What will happen to Flash content (like the current SP-Studio) after 12/2020

Since December 2020 is near more details about the end of Flash support are showing up. One thing might be from special importance:

From January 1st 2021 you won't be able to run any Flash content on your computer.

It is described like a self destrucion mode: "Adobe will be removing Flash Player download pages from its site and Flash-based content will be blocked from running in Adobe Flash Player after the EOL Date." So it is no option to just ignore some security warnings and continue using an old Flash Player plugin. For the SP-Studio this means the current version won't be accessable anymore after December 31st, even if I keep it online.

There is hope that third party develeopers will find a way to run Flash content in your browser with a new plugin. There is tons of beloved Flash content on the internet, and it would be a shame to loose it all. So I believe clever people are already working on this. But right now I don't know if and when such tools will be available. If you find anything about this topic you can share it here. I will keep the Flash version of the SP-Studio online just in case, even after the new SP-Studio is launched. But... well... It's best to prepare for the worst case.

I believe they will be able to continue drawing their images with Flash. They just need to save them in a different file format (jpg, gif, png, svg,...) and it will be okay.

It's a bit confusing, but there are two "Flash" software tools Adobe publishes: Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Animate (formerly known as Adobe Flash).

Adobe Animate / Flash is the software which is used to create Flash content. Artists use it to draw and animate cartoons. I use it as well. It is expensive and offers many functions. It will continue to exist, but it will focus on different file formats now. So you will be able to work with it on pictures and animations as you used to, but the results are no Flash files anymore. I guess this is why they changed the name some years ago.

Adobe Flash Player is a free browser plugin. It only shows Flash content - it does not create it. Like a movie player. This will stop working after December 31st.

OKay, this looks interesting:

https://ruffle.rs/

It is a Flash Emulator, which means it can run Flash files in the browser like the official Adobe Flash Player. I tried my main file and it runs smoothly, but I haven't tested yet if it can deal with the rest of the SP-Studio. I will install it on my server to give it a try. If it works this could make the current SP-Studio available after 2020. And it might even work on some mobile browsers! The save function might not work though, so you will need to make screenshots.

It will not replace the need for the remake, because running Flash with a third party emulator sounds not very secure. But it might buy me time if needed and the classic SP-Studio won't be lost.