Adobe Flash Player 11.1 released, Ice Cream Sandwich now supported

Adobe on Friday released Flash Player 11.1 for Android devices. The update includes support for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich but is the last major version of Adobe's mobile browser plugin.

An Adobe AIR 3.1 update will ship next week.

In late November, Adobe announced that it would no longer develop Flash Player for the mobile Web after its next release. "Our future work with Flash on mobile devices will be focused on enabling Flash developers to package native apps with Adobe AIR for all the major app stores," the company said at the time.

In a Friday blog post, Adobe reiterated that stance, arguing that apps are the wave of the future.

"The most stunning, innovative content and games for mobile devices are delivered and consumed through apps," Adobe's Tom Nguyen wrote. "The most impactful, engaging experiences on the desktop are delivered through the browser. With Flash Player for desktop and AIR apps for mobile, Flash allows you to craft and deliver beautiful experiences for both."

"AIR 3.1 brings immersive, beautiful apps powered by Flash to iPhone, iPad, Android phones and tablets, BlackBerry PlayBook, Barnes and Noble Nook tablets, and the Amazon Kindle Fire (whew!)," Nguyen continued. "As a developer, you can use Flash to create brilliant interactive experiences, games, and video and seamlessly deliver them to over 1 billion people: in the browser on 99 percent of PCs and via app stores to over 350 million iOS, Android and BlackBerry smartphones and tablets."

The Flash Player 11.1 update will be available on the Android Market and will work on the newly released Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the first smartphone in the U.S. to support Ice Cream Sandwich.

Late this afternoon, Google announced that it will roll out Ice Cream Sandwich to the GSM/UMTS versions of the Nexus S over the next month, starting today. Other Android handset makers and carriers have not nailed down exact ICS upgrade dates.

Google also formally announced Android 4.0.3, the base version of ICS that will be provided to partners.

This article, written by Chloe Albanesius, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.