OS 10.6.8 I trashed everything flash player thinking I didn't need it but found that I couldn't play bridge without it. So I downloaded version 19.0.0226 (the latest I believe). This I did (4) times but I couldn't find the icon in downloads or anywhere else. Spotlight only identified the install dmg in apps and the downloads. I signed into Adobe and eventually they said it was indeed installed and the fact that I can now play bridge substantiates their claim. Problem is, I cannot find the icon anywhere. I'm wondering if Adobe is allowing me and presumably others to use this app but not actually showing the icon. I say this because of the very serious hacking problems that Adobe is experiencing. Any thoughts anyone? jaybass

Look in /Library/Internet Plug-ins. Also, check the Flash Player preference pane in System Preferences.

Jon, you are right. The icon is in system prefs and the plugin is in the internet plug-ins. I have never had that happen before. Thanks, but can you tell me if there is any other software that will allow me to play bridge etc? I am reading that flash player should be uninstalled so I'm undecided as what to do. jaybass

Adobe's Flash Player is always installed as a plugin in whatever browser is used.
It is also a portal for potential problems, so you can always set it to be used only on certain trusted websites and/or decide to activate at each and every site that requests it.

jaybass:

I think this inquiry overlaps with the APPLICATIONS Forum. A recent thread about a FLASHPLAYER alternative can be found there:


http://www.finetunedmac.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=36392#Post36392

grelber, How do I set it to be used on trusted websites? jaybass

Go to System Preferences and open the Flash Player pref pane. Select Advanced and then click Trusted Location Settings.

You might also take a look at ClickToFlash...Safari Extension.

CLICK TO FLASH does not play very well with El Cap . . . I noticed. Sometimes works; sometimes doesn't. So I uninstalled it.

I'm still running Snowy, as is jaybass, but thanks for the update.

(Actually, I'm running ClickTo Plugin.)

Thanks jon, I have made a few Trusted Location Settings. jaybass

I just took a look at Flash's Trusted Location pane, and I don't think it's got anything to do with what you're looking for. (Edit: As a matter of fact, I think that what you've done is actually potentially dangerous.)

For your purposes, ClickToFlash, to which I linked above, looks like your answer; it prevents Flash from loading and, instead, displays a place-holder on which you must click to see its content.

I'm not sure what Jon is referring to with "Go to System Preferences and open the Flash Player pref pane. Select Advanced and then click Trusted Location Settings." It must be a possibility with Safari. I use Firefox.

I agree with artie's comments.

The optimal way of selecting a trusted site to allow Flash Player is to go to that site (which should always be a secure connection with https:// in the URL) and when it requests permission to use Flash Player, select the option to "allow and remember". That way your browser and your trusted site are always on the same "wavelength".

You can also achieve the same effect by going to the site and clicking on the lock icon in the URL window which will then give you similar options under permissions.

Jon's post refers to Flash's presence in Safari, and you've apparently described procedures that are native to Firefox.

In my Safari 5.1.10, Flash content automatically begins playing when a page containing it loads...no pop-ups or locks with which to set prefs...presumably why ClickToFlash has been developed.

Edit: CTF allows whitelisting of websites...what I believe jaybass is looking for.

Ergo the difference in procedures. Thanks for the clarification. Odd that the two browsers are so disparate in their treatment of Flash Player, especially given the risks inherent in same.

I'm running Safari 5.1.10; I wonder if v 9.x handles Flash differently?

Safari 9 seems to handle Flash the same way. Although I haven't used all its features, they appear to be available.

Click-to-Plugin (and the special case Click-to-Flash) were developed to stop browser plugins from activating immediately, because of increasingly frequent security risks due to unpatched flaws. Blocking Autoplay was a side effect, and one that in fact is circumvented in current OSes/browser versions (e.g., see Macworld videos) with JavaScript, regardless of CtP or CtF settings. In those cases, blocking Javascript blocks the video autoplay.

Your post sounds like "stop browser plugins from activating immediately" differs from "Block[ing] Autoplay".

And if blocking Javascript now blocks autoplay, what do CTP and CTF do?

I think I'm missing something.

My post above was descriptive rather than explanatory; you can make the same observations yourself toggling the various functionalities (CtF, JavaScript etc.) on or off, but the effects may vary depending on OS/-version and browser/-version. That said, Autoplay is (a.o.) a Flash setting*, and as such secondary to allowing Flash to load. Via the plugin, CtF affects Flash loading directly, and Autoplay indirectly: you first have to allow Flash before anything can use that to Autoplay. That said, CtF can be circumvented with Javascript, ‘baring’ an Autoplay setting if present; depending on the website’s Javascript controls (and in part on the browser/settings) your Flash object Autoplays. Example: when I ran Safari 5.x under Mac OS X 10.5.8 (PPC) CtF effectively killed Flash, even on Autoplaying sites like Macworld. That no longer works with Safari 8/9 under Mac OS X 10.10.x, unless I kill JavaScript too.

*) an option which can be toggled in CtF’s settings on the Media Player tab

I just searched the Safari Extensions Gallery and ClickToFlash has apparently been removed. At least in Safari 9.0.1 on OS X 10.11.1 beta 4/5.

I think those Macworld videos now come your way via HTML 5 rather than Flash. Or perhaps they come via Flash if Flash Player is found, and via HTML 5 otherwise? (I have neither the knowledge nor the interest to plow through several thousand lines of page source in search of insight.)

At any rate, I don't use Flash at all in Safari (9.0, Yosemite version), and those videos autoplay for me unless I disable javascript, so I don't think ClicktoFlash has anything to do with what you're experiencing.

Apple blocks older Adobe Flash plug-in versions on OS X

When finding a Flash object on a web page, Click-to-Flash puts up a grey placeholder image displaying the word Flash in white with a white border. That object may subsequently be replaced by HTML5 if the relevant setting is selected. With CtF installed and enabled, the Flash placeholder is clearly displayed on the Macworld videos (evidence of CtF’s involvement), but doesn’t need to be clicked to play unless Javascript is disabled (evidence of overriding JavaScript).

With neither Flash nor ClicktoFlash installed, I experience the autoplaying of those Macworld videos—evidence that the page source code is written to utilize an alternative player if Flash is not present.

I guess I'm viewing your ClicktoFlash case as a subset of the larger Flash not present category, rather than as a special instance of coding to evade blocking efforts by the user, but that's just a hunch based on the fact that online video is increasingly consumed on Flash-free devices.

I have no quarrel with most of your reasoning*. Still, there is something curious going on with the autoplaying Macworld videos. Click to Flash will indicate or change to ’HTML5’ instead of ‘Flash’ on the placeholder it displays if it finds an alternative of that format. In this day and age that’s pretty much anywhere. However, in case of the Macworld videos it displays ‘Flash’, and never changes to HTML5 or anything else for that matter. In fact, the (now transparent) placeholder remains visible when the clip is paused or stopped. And the videos autoplay despite the CtF setting not to allow that.

*) With the possible exception of the notion that the autoplaying Macworld videos doesn’t represent an ‘instance of coding to evade blocking efforts by the user’. The many comments on the topic and particularly some responses from Macworld editors suggest that this may in fact be the case.

I seem to recall reading some time back that Adobe has said they will not be developing Flash any further because it does not play well on touch sensitive devices.

I'd be willing to wager it's more because mobile device manufacturers have been putting their foot down en masse insisting that they can't have a chronically insecure privileged plugin bundled with their product. (and that Adobe appears to be incapable of securing their flash)