New Google Chrome update comes without Adobe Flash

New Delhi: Google has released Chrome 88 as the latest stable version of their cross-platform web browser without any support for Adobe Flash Player.

Flash reached its official end of life on December 31, when Adobe officially stopped supporting the software. On January 12, Adobe also began blocking content from playing inside Flash.

Apple and Mozilla have also stopped supporting Flash, and Microsoft is scheduled to end support later this month, reports ZDNet.

According to web technology survey site W3Techs, only 2.2 per cent of today's websites use Flash code, a number that has plummeted from a 28.5 per cent figure recorded at the start of 2011.

First announced in July 2017, Adobe had said to stop updating and distributing Flash Player after December 31, 2020 due to the diminished usage of the technology and the availability of better, more secure options such as HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly.

Microsoft has announced to end support for Adobe Flash Player on Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer 11 at the end of the year.

Some enterprise customers may still require Flash Player commercial support and licensing beyond 2020 to run internal business systems.

According to media reports, the Internet Archive is preserving Flash games and animations, including hits like "Peanut Butter Jelly Time."

Adobe had recommended all users to immediately uninstall Flash Player to help protect their systems.