AfterDawn: News

Skyfire unavailable in App Store after huge demand takes down servers

Skyfire, the new browser application which promises Flash playback on iOS device has been pulled from the iOS App Store, showing as "sold out" as the company looks to increase its server capacity.

Says one developer with the company: "Please bear with us as we bring our capacity in line with the incredible demand -- stay tuned."



There is no timetable for the browser's return to the App Store.

Skyfire gets around Apple's ban on Flash by taking Flash video, rendering and translating it to HTML5 and then redisplaying it, showing users a thumbnail they can click to play the video. This in turn lead to the capacity problems.

"The user experience was performing well for the first few hours, but as the surge continued, the peak load on our servers and bandwidth caused the video experience to degrade," said the developer (via IW).

Skyfire for iOS sells for $3 in the App Store.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 4 Nov 2010 23:34

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• 9 comments

• KillerBug

  [I did not send this to apple, as I don't like them enough to give them the answer to their biggest problem]
  ATTN: Steve Jobs
  
  During antennagate, you made a long speech about how you want every user to be satisfied with their Apple products, and about how the company had made a mistake, and about how you would go about fixing said mistake.
  
  It is time to do the same for Flash. Your users want it so much that they were willing to pay for the worst browser on any platform (skyfire) just to get it...and so many of them got it that the Skyfire servers were overloaded!
  
  I can understand looking into the future where HTML5 will replace most Flash content, and it is wonderful that you support it fully...but you are selling devices to be used in 2010, not devices designed for 2020. Lack of "backwards compatibility" for the dominant technology is probably the single biggest complaint your users have about your company.
  
  The fix is simple; no need to buy everyone a new case, no recalls needed, you don't even need to release a new version of iOS...just call up Shantanu Narayen at Adobe, tell him to have his team assemble a beta, and you will have taken away Android's most important sales tool within 2 months.

  5.11.2010 00:00 #1

• xaeroak15

  If want proxy, buy a SSH.
  

  5.11.2010 00:55 #2

• KillerBug

  This is not about providing a proxy...it is about lowering the quality of videos so that they can be used on low quality devices (for example, every apple "iDevice" ever made).
  

  5.11.2010 06:33 #3

• Bozobub

  No, it is *not* about lowering quality; read more. It's about converting Flash to HTML5. While some Flash functionality (games, in particular) won't work, video and audio will generally work fine, and are NOT downgraded. Skyfire works all right, though I prefer the basic Android browser.
  
  Edit --> Note: Skyfire came out for Android 1st.

  5.11.2010 07:38 #4

• ps3lvanub

  Quote:Skyfire gets around Apple's ban on Flash by taking Flash video, rendering and translating it to HTML5 and then redisplaying it So it is just a non-Safari intergrated, jailbreak unnessecary version of iMobileCinema then? No, thanks. Cloud Browse, however, enables full flash. Only if Apple didn't love HTML5 like a kiddie-fiddler a 5-year-old and actually let it on the App Store, as it probably will be much faster than Safari.
  

  
  
  OMG! COD6 TENTH HACK WITHOUT JTAG!

  5.11.2010 12:18 #5

• blueboy09

  Skyfire is the only way I can see limited (and I do mean limited!) Flash videos on my Windows 6.1 phone (ancient I know) and I can't get into my browser either!! I can't even view my bookmarks as of this posting. These servers really need to come up and fast even if it's the fastest browser on an ancient POS such as mine.
  

  Life is about walking on thin ice, if you make too much drama, youll crack under pressure. - BLUEBOY

  5.11.2010 18:32 #6

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by Bozobub: No, it is *not* about lowering quality; read more. It's about converting Flash to HTML5. While some Flash functionality (games, in particular) won't work, video and audio will generally work fine, and are NOT downgraded. Skyfire works all right, though I prefer the basic Android browser.
  
  Edit --> Note: Skyfire came out for Android 1st. Any conversion of video will lower quality. If you want it to them be slim enough to work with a smart phone, you will loose even more quality.
  
  Skyfire did come out on Android first...and they had to go to Apple after we got Flash in the browser and had no use for them anymore.
  

  5.11.2010 23:01 #7

• Bozobub

  Originally posted by KillerBug: Any conversion of video will lower quality. If you want it to them be slim enough to work with a smart phone, you will loose even more quality.
  
  Skyfire did come out on Android first...and they had to go to Apple after we got Flash in the browser and had no use for them anymore. Incorrect. any conversion of format genrally harms quality. Flash, HTML5, and such are merely "containers", very analagous to an .mkv media container, but of course with far more functionality. The actual media stream doesn't necessarily have to change format at all.
  
  In addition, with Flash 10.1 on my Evo, using either the native browser or Dolphin HD Browser, I can run Flash and HTML5 media just fine, at the original quality, and yes at mere 3G speeds. Now, I may have to pause it at the beginning to let the stream buffer a bit, but that's the data connection, not the actual media implementation.
  
  Third, while I don't prefer it, Skyfire does have features that the native browser simply doesn't; tabbed browsing is a perfect example. In fact Skyfire is rather popular among ANdroid users who don't prefer the native browser.
  
  In other words: It's not about lowering quality; it's about improving bandwidth efficiency and reducing bugs for Flash content for smartphones. Relax.

  7.11.2010 16:56 #8

• robertmro

  Originally posted by KillerBug: I did not send this to apple, as I don't like them enough to give them the answer to their biggest problem Boy you really know how to hurt them.
  
  One less letter from a moron.

  12.11.2010 10:01 #9