Aral Balkan

It should be easier to find out what version of the Flash Player a user is running. I also often feel the need to check the player version myself while developing. So, for a while now I thought it would be cool to have a simple site that told you your Flash Player Version and maybe also offered some helpful links too. Today, when a burst blood vessel in my finger from too much typing stopped me from working on Singularity, I thought I could at least create that site with one hand.

So here it is: playerversion.com.

Blogged from my iPhone (and typed in with one finger!) :)

Update: There was a bug in the initial version that stopped it from working correctly on Windows with IE 6/7. This is now fixed. I don't have IE7 to test with so I'd appreciate it if someone can confirm that it works there too.

As my hand's feeling better, here's a bit more info on the detection process: It uses the latest SWFObject to embed a Flash 8 SWF which communicates the version back to the page via ExternalInterface. If the Flash Player version is less than 8, than the JavaScript detection in SWFObject is used. I also just added a link to Sephiroth's Plugin Switcher extension for Firefox/Win.

Comments

• @Johnny: Please do + thanks! :) @Carlos: Thanks, man. I just added the link. @Adrian: Flash minds think alike? :)

  by Aral on 2008-02-18 10:41:18

• Thanks Aral, great service!

  by Martin on 2008-02-16 13:37:53

• Hi Ronny, Thanks! I don't think I'll have a lot of time to devote to making it pretty but who knows, if I need a break at some point, maybe :) @stan: Ask and you shall have. The page now tells you what the latest version of the Flash Player is.

  by Aral on 2008-02-16 18:47:37

• Hi Clark, Dimitri, I'm using the latest SWFObject for the version detection. Will look into this.

  by Aral on 2008-02-16 08:43:23

• The internet thanks you immensely. Excellent productivity hack.

  by Mike Creighton on 2008-02-16 00:34:24

• Handy site, but I'm having the same issue as Clark here on Vista.

  by Dimitri on 2008-02-16 03:11:26

• sounds good, but what about http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/about/ ? also accessible from the "About Adobe Flash Player..." right click on flash content..

  by stan on 2008-02-16 08:16:55

• Feature Request: A badge so I can link to it from my site. Barter: I'll give you a capabilities SWF in return.

  by JesterXL on 2008-02-17 00:43:34

• Hey Aral, We must have had the same thought. Check out my blog post from the 12th Feb (four days before you posted yours). http://www.adrianparr.com/?p=27 :-)

  by Adrian Parr on 2008-02-17 19:48:50

• I think it's been done a few times. I was reading the SWFObject page yesterday. And the page for testing express install includes a link to a similar page. http://blog.deconcept.com/swfobject/flashversion.html A group at Carnegie Mellon has a page that shows a variety of stats on plugins and media support: https://odin.web.cmu.edu/~jar2/detection.html

  by John laPlante on 2008-02-19 19:54:37

• Hi Jason, The issue wasn't SWFObject but a bug in my JS that only showed up on IE.

  by Aral on 2008-02-18 19:00:54

• Whoops! HTML not showing :-( Ok heres the links to my flickr so that you can view them there: Version 1 http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2023/2275514538_2c1499eeeb_o.png Version 2 http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2027/2275514568_8a6f38ec5a_o.png

  by Johnny on 2008-02-18 21:13:19

• Ok here goes (I hope this shows up on here) Version 1: Version 2: Let me know if these are ok or if anything needs to be added. Cheers :-)

  by Johnny on 2008-02-18 21:05:07

• Hey Guy, Thanks! That's just a summary of the latest player version info from the About Flash page.

  by Aral on 2008-02-19 11:33:54

• Hi John, I had the Flash Player version on my site for ages too buy I feel that having a site dedicated to it, with an easy to remember URL will be helpful for people (I know it will be for me; I've felt the need on many occasions). @Guy: That would be because it's a tiny bit of static text typed in by the monkey behind the keyboard (me!) :)

  by Aral on 2008-02-20 17:50:47

• 0.0023s I have never faster bookmarked a site. Thanks You!

  by Nick on 2008-02-21 02:11:04

• Nice project man. I've got IE 7 and it works really fine. I guess many people will find it useful. Keep up the good work. Regards

  by odziez uzywana on 2008-07-22 12:09:36

• @Stan: I just added that link to the page. I feel playerversion is simpler than the About page and contains more useful links.

  by Aral on 2008-02-16 11:34:48

• Thanks. Actually what I like about the about page is to be able to check that I'm up-to-date at the same time. If you could find some way to let us know that directly that would save a click :P Good idea anyway!

  by stan on 2008-02-16 16:37:27

• Great job... However: I hope when your hand is better, and you have a moment of spare time you make it look more 'Aral' ;) Anyway: great job, and very good idea! You truly have great ideas!

  by Ronny on 2008-02-16 16:25:56

• Thanks Aral. Very useful! Whats all this about though: The latest Flash Player version is 9,0,115,0 (on Windows 95/NT it is 7,0,73,0). ?

  by Guy Watson on 2008-02-18 23:03:24

• Hi, that is so funny to see that I also had this idea a few days ago. Well done. I guess I have to think of something new ;)

  by niel smith on 2008-02-16 12:32:06

• Hi Cerebral, Thanks for confirming the fix for IE7 :) I also hope it'll make it easier to troubleshoot issues with end users. Telling them to go to playerversion.com and telling you what they see should be easier than having them type in complicated Adobe URLs.

  by Aral on 2008-02-16 11:32:03

• Hi, I confirm it's working properly in IE7. This allowed me to know I only had version 6 installed in that crappy browser :) Otherwise this page is a good idea (detection + gathering of useful links) which will be easier to type than the flash player detection page I know by heart, namely http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/welcome, so thanks for this.

  by Cerebral on 2008-02-16 11:22:31

• IE 6/7 issues should now be fixed. I've tested with 6. Can someone please test and confirm with 7? Thanks!

  by Aral on 2008-02-16 10:30:48

• You legend! This is a great idea

  by Daniel on 2008-02-15 23:46:04

• Works cool on FF (XP) but IE7 shows 'You don't have Flash installed' message....and I most surely do :)

  by clark slater on 2008-02-16 01:02:54

• Great idea! Love the idea of the links. I would add the link to download the debugger and projector, that are such a pain to find at adobe's. http://www.adobe.com/support/flashplayer/downloads.html

  by C4RL05 on 2008-02-17 18:41:04

• @Jester XL - I'll make a badge if thats ok with Aral?

  by Johnny on 2008-02-17 18:37:29

• Hey Aral, Question regarding the issue you had in IE with SWFObject. I had what might be a similar issue (in my case a problem with userAgent described here). I was just wondering if your problem was related - and if so, what did you change to correct it in SWFObject? http://thesaj.wordpress.com/2008/02/15/swfobject-20-not-returning-useragent-in-ie6-anyone-else-encounter-this/ Much obliged... - The Saj PS - See everyone next week in Atlanta @ 360Flex

  by Jason The Saj on 2008-02-18 13:37:43

• @Aral - I'm on to it. I'll put it on my site and I will put a link for anyone to download the badge if they want to put it on their site. As soon as it is done I will let you all know. Thanks :-)

  by Johnny on 2008-02-18 19:58:35

• Yes i figured that much, just wondered why it was telling me about Flash Player on Windows 95/NT, when its a legacy player and will no longer be upgraded and im on a Mac :)

  by Guy Watson on 2008-02-20 00:55:43