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My current HTML4 transitional website has several flash videos. How could I make them play in Apple devices with minimal changes?

I've seen numerous threads but I've got confused. Some possible ways suggested in these threads:

  1. Identify device from request and serve another format video. Which format should be served here? I need to maintain all videos in 2 format? H.264 encoding was suggested here.

  2. HTML 5 options. Not feasible in my case. Rewriting pages in HTML5 is not an option for me.

Could someone please suggest the recommended way for my case? Thanks.

Community
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understack
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    Option 2 is the *most feasible* case - why isn't it so for you? It's not that difficult, just change the DOCTYPE, tidy up some elements to meet HTML5 standards and implement some [nifty JavaScript libraries](http://html5video.org/) to play your videos. Also, is uploading your videos to a service like Viemo or YouTube and embedding them not an option? That would probably be the fastest/easiest. – Marty Apr 11 '12 at 03:15
  • @iND iPhone and iPads don't, and never will, support Flash. If support for them is a requirement "keep the existing Flash solution" simply won't work. – ceejayoz Apr 11 '12 at 03:27
  • Sorry, was looking for a tut, and posted my flippant comment accidentally. Anyway, for Flash/Air options, look at this tut: http://sonnati.wordpress.com/2011/04/26/air-2-6-for-ios-and-video-playback/ Flash -- Flash IDE, FlashDevelop, FlashBuilder -- can produce Air products, which can be made into iOS apps. The problem comes with what video format is required. – iND Apr 11 '12 at 03:36
  • Can an iOS apps be embedded onto a web page though? (Not sure how that all works). – Marty Apr 11 '12 at 03:39
  • Hm . . . that's what I get for watching [Peep Show](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peep_Show_%28TV_series%29) while trying to think. Not apps, websites . . . ok, look into HTML5, probably. – iND Apr 11 '12 at 03:42
  • Yep, gonna delete my comments soon. :-| – iND Apr 11 '12 at 03:46
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    @iND Haha, 'tis how we learn :) Besides, your comments are likely going to be useful for eliminating the OP's ability to try side-step using HTML5 and then getting stuck again anyway. – Marty Apr 11 '12 at 03:47
  • @MartyWallace I do learn a lot watching Peep Show. – iND Apr 11 '12 at 03:53

1 Answers1

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HTML 5 options. Not feasible in my case. Rewriting pages in HTML5 is not an option for me.

I think you're a little misinformed about what supporting HTML5 entails.

Replace <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd"> with <!doctype html>. Done! You can use the new tags in HTML5, but you don't have to. Things are nicely backwards compatible with just a few (rare) edge cases.

Encode everything as H.264 and you'll have the easiest time. Serve the files with Flash for desktop if you like, and serve via the HTML5 <video> tag to mobile devices.

Consider using a nice hybrid HTML5/Flash pre-built player like Video.js or SublimeVideo to make your life easier.

ceejayoz
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