Today Adobe released an update to its Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5 software which now allows developers to build cross-platform applications for Android, iOS and the QNX-based BlackBerry PlayBook. This extends the functionality of the Adobe framework, released back in April. At launch, the software only supported Android, with support for the additional platforms planned for this month.
Adobe is showcasing several applications which were built using the new software including Politifact.com, listed as coming soon to all three app stores: iTunes, Android, and BlackBerry App World. There are also games like Mr. Mixit and Pyramix, a task management tool called Conqu, Muni Tracker for San Francisco’s public transit system and Netflix Queue Manager by UnitedMindset.
Included in the update are several productivity enhancements, says Adobe. In addition, with Flash Builder 4.5, developers can now use best practice code templates, code completion and code generation features to accelerate the development of Flex and ActionScript applications, deployed via Adobe AIR. By year-end, AIR is expected to be supported on over 200 million platforms.
More details about the Flash Builder software is available here. The pricing starts at $249 for Flash Builder 4.5 standard, or $699 for the Premium version.
Apple decided last fall to reverse its ban on the use of third-party development tools, which had previously prohibited the use of Adobe’s Flash, Sun’s Java and Microsoft Silverlight as well as its open source counterpart Mono, in creating apps for the iOS platform. Since that restriction has been lifted, there shouldn’t be any reason why apps built with this updated software toolkit would have trouble getting into the Apple app store However, debates about the quality of the applications themselves (native vs. ported) will likely still rage.
