LB1 Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 Does anyone have any ideas how to get Flash content to work on an iPad? One possibility is to use Puffin browser by Cloudmosa. However this is blocked on school network despite proxy settings. We need to be able to access SAMLearning which uses Flash technology.
Michael Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 It is a big down point for the iPad, however Skyfire is a flash supporting browser. I haven't used it myself, but I read about it a loooong time ago.
LB1 Posted October 3, 2011 Author Posted October 3, 2011 Interesting, thanks for the replies. I'll look into these. How do I implement Citrix? Is there a client side utility I can install on the device or does it have to be set up by a server with devices pointing to it? Thanks, Lin.
dhicks Posted October 3, 2011 Posted October 3, 2011 How do I implement Citrix? Is there a client side utility I can install on the device or does it have to be set up by a server with devices pointing to it? You'll need to install a Citrix client app on the iPad, plus you'll need a server running Citrix and appropriate licensing (Citrix and Windows) for the number of clients you want to connect. Another option is to just use Windows' own Remote Desktop Services (RDS, what used to be called Terminal Services, TS, in Windows Server 2003) - you'll just need an RDP client on the iPad and appropriate Windows licensing on a server.
LB1 Posted October 4, 2011 Author Posted October 4, 2011 Please excuse my ignorance - how is Citrix enabling Flash? How do you do the same with RDS? Thanks
CyberNerd Posted October 4, 2011 Posted October 4, 2011 Please excuse my ignorance - how is Citrix enabling Flash? How do you do the same with RDS? Thanks Citrix Xenapp enables a browser that runs on a server, the client gets screenshots of the flash content. Same with Remote Desktop - but the flash sucks a bit more.
dhicks Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Please excuse my ignorance - how is Citrix enabling Flash? How do you do the same with RDS? As @CyberNerd points out, the user's applications run on a server instead of a Windows workstation. You can generally get several user sessions on a single server, depending on exactly what you're running. Different remote protocols have different performance, and there's a bunch to choose from - RDP is built in to Windows servers (and, indeed, Windows workstations - the Remote Desktop Connection client is included with all versions of Windows and Windows XP / 7 Pro will let a single user connect via RDP). Citrix might give you better performance but will cost, and there's now also the option of adding hardware graphics acceleration to your Windows RDS server with a RemoteFX-compatible graphics card (currently priced around £2,000 each). If this is all somewhat new to you you should probably go and read up on general thin client technology, it's the same thing we're talking about - a specialised "thin client" device is simply a computer that runs a RDP / Citrix / etc client and nothing else. You should probably also read up on desktop virtualisation, which is pretty much the same as having an RDS server but instead of login sessions it runs whole virtual Windows machines that users connect to. As we're actually talking about how to get Flash working on an iPad here, and not general-purpose Windows thin clients, there's no reason why you have to use Windows servers. You could simply install a Linux server and have a client on the iPad that connected to that to run a remote session that simply runs a Flash-enabled web browser.
SYNACK Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 (edited) If you want flash to run directly on a tablet/slate device buy one that supports it. If not you can only somewhat hack it by using thrid party tools that run it somewhere else because Apple says so. You could rewrite the sites using something like this ( Gordon: Flash Runtime Implemented in Javascript - Ajaxian ) that runs a version of flash interpretation in javascript but it is always going to be a compromise because you or someone else in your organisation has chosen form/popularity over function. There is also this: iPad gets Flash yet again with iSwifter app, Android version coming soon (hands-on) -- Engadget which again offloads a bunch of the stuff and is limited but may help you live with your Apple purchase. Edited October 5, 2011 by SYNACK
mattx Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 I'm sorry - what is the point of buying a load of devices in which everyone and his dog knows does not support flash and then try and use flash on it ? Or what is the point of buying a device which everyone knows does not support flash, and then having to use Cirtix / RDP in order to use them ? To me it's pointless. /RANT over.
CyberNerd Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Or what is the point of buying a device which everyone knows does not support flash, and then having to use Cirtix / RDP in order to use them ? To me it's pointless. If you already have the infrastructure in place to support ipads then it makes sense to use it. I wouldn't advocate buying anything unless you have the infrastructure to support it in the first place.
SYNACK Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 If you already have the infrastructure in place to support ipads then it makes sense to use it. I wouldn't advocate buying anything unless you have the infrastructure to support it in the first place. Lets call Apples, Apples. The infrastructure is there to support dumb or obstanant hardware that is incapible or unwilling to to run it locally, thin clients and dumb or underpowered devices. The flash limitation is one enforced by the vendor and brought into by its consumers. Complaining after the fact is pointless after already supporting their decision with capital. You should buy tools to do the job you require of them otherwise they are not tools, merely accessories, like fancy handbags or shoes.
SimpleSi Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Slow up people Maybe the OP is like me, got a IPad/'droid pad and is seeing if they can overcome the devices limitations with some clever geek stuff not available to average home user They've not said they've bought all the pupils one and now realised it doen't work Si
mattx Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 I'm off to buy a dog and bark myself this evening....
SYNACK Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Slow up people Maybe the OP is like me, got a IPad/'droid pad and is seeing if they can overcome the devices limitations with some clever geek stuff not available to average home user They've not said they've bought all the pupils one and now realised it doen't work Si True, hence the links to useful stuff in post 9, the javascript runtime reinterpreting stuff should work with some reasonably simple tweaking of the html that serves the flash content if they have access to it. It still does not get past the wrong tool point though. Even if it can be made to 'kinda' work its still not supported and getting the most expencive tool in the knowlage that it is not officially supported or even reasonably supported to work for one of the required tasks is still a bad idea.
jtotheb Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Slow up people They've not said they've bought all the pupils one and now realised it doen't work Not all of them, it's only 20 iPads :-D http://www.edugeek.net/forums/educational-software/83318-sam-learning-ipad.html#post734886
SimpleSi Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 it's only 20 iPads Sorry - give him both barrels then But it won't be a problem - the Ipads will just be "redeployed" as SLT tools Si
mattx Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 This is yet another fine example of wasted money within schools when it could be directed elsewhere..... I'm so glad I'm out of education now, I've even stopped being a school gov. The amount of money pi55ed up the wall in regards to ICT I've seen over the last 10 years is quite amazing. Sorry, it's not amazing, to me it's quite sickening. It even makes me sick thinking about it - [ and quite cross ]
SYNACK Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 The amount of money pi55ed up the wall in regards to ICT I've seen over the last 10 years is quite amazing. Sorry, it's not amazing, to me it's quite sickening. It even makes me sick thinking about it - [ and quite cross ] +1 Silly HTML does not have a font size large enough to convey my agreement. 1
3s-gtech Posted October 5, 2011 Posted October 5, 2011 Gah, I keep getting asked what I think of the iPad as a tool in education. Show me some really good resources, apps and functionality which it brings into learning above what a PC can do, and I might start to see how I could use them. Shoehorning them in because they're 'cool' then finding they don't do the job, is an astonishing waste of money (not that I'm suggesting that is what the OP has done, but some schools seem to have).
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