Before Android 2.2, surfing Flash-enhanced sites on a mobile phone was a limited experience only available to a couple of Nokia phones. But now, with Froyo running on around 30 percent of all Android phones, by Google’s own estimates that is, we are just starting to get the taste of Flash on smartphones.
For many the addition of Flash is a big deal, but the next question is what’s there to do now? Sadly, because Flash for Android smartphones is so new there are few Flash sites optimised for the platform that take into considerations small screens and offer tools and diversions catering to mobile phone users.
Here I’ve rounded up a list of 10 Flash enabled mobile sites that range from games, animation, to entertainment destinations tailored to smartphones. I’ve also included a longer list of 30 sites Adobe says were optimized for Flash mobile, but are not designed for the small screens.
Eat your heart out Steve Jobs.
Tip: Come back on this page from your mobile phone and click straight on the site’s name to take you to the mobile version. Also, if you are on a non-mobile optimized site with Flash, just double-tap on the Flash content to see it in full screen.
Fun Free Game
Check out dozens of free Flash games optimized for your Android 2.2 phone.
Hundreds of simple yet fun games, designed to work with touch-based displays on mobile phones. Kongregate has a huge selection for you to choose from, and there’s a new interesting game featured every week at the top of the site.
The mobile site Mochigames doesn’t have as many games as Kongregate but has a sleeker interface and lets you select your games by category (action, puzzle, strategy), alongside a selection of five featured games. Note that you will have to watch a short ad before you start playing some games.
At Miniclip the site also has a limited yet varied selection of fun Flash games for your Android 2.2 phone. The games have nice sound effects and pleasant graphics, and load quite fast over Wi-FI.
Armor Games
Game junkies will love Armor Games that offers 20 fresh takes on classic and new games. To enjoy in full screen glory, just double-tap on the game.
As seen in most of Adobe’s teaser videos for Flash on Android phones, you can finally try out the South Park Avatar Generator, customize it, and use it for your various Internet accounts.
Entertainment, Videos & Movie Trailers
Sit back and relax watching some quality clips and videos on your phone.
Although you can’t watch full-feature-length movies on your phone at Epix, the company put together a Flash-optimized mobile site with several extras, trailers, and interview clips for your Flash-enabled Android phone.
Homestar Runner
You can now watch these funny Internet meme animated cartoons on your phone, with the Homestar Runner Flash site that perfectly fits your screen (in landscape). Alongside the animated clips, you can also play games featuring the same characters, and find some sweet clips of each character introducing themselves.
Nickelodeon
Warner Bros
Warner Bros has put together an Adobe Flash-designed mobile Website featuring all the latest movie trailers, as well as a host of information about its current TV shows, DVD and Blu-Ray releases and on-demand offers.
Finally, a site optimized for smartphones with Flash is the Japanese Eco Zoo. It’s an educational site for children to learn about animals in a zoo, but the animations and ingenuity put into the site are set to entertain adults as well.
Sites Optimized for Mobile Flash
Here is list of sites not optimized for small screen sizes, but that do support Adobe’s Flash Player 10.1 for Android 2.2. These sites will work on phones, but you will have to pan and zoom like with any other regular site. The biggest drawback with these sites (besides being optimized for a tablet or full-sized computer screen) is that if Flash content isn’t scaled to fit small phones and video and animation could drain your phone’s battery fast.
News/Information
• BBC
Online Video Video Sharing
• Blip TV
Video Blogging
• Buzznet
TV Shows
• TBS
• TNT
• BET
Premium Content
• Crackle
Movie Content
Independent Animation
Learning and Education
• Nasa – Jet Propulsion Laboratory
• PBS Kids
Sports
Retail
• Amazon
• Burberry
• Prada
• HTC
Have you found other mobile optimized Flash sites for Android phones? Let us know in the comments. Also, keep checking regularly Adobe’s Mobile Flash Showcase from your phone for new additions.