A couple of months ago, Twitch announced that they would be transitioning to HTML5. However this transition was a small step as only the controls of its video player was changed to HTML5. The video itself remained in Flash. According to Twitch, “The video itself is still in Flash underneath the controls. However, this is an important step to releasing the much-anticipated full HTML5 player.”
Based on Twitch’s previous statements, it sounds like a full transition is expected to take place soon, but when exactly? Speaking during TwitchCon 2015, the company revealed that come 2016, they would be making the move and will shift their entire player into HTML5, which ultimately means that they will be killing off Flash from its website.
Twitch’s move to HTML5 is not surprising. While Flash might have been the darling back in the day of early web development due to its ability to create dynamic menus and videos, it has since become something of a security risk. Twitch is not alone in their efforts to move away from Flash.
Even Mozilla announced that they would be blocking Flash content on its Firefox browsers, and there have also been calls from other developers that Flash should ultimately be killed off. Heck, even Android OEMs who used to tout Flash capabilities on their mobile devices as being an advantage over the iPhone no longer do so.