program you already have.
I’ve already had problems with Pandora, NHL.tv, and WatchESPN, and I’m sure there are many other sites with problems. Here’s how to enable Flash on individual sites, so you can get back to streaming.
Open the site that isn’t working, then head to Safari > Preferences in the menu bar. Click the “Security” tab, then the “Plug-in Settings” button.
A sub-menu will pop out, showing you currently open sites alongside anything you’ve previously enabled.
Click the dropdown beside any site to enable Flash for it. Alternatively, you can tell Safari to ask you before using Flash.
How To Set Up Adobe Flash Player On Chrome
At the bottom of the window, you’ll see an option for “When Visiting Other Websites”–this lets you enable Flash across the board. We don’t recommend you do this, because most of the time all you’ll be doing is enabling intrusive ads.
Refresh your site, and everything should now work.
Safari: Open Preferences, then click on the Security tab. Click Plug-in Settings, check the box next to Adobe Flash Player and set whether or not you want Safari to prompt you for permission whenever a site wants to use Flash Player, or leave it on at all times. Adobe® Flash® Player is a lightweight browser plug-in and rich Internet application runtime that delivers consistent and engaging user experiences, stunning audio/video playback, and exciting gameplay. Find out here how to install the Flash Player plug-in on Safari for Mac. Not your web browser? Go back to the Flash Player plug-in page to select your browser. Feb 20, 2018 The one in question is specific to enabling Flash in Safari, as the title indicates. Are you suggesting my Google search was faulty maybe? 'install flash on mac safari' The search result is based on Google's search algorithm. Adobe has nothing. If you already downloaded Adobe Flash Player, are using Safari on a Mac, and you're seeing a message telling you that you still need to download Adobe Flash Player, this is because you have it disabled in your system preferences.
If you enable the “Ask” option, you’ll see a notification like this:
It’s annoying, but it’s the only real way to ensure Flash is never enabled without you knowing about it.
Avoiding Flash is not a bad idea, by the way. We’ve suggested users disable Flash by default in their browser for a while now, because it bogs down your computer and is a common vector for malware. It would be wonderful if every site stopped using Flash. And many sites have, from YouTube to Vimeo to Netflix. Apple is, by blocking Flash by default, trying to encourage web developers everywhere to drop Flash too.
But the short term consequence is confused users, who are essentially pawns in Apple’s plan. Right now users are being told that Flash isn’t installed, even when it is. There must be a better way to get web developers to drop Flash.
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Adobe Flash Player For Mac
In Safari 10, set to ship with macOS Sierra, Apple plans to disable common plug-ins like Adobe Flash, Java, Silverlight, and QuickTime by default in an effort to focus on HTML5 content and improve the overall web browsing experience.
As explained by Apple developer Ricky Mondello in a post on the WebKit blog, when a website offers both Flash and HTML5 content, Safari will always deliver the more modern HTML5 implementation. On a website that requires a plug-in like Adobe Flash to function, users can activate it with a click as can be done in Google's Chrome browser.
Apple recommends web developers implement features using technologies built into Safari to avoid forcing users to activate plug-ins.
Plug-ins like Adobe Flash and Java have been problematic for Apple, requiring frequent security fixes and forced updates to patch an unending stream of vulnerabilities. Apple has long had a policy of blocking older versions of web plug-ins from functioning and its change in Safari 10 is another push towards fully retiring the older technology.
As explained by Apple developer Ricky Mondello in a post on the WebKit blog, when a website offers both Flash and HTML5 content, Safari will always deliver the more modern HTML5 implementation. On a website that requires a plug-in like Adobe Flash to function, users can activate it with a click as can be done in Google's Chrome browser.
Most websites that detect that Flash isn't available, but don't have an HTML5 fallback, display a 'Flash isn't installed' message with a link to download Flash from Adobe. If a user clicks on one of those links, Safari will inform them that the plug-in is already installed and offer to activate it just one time or every time the website is visited. The default option is to activate it only once. We have similar handling for the other common plug-ins.Safari 10 will also include a command to reload a page with installed plug-ins activated to give users additional options for controlling the content that's displayed, and there are preferences for choosing which plug-ins are visible to which websites in Safari's Security preferences.
When a website directly embeds a visible plug-in object, Safari instead presents a placeholder element with a 'Click to use' button. When that's clicked, Safari offers the user the options of activating the plug-in just one time or every time the user visits that website. Here too, the default option is to activate the plug-in only once.
Apple recommends web developers implement features using technologies built into Safari to avoid forcing users to activate plug-ins.
Plug-ins like Adobe Flash and Java have been problematic for Apple, requiring frequent security fixes and forced updates to patch an unending stream of vulnerabilities. Apple has long had a policy of blocking older versions of web plug-ins from functioning and its change in Safari 10 is another push towards fully retiring the older technology.