Adobe stated in 2013 that more than 400 million, out of over 1 billion connected desktops, updated to new versions of Flash Player within six weeks of release.

[16] However, Flash Player became increasingly criticized for poor performance, consumption of battery on mobile devices, the number of security vulnerabilities that had been discovered in the software, and its nature as a closed platform controlled by Adobe.

Its usage further waned due to more modern web standards which replaced some of Flash's functionality, reducing the need for third-party plugins.

The player can also access certain connected hardware devices, including the web cameras and microphones, after permission for the same has been granted by the user.

AIR supports installable applications on Windows, Linux, macOS, and some mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android.

[22] Flash Player included native support for many data formats, some of which can only be accessed through the ActionScript scripting interface.

[41] A significant change came in version 11, which added a new low-level API called Stage3D (initially codenamed Molehill), which provides full GPU acceleration, similar to WebGL.

[42][43] (The partial support for GPU acceleration in Pixel Bender was completely removed in Flash 11.8, resulting in the disruption of some projects like MIT's Scratch, which lacked the manpower to recode their applications quickly enough.

[44][45]) Current versions of Flash Player are optimized to use hardware acceleration for video playback and 3D graphics rendering on many devices, including desktop computers.

[55] As of 2012, the Haxe multiplatform language can build programs for Flash Player that perform faster than the same application built with the Adobe Flex SDK compiler.

[68] CrossBridge is targeted toward the game development industry, and includes tools for building, testing, and debugging C/C++ projects in Flash Player.

Notable online video games developed in Flash include Angry Birds, FarmVille, and AdventureQuest (started in 2002, and still active as of 2020).

[72][73][74] In August 2016, Adobe announced that, beginning with version 24, it would resume offering of Flash Player for Linux for other browsers.

The company also stated it wants to enable Flash on NVIDIA Tegra, Texas Instruments OMAP 3, and Samsung ARMs.

[101] ARM Holdings later said it welcomes the move of Flash, because "it will transform mobile applications and it removes the claim that the desktop controls the Internet.

[127] After January 26, 2021, all major web browsers including Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox have already permanently removed Flash support.

[128] However, Flash content continues to be accessible on the web through emulators such as Ruffle, with varying degrees of compatibility and performance, although this is not endorsed by Adobe.

[134] On October 27, 2020, Microsoft released an update (named KB4577586) for Windows 10 and 8.1 which removes the embedded Adobe Flash Player component from IE11 and Edge Legacy.

[137][138] Apple dropped Flash Player support from Safari 14 alongside the release of macOS Big Sur.

[142][143] The Projector (standalone) versions of this variant also work outside of China and do not include the "Flash Helper Service"; however, some tracking code still seems to be present.

In theory, these repacks should provide users outside of China with the latest security updates to Flash Player, without having to deal with invasive advertisements or worry about privacy risks.

This browser can access only a small set of SARS online pages containing Flash-based forms required for filing financial reports.

[150][71][144] The Internet Archive hosts some Flash content and makes it playable in modern browsers via the Ruffle emulator integrated within its Emularity system.

[152] BlueMaxima's Flashpoint project claims to have collected more than 38,000 Adobe Flash Player games and animations and made them available for download.

Symantec's Internet Security Threat Report[169] states that a remote code execution in Adobe Reader and Flash Player[170] was the second most attacked vulnerability in 2009.

[173] The report also highlighted that "Flash Player vulnerabilities enable cybercriminals to bypass security systems integrated into the application.

"[175][176] On April 7, 2016, Adobe released a Flash Player patch for a zero-day memory corruption vulnerability CVE-2016-1019 that could be used to deliver malware via the Magnitude exploit kit.

[174] In the letter he blamed problems with the "openness", stability, security, performance, and touchscreen integration of the Flash Player as reasons for refusing to support it.

[184] Adobe's CEO Shantanu Narayen responded by saying, "If Flash [is] the number one reason that Macs crash, which I'm not aware of, it has as much to do with the Apple operating system.

[189] The partnership started in about 2017, but in version 30, Adobe disabled the usage of vanilla (global) variant of Flash Player in mainland China,[190] forcing users to use that specific variant, which may pose a risk to its users due to Internet censorship by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).