It's a Bug Not a Feature

Now that’s it’s finally available, how well does Flash work on Android tablets like the Xoom? Not very:

As it stands, Flash support offers no reason for buying a Xoom instead of an iPad. If you were hoping the Flash player would enable a whole new world of content, you will be disappointed. Flash sites on Android devices are utterly hit or miss. And if you’re deploying Flex applications for your business to be accessed on mobile devices, my advice is to switch to HTML immediately. On the other hand, if you’re enthralled by animated Web advertising, the Flash Player will be right up your alley.

Surely, though, it must work better on the BlackBerry PlayBook, since RIM and Adobe have been working together for two years on mobile Flash. Not really:

During a round of Plants vs. Zombies, gameplay bogged down whenever the animation got intense. Every time I tried to access a Flash game on Facebook, the browser crashed. Yes, every single time. Say goodbye to your well-tended crops, Farmvillians.

RIM delivered several software updates during our tests, showing that the company is still ironing out bugs. Flash stability increased with each update, and may well be even more stable by the time the PlayBook ships on April 19. But the fact that a marquee feature is strapped with such stability problems so close to the ship date is troubling.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Flash is malware masquerading as a vital part of the web experience. I won’t have it on my desktop, and I certainly wouldn’t want it taking over my tablet.