Adobe Points Finger At Apple On iPhone Flash

In a Tuesday post to the Adobe Flash Platform blog, Adrian Ludwig, group product manager, said Adobe is currently getting around three million visitors each month that come looking to download Flash for the iPhone and iPod Touch. But since Apple doesn't support Flash on these devices, these visits are in vain.

According to Ludwig, Adobe wants to dispel any notion that Adobe doesn't want Flash on the iPhone or that the iPhone can't play Flash content. As a result, iPhone users that visit Adobe's Flash Player Download Center are now being greeted with the following pointed message:

"Apple restricts use of technologies required by products like Flash Player. Until Apple eliminates these restrictions, Adobe cannot provide Flash Player for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

It's the latest example of how Apple's foot-dragging on iPhone Flash support has become a source of tension between the two companies. Last month at the Adobe MAX conference in Los Angeles, Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch reportedly joked about the issue by comparing the iPhone to a rotary-dial phone.

There are many theories as to why Apple hasn't brought Flash to the iPhone, and one of the most prevalent is that Apple sees Flash as a competitor to its own Quicktime media player, and wants any video playback capabilities on the iPhone to be of its own design.

Adobe is clearly becoming frustrated with Apple's lack of movement on this issue, but it's unlikely that calling out Apple publicly on the iPhone Flash issue will result in a change of heart.