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BGR Breaks It Down: How to watch Flash video on your iPhone without jailbreaking

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 6:56PM EST
BGR

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Sorry, Stevie… it looks like your plan to keep Flash off iOS devices just hit another speed bump. We know Apple claims performance issues are the reason Flash is nowhere to be found on iOS devices — and we can’t say we disagree with the company’s assessment, in some cases — but we also know tons of Web video content still uses Adobe’s Flash platform and, well, we want the option to view it on our iPhones, iPads and iPods. There are several options for viewing Flash videos on your iDevice, but most methods involve a jailbreaking. Skyfire is a good non-jailbreak option of course, but it has a tendency to be a bit slow at times. Luckily, a group of developers has a new free method that doesn’t involve a jailbreak — in fact, you don’t even have to install an app. A simple bookmarklet is all you need to stream Flash videos right to your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Hit the jump for a quick guide that will bring a plethora of embedded Flash video content to your iOS device of choice.

  1. Navigate to http://iosflashvideo.fw.hu/ in Safari on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch
  2. Hit the + button (replaced by the box/arrow icon on some iOS builds), select Add Bookmark and tap Save
  3. Open your bookmarks and tap Edit
  4. Choose the new iOSFlashVideo bookmark
  5. Delete everything before “javascript:” and tap Done

Now you’re ready to rock.

Simply navigate to a page with an embedded video from Blip.tv, Flickr, Dailymotion, Break, MegaVideo or Vimeo. As usual, you’ll see an empty white space or instructions to download Flash Player where the video should be. Just open your bookmarks and tap the iOSFlashVideo entry, and a new thumbnail will appear where the empty space used to be. Tap the thumbnail and the video will begin streaming immediately via QuickTime.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.