Get Flash in Jellybean with Firefox

 

 

Update Nov. 15  So after being down by a day, a helpful Google+er pointed me to an update this morning of Firefox Beta. Flash works again just as well as it did before the 4.2 upgrade. So be sure, if you follow the steps below, to use Firefox Beta. 

Tuesday is the official release date of two new Nexus devices — the LG Nexus 4 and the Samsung Nexus 10. With a refreshed Nexus 7 on the way, too, there’s whole raft of Jellybean-enabled hardware that does not have access to Flash video support.

Adobe has stopped supporting Flash on Android and Linux, but there are still a lot of Web sites out there that continue to build with Flash. Even the technology site The Verge requires Flash to view video reviews. This might give you pause about going with Jellybean, but never fear. If you want it, you can very easily get it.

You won’t be able to get Flash working with Chrome or the new version of Dolphin Browser. Both stopped supporting the Flash plugin for Android. But the latest versions of Firefox for Android  will support Flash and makes it very easy.

1) Grab Firefox from the Play store.

2) Install the latest Flash for Android APK. I used this one, here, courtesy of XDA developers.

3) Set your device to accept software installations from unknown sources. This should be found under settings > security. If you attempt to open the APK file once it’s downloaded, you’ll be directed to change the setting automatically. Of course, understand that there is a security risk involved. If you’re concerned, you should remember to deselect the option for unknown sources after you get flash running.

4) Open Firefox and enable Flash by going to settings > content > plugins and selecting enable. Tap to play should work, too.

If all goes well, you should have flash running fine (or as fine as one could reasonably expect for an unsupported plugin) on Jellybean. It works perfectly on my Nexus 7.