Adobe announced the backdoor entry into Apple’s territory to the audience’s glee at Adobe Max, the company’s worldwide developer conference that was held this week at the Los Angeles Convention Center and the L.A. Live’s Nokia Theater.
Adobe has added a feature to Flash Professional CS5 that allows developers to code Flash-based applications for the iPhone, which can be legally sent for distribution through Apple’s App Store.
“The Apple iPhone SDK license terms do not allow runtime interpreted code, so Adobe is not able to deliver Flash Player in Safari on the iPhone without support from Apple. Applications for the iPhone built with Adobe Flash Professional CS5 do not include any runtime interpreted code,” the company said.
With the announcement, developers no longer need to have a Mac for developing iPhone apps.
A public beta of Flash Professional CS5 is expected to be available later this year but Adobe showcased at Adobe max a series of iPhone apps built using a beta version of CS5 that are already in the App Store.
Adobe also announced plans for a Flash player for Windows Mobile and Palm webOS later this year.
Flash Player 10.1 is designed to work on smartphones, smartbooks and netbooks as well as PCs and other internet-connected devices.
Google Android and Symbian versions of Flash Player 10.1 are expected to be available in early 2010.
Adobe explains Adobe Flash CS5 applications for the iPhone here.