Passing one iPad around an entire family can be frustrating, as everyone likely logs in to check their email and social networks without logging back out, and many folks will leave tabs open or clutter up the browser history with sites you could care less about. Rather than constantly log in and out and start to secretly resent those you love why not download Skyfire HotSwap instead?
The new service, which integrates directly into the Skyfire browser, allows users to set up to four separate profiles on an iPad, each with its own social and email settings and browser preferences. Not only is it more convenient, it's also a boon to user privacy, as now brothers and sisters don't have to worry about the other spying on their email. Of course, by the same token parents may find it harder to keep tabs on their kids, but parents always find a way.
HotSwap has been integrated into the latest update of Skyfire which is available right now. All you have to do is download (or update) the app and you'll be ready to put those family fights about the iPad behind you!
You may remember the Skyfire browser. The Mobile Safari replacement that allows you to stream Flash content to your iPhone and iPad. They announced recently that the browser saw over 300,000 downloads on the iPhone and iPod Touch in the first two days it was available. The iPad version saw nearly 200,000 downloads in the first two days of availability.
To celebrate this, Skyfire are putting their browser replacements on sale for a 48 hour Flash Sale, which started today. You have until noon on Friday to grab either the iPhone or iPad version for $1 off.
iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
Last week we reported on Skyfire finally launching on iOS. As was to be expected, nearly everyone with an iOS device tried to download the new browser at once, promptly crashing the company's servers and causing all sorts of problems. Now the team is ready to try again, but this time they're only allowing a few downloads of Skyfire at a time.
On the company's official blog CEO Jeff Glueck announced that Skyfire will be available "while supplies last" and that the company will continually release the browser until servers near capacity, then shut it down until things clear up a bit.
"Due to overwhelming demand, we are taking this approach because Skyfire believes a good user experience should come first, and we would rather have fewer, happier customers, and add new users as we can support them," he said. "We will open the first batches to US users only, with additional country support to follow shortly.
"Please note that there may be some initial congestion as a flood of new users simultaneously try to use the service, but try again an hour later and things should smooth out."
Glueck is recommending that those who don't get Skyfire right away keep checking the company's Twitter and Facebook pages for updates on when the browser is available. Glueck is also promising to make Skyfire available outside the US as quickly as possible.
Those who have been able to use the browser seem impressed, as previously inaccessible videos now work without issue. The key is that Skyfire takes Flash videos and converts the code to HTML5, which can be read by iOS devices.
Has anyone out there tried Skyfire yet? If so, what do you think? Has it been worth the added hassle to watch video content you couldn't see before, or is the net gain ultimately minimal?
In a surprising move that brings us two different Flash-enabled browsers in the span of less than a week, iSwifter has launched their browser on the iPad. While at first glimpse it may seem that Apple has relented on its insistence that Flash not appear on iOS devices, the truth is a bit more complicated than all that.
First off, while iSwifter supports Flash, it doesn't support all Flash content found on the web. Rather, only portals such as Ted Talks, Muzu.TV, Jambo Media, Green TV, All Things Science, Yahoo Blogs, WatchDoIt and Ignite Show. SkyFire, on the other hand, will convert any Flash video to HTML5 so that it can be displayed on an iOS device. Thus, while iSwifter will save you possible bugs and glitches from format conversion, it's still not a magic bullet to get access to all the Flash content floating around out there.
In addition iSwifter also allows access to thousands of Flash-based games which otherwise might be walled-off from consumers. The ability to play Flash games on an iOS device is hidden via smoke and mirrors, where the game is actually hosted on iSwifter's servers and players are merely streaming it from that point. It's a similar setup to the OnLive cloud-based gaming service, just on a smaller scale.
It's also important to note that the app is currently only available for iPad. While the company plans to launch an iPhone/iPod version soon, they aren't yet ready to announce a release date.
While apps like iSwifter and Skyfire are helping folks slowly work around the iOS prohibition on Flash we won't be able to truly put this issue to bed until Apple and Adobe kiss and make up. Perhaps someday users won't have to utilize a workaround just to get access to otherwise freely available content, but until that day we continue to engineer solutions to problems that probably shouldn't exist in the first place.
Like Flash but can't bear to part with your iPhone? You're in luck. There is a new browser, set to launch Thursday, that converts Flash from websites into HTML5 without too much of a hassle.
Skyfire first debuted on Blackberry and Windows Mobile back in 2008, and then was updated and fixed up for the Android launch back in May. The app has been downloaded more than 4.5 million times across all of the platforms. Needless to say, the Skyfire browser has been popular, but never has it been so necessary as it is now for the iOS platform.
To get around the Apple wall of hate and agony, Skyfire takes the Flash image from your page, downloads it, fully renders it, and than shoots you back a thumbnail that allows you to stream the video from their servers.
"We will attack those pesky blue Flash error messages," said Jeffrey Glueck, Skyfire's CEO.
Unfortunately, even with the external server rendering, Skyfire will still not display Hulu movies or let you play the billions of Flash games that plague the web. Even still, the developers think that their app will open up millions of web pages to iPhone users who were previously in the dark.
One concern that many have had with Skyfire is online safety. Instead of working on its own, Skyfire somehow works on top of Safari to render the video. Because of this, many users were concerned that online banking done via Safari would potentially be shot up into the Skyfire servers, but the folks at Skyfire say not to worry. Skyfire ensures that the information they receive will not be sold and that secured sites, such as online banking sites, will not be rendered with their servers.
Be sure to check the App Store on Thursday at 9AM EST to get your hands on this Flash rendering app monster. How it got approval from Apple is beyond me, but after a rigorous two month approval period, it looks like it's here to stay.
