Yes, you read that correctly. @juicero mentioned on twitter of an iPhone app that allowed Flash on the iPhone. Say whaaaaaat? A new iPhone app called Cloud Browse allows you to do just that–control a Firefox browser remotely that’s streamed to the iPhone, thus allowing Flash websites to be displayed (we know Apple dislikes Flash). It’s an ingenious idea, and I’m surprised this made it past Apple’s strictly controlled App Store. Before we go on, let me say this app is AWESOME.
Here’s a description of how it works:
How does Cloud Browse work?
Cloud Browse goes beyond the limitations of a mobile device because it doesn’t use a scaled down web browser.
Instead, a full desktop browser is running remotely and being streamed to the iPhone/iPod Touch. The remote browser have access to higher bandwidth, more memory and faster processor than that of any mobile device.
Worried about privacy or security? Because Cloud Browse runs the browsers on a remote machine and not on your iPhone, there is no need to worry about websites grabbing your private information or leaving a trail of your browsing history.
When you launch Cloud Browse you see a Firefox browser on your screen, with tabs. As you tap on the browser area you will be able to see the mouse pointer on the remotely controlled browser. What’s cool is that three finger swiping for going Forward/Back in the browser is supported!
There are lots of other useful controls too such as:
- Scroll the page by flicking your finger.
- Tap with one finger to navigate links and select textboxes. (A left mouse click at the finger location)
- Hold down one finger on screen to bring up a magnifying glass displaying what’s under your finger.
I visited Vimeo.com to test how Flash performed. I was able to play a Vimeo video but it was slightly laggy via 3G. Turning on WiFi made an improvement, but probably due to the default HD stream, the site was unwatchable. Justin TV and some other streaming TV sites worked well and was watchable. Audio was very clear and the video did not lag at all.
As for privacy concerns, I would avoid logging into secure websites within Cloud Browse.
Kudos to the Cloud Browse developers for this incredible app! Screenshots below:
Click here to download Cloud Browse for the iPhone. Tell me how you like it below in the comments! This app is sweet! I’m loving it.
