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This article is from June 29, 2011, and is no longer current.

Google's Swiffy Turns Flash SWF to HTML5

The new Swiffy conversion tool from Google Labs converts SWF animations to HTML5. This is handy when your content must display on devices that don’t support the Flash format; most notably, iPhones and iPads.
Google says that Swiffy supports only a subset of SWF 8 and ActionScript 2.0, and that the HTML5 results might be better if you submit a SWF 5 file to the free conversion service free. Note that HTML5 is not supported in every browser, especially the older browsers, but Swiffy’s output will play in all Webkit browsers.
If you’re hoping that the conversion will net you a smaller file that uploads more quickly, you may be out of luck. Most animations are a little larger than the original SWF file. And note that Swiffy can’t handle SWF files larger than 512 KB.
The Swiffy interface:

In March 2011, Adobe announced its own Flash-to-HTML5 converter, Wallaby. Like Swiffy, Wallaby is a free service that also is meant only for converting simple animations. However, Swiffy can convert SWF files, and Wallaby is (for now) restricted to the FLA file format. On the plus side, you can edit the code Wallaby produces with any HTML editor.
If you’re interested in HTML5 animation, you should also keep an eye out for Adobe Edge. Although not yet available, even in beta form, Adobe says that Edge will help you produce “smooth motion and transitions for screens of all sizes.”

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