Ignite TV App Web Version Requires Flash?

[Philip144]

This App requires Adobe Flash when using Windows 10 Pro and Edge (Developers Beta).  Microsoft has indicated Flash will not be supported after December 2020 by any of it's browsers.  Will Rogers be addressing this problem (and please don't point me to Chrome, just answer the question).

*Added Labels*

[BS]

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@Philip144 wrote:

This App requires Adobe Flash when using Windows 10 Pro and Edge (Developers Beta).  Microsoft has indicated Flash will not be supported after December 2020 by any of it's browsers.  Will Rogers be addressing this problem (and please don't point me to Chrome, just answer the question).

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@Philip144   This is an extremely important question to be asked, as experience has shown in the past, that Rogers has not always been timely in responding to deprecated apps.

Yes, you are correct, Rogers, along with every company that uses Adobe Flash in their apps, is going to have to find another solution, as the decision to take it out of service is by Adobe, and all Browser developers have agreed, as it should have been phased out a few years back, as it has been created headaches for a number of years, and there has been lots of talk about removing access to it in all browsers if Adobe didn't deprecate (discontinue it) on their own.

They won't be able to send you to Chrome or Firefox as an alternative to Edge - if you were to open up Chrome today with a request for Flash on the web page, you will see a notice pop up at the top stating,

" Flash Player will no longer be supported after 2020"  Deprication date is December 31, 2020.

So I hope they are proactive on this one - there is still a little over 16 months for them to get this done - not a lot of time really in the development world, but I am sure there are good solid experts working on a best practice to do this, so they just have to do the work.

See the following links. https://blogs.windows.com/msedgedev/2017/07/25/flash-on-windows-timeline/

This is the Windows notice

Chrome notice is hear:  https://9to5google.com/2019/03/22/chrome-warn-flash-player-deprecation-july/

Another article, talking about the security risks of not stopping its use and its current security issues.

https://www.focuseduvation.com/flash-html5-end-life-flash-will-mean/

there are workarounds of installing older versions of browsers that still run Adobe if a company doesn't make the change, but why would anyone take the security risks is beyond me.

So my hope is that Rogers will get it done on time.  they may be completely get it switched over, but never tell us anything, but still feel free to ask as time goes by.  It is a legitimate concern, and depends upon how much you trust that Rogers will get it right and done on time, with a seamless change over for the consumer, as it should be.

Thw switch is to HTML 5 by the way, a switch that should have been fully completed a long time ago, and you will still find old HTML found on Rogers pages, such as old bills - that will wash out in a few months, as you can only go 18 months, and data usage charts, that last I saw was still in older HTML, but I can't comment as I don't have home Internet services with Rogers anymore.

Hope this provides some level of comfort, but understand if it may concern some - if does keep asking, and escalate if you are not satisfied with silence or talk directly to community helps and within tech support, and manager, or OOP. It is up to each person on how comfortable they are with the unkonwn.

Bruce

[arecad]

Hi,

Can someone comment as to why the web browser needs flash to work for the TV service? I cannot install flash for security reasons (and it will soon no longer be supported at all). Is there another way to watch my TV service online without installing Flash?

[sbenninger]

Are you using Firefox by any chance? It may have the add-in active even with no flash installed. Follow the directions below to disable it if it is still active.

1. Open Firefox and click on main menu (with three horizontal lines)
2. In the menu, click on “Add-ons”.
3. On the next page, you will see an option of “Plugins” in the left panel, click on it.
4. Now, click on the drop down menu on the plugin “Shockwave Flash” and select “Never Activate”. This will disable the flash player

[-G-]

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@arecad wrote:

Can someone comment as to why the web browser needs flash to work for the TV service? I cannot install flash for security reasons (and it will soon no longer be supported at all). Is there another way to watch my TV service online without installing Flash?

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Part of the reason that Flash is in the picture is because Comcast worked with Adobe from the beginning when developing the X1 platform.  (Rogers Ignite TV is based on the X1.)  Flash Player distributes common codecs on all supported platforms along with Adobe Primetime.   For DRM, Flash also provides a unique hardware identifier for your device that is used, for example, to enforce downloading of recorded content to a single device for playback.

I have no idea where things currently stand given that Flash will no longer be supported by the end of the year.  The Google Chrome team even plans to remove support for all plug-in API's from their code by June, 2021 so that's another hard end-date for Flash.  Comcast has stated that they plan to transition from Flash to an HTML player in 2018 but it's now 2020 and (as far as I know) this still has not happened yet.  Comcast has not provided any official answers to customers' questions in the Xfinity Community Forum either.

[DeliriousKoala]

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prepaidcardstatus wrote:

Are you using Firefox by any chance? It may have the add-in active even with no flash installed. Follow the directions below to disable it if it is still active.

1. Open Firefox and click on main menu (with three horizontal lines)
2. In the menu, click on “Add-ons”.
3. On the next page, you will see an option of “Plugins” in the left panel, click on it.
4. Now, click on the drop down menu on the plugin “Shockwave Flash” and select “Never Activate”. This will disable the flash player

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Thank you so much for helping with this wonderful article.

[Philip144]

It has been 7 months since I started this thread and still no information from Rogers as to its plans.  This is disconcerting as I want to dump my "stupid" Smart Samsung TV for a 50" display attached to an Intel NUC unit to do all my "TV" and streaming with the simpler equipment.  Ignite would continue my use of the Rogers TV services which provides consistency for me and mine and ease of use with the familiar mouse and keyboard in place of those god-awful tiny-button boxes we have collected.

[Don_Ca]

To be honest, it is not up to Rogers.  It is Comcast.  They bought all this from them.  When Rogers launched this, Flash was already dying with the announced end.  Rogers does none of the development on this, thank god, look at Navigtr!  

Comcast said 2018 was their date, so unless they travel in a blue Police box, that is not happening.   

[Philip144]

So Ignite TV on my computers is dead after 31 December?  That's not good.

[Philip144]

I contacted Comcast about this issue and they stated "Comcast will not let its customers down."  Lets hope so.

[Pauly]

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@Philip144 wrote:

I contacted Comcast about this issue and they stated "Comcast will not let its customers down."  Lets hope so.

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Cool, how about not letting their Vendors such as Rogers cable down as well? did they say anything about that?

[Philip144]

Nope.

[Don_Ca]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. That is funny.

[vcr]

As of January 1, 2021, Chrome, Microsoft Edge IE, Firefox, and Safari browsers will no longer allow Adobe's Flash player to run, or not support it as Adobe is ending support.  Flash player is required to view Ignite TV on non-mobile devices.

Microsoft Edge support details : https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/web-platform/site-impacting-changes

All Microsoft Browsers support details: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/announcements/adobe-flash-end-of-support

Chrome Flash support details: https://www.chromium.org/flash-roadmap#TOC-Flash-Support-Removed-from-Chromium-Target:-Chrome-88---J...

Adobe Flash End of Life Details: https://www.adobe.com/ca/products/flashplayer/end-of-life.html

Firefox End of Life Details: https://www.adobe.com/ca/products/flashplayer/end-of-life.html

Since Ignite TV requires Adobe Flash Player to run on web browsers, this will effectively result in a loss of services for Ignite TV paid services that include access via web browsers on personal computers. If there is no action to replace the Flash player, those users that want to continue to use unsupported Flash players to view Ignite TV will be unable to receive security updates for the player, which could put the security of their computer systems at risk. 

Alternatives for Adobe Flash Player have been available for over 10 years, yet rogers continues to use technology that is no longer relevant.  What if anything is Rogers doing to replace the current Ignite TV desktop player prior to the end of 2020?  How does Rogers plan to protect the security of user's computers while still delivering the services that required to be provided by service agreements?  If no alternative player is available, how will Rogers compensate customers for the resulting loss of service?

If you are replying to this as a rogers representative, please provide your exact plans for when you will release a non Flash player solution.  You have about 2 months to do this before you are no longer able to provide web based services, so you clearly must have a product release date planned as you would need to be in the final QA phase of a new player to make the cutoff date.

Thanks,

Victor Robison

[Don_Ca]

This is not up to Rogers at all. They have been waiting on Comcast. Comcast have been dragging their feet over this for years.

[-G-]

FYI, this issue has also been raised in another thread: https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Ignite-TV/Apple-has-released-Safari-14-no-Flash-support-at-all...

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@Don_Ca wrote:
This is not up to Rogers at all. They have been waiting on Comcast. Comcast have been dragging their feet over this for years.

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Comcast has now transitioned away from using the Adobe Flash Player in their Xfinity Stream web app: https://forums.xfinity.com/t5/XFINITY-Stream-Website/on-MacOS-Adobe-FlashPlay-support-ending-soon/m-...

Hopefully, Rogers is in the process of updating/migrating https://ignitetv.rogers.com/ as well.

[Don_Ca]

So, now it is up to Rogers.

[gumshoe99]

So I'm brand new to IgniteTV and only 2-3 days ago happily discovered I could access my TV content on PC and Win10 11.6" tablet using a browser by accessing  https://ignitetv.rogers.com/

but it seems that's already at risk. Talk about pulling the rug out if Rogers doesn't come through with an alternative that can be rolled out quickly and not just late in December.

There has to be better communication lines with the customers than us stumbling across an important issue like this in a public forum while doing some unrelated browsing and search. Come on Rogers you can do better!

[Don_Ca]

When Rogers first deployed IgniteTV, Adobe had already announced the end of life for Flash. So they deployed a new product that had an already known end date. This is of course because they just bought Comcast's solution for all of this. Since Comcast now has a replacement, I expect to see it deployed to Rogers very soon.

[undertaker9081]

As of January 1 2021 Flash will not be supported on Windows 10 and as of now the ignite website to watch shows and recordings is dependent on Flash player on the browser.. I hope Rogers is working on a website overhaul that will be ready for the New Year

[Don_Ca]

I tried to look for the existing thread on this but could not find it. The delay was Comcast. If you do not know, all the Rogers Ignite system is based on Comcast software. Comcast just, finally, finished the switch over from Flash. I expect Rogers to flip shortly.