Adobe AIR 3 / Features

Use native code to take advantage of the same platform- and device-specific native capabilities and APIs available to native apps, with easy integration into AIR applications.

Now developers have access to the Android Market Licensing Service, which lets publishers enforce licensing policies for paid applications that they publish through Android Market.

Take advantage of iOS features like multitasking, retina display for higher screen resolutions up to 960x640, front and back camera support, and capture audio with the microphone.

Mobile apps can now take advantage of the native text input controls on Android, BlackBerry Tablet, and iOS operating systems, including platform-specific user interaction behaviors such as magnification and text selection.

Debug and build iOS apps faster using a new mode available within the AIR Developer Tool (ADT). During the development of an application, developers can now choose to use "interpreter mode" to streamline testing and debugging.

Use support for location updates and networking in the background as well as notifications when a background app is about to be suspended in your iOS applications.

This feature allows end users to install or move the AIR runtime onto the SD cards within their Android devices so they can free up storage space on the phone.

Conveniently debug applications through a USB connection with no Wi-Fi setup required. 

Simplify multiscreen app development when soft keyboards automatically appear when required. Desktop apps designed for physical keyboards are easily optimized for mobile when you don't have to modify the content or apps to display the soft keyboard.

Develop and run applications for iOS without needing an actual set of devices by using the iOS simulator in Xcode on Mac OS.

Build entirely new types of applications using multitouch (Windows 7, Android, BlackBerry® Tablet OS, and iOS) and gestures (Windows, Mac OS, Android, BlackBerry Tablet OS, and iOS).

Use the new-in- Android 4.0 Stylus API, to build stylus-aware apps that work automatically with any device supporting the Android API set. 

Deliver full HD videos with Dolby Digital and DTS surround directly to AIR powered TVs.

Access remote control input methods that are common for television-style devices with consistent views for buttons such as pause, play, stop, rewind, fast forward, and more.

Leverage 2D graphics acceleration using the underlying hardware acceleration systems that exist on TV platforms. Achieve high-performance interfaces by focusing on 2D and bitmaps that are accelerated directly by the TV hardware.

AIR apps for iOS render up to four times faster in CPU mode. Improves performance of many AIR for iOS apps, including those built with the Flex framework.

Stream beautiful video from your computer’s camera with higher compression efficiency and industry-wide support, enabling both high-quality real-time communications (e.g., video chat and video conferencing) and live video broadcasts.

Flash Access content protection support is now available on Android devices. Broadcasters can now reach and monetize an even broader range of customers on their favorite mobile device.

Leverage hardware acceleration of the entire video pipeline for best-inclass high-definition (HD) video playback experiences. Reduce processor and memory usage and enable smoother video, and higher fidelity on mobile and TV devices.

Developers can now write multitasking iOS applications that can play audio while in the background, such as music applications or reliable voice conferencing apps with multitasking support.

Encrypted local storage support is now available on mobile devices. Applications can more securely store sensitive data on a user’s device, enabling support for storage of sensitive data such as passwords, certificates, and auditing information.

Run faster apps and use resources more efficiently with reduced CPU memory usage (30% reduction in some applications) without requiring apps recompilation (Android OS with H.264 video decoding at 30fps and GPU-based animation and games at up to 50fps).

Build GPS applications or applications that utilize a device location to deliver customized content based on location.

Receive acceleration values in x, y, and z axes from native device accelerometer sensors to ActionScript®. Developers can even specify the rate of accelerometer updates to conserve battery life.

Capture pictures and video onto your device's media gallery (camera roll). Applications can use the camera roll to display images or upload to a server (for example, you can take a picture or video and instantly upload and view it on Facebook).

Display web links inside an application to quickly access web content without having to leave your application. For example, you can use your Facebook application to access all your information instead of having to open a web browser.

Control screen orientation and control games by shaking or rotating.

Start up an application within the browser or native Android application.

Select text in a text field and see a menu for text operations like cut, copy, paste, and input method.

Develop apps that use very large bitmaps. BitmapData objects are no longer limited to a maximum resolution of 16 megapixels (16,777,215 pixels), and maximum bitmap width/height is no longer limited to 8,191 pixels.

Provides developers the ability to select whether audio should be outputted through the phone speaker or external speaker.

Allows developers to build TV apps that communicate with an attached game input devices such as a gamepad or controller wand.

Control the color depth of graphics on Android (16bit and 32bit) for renderMode=cpu/auto for AIR 3 apps.

The front-facing camera support available with AIR for iOS and BlackBerry Tablet OS is now available on Android devices. Take advantage of the front-facing camera to connect users with rich video conferencing and chat experiences.

ActionScript developers can now take advantage of high-performance native parsing and generation of JSON-formatted data. Developers can integrate existing data seamlessly into their projects.

A GC advice API provides additional control over the scheduling of garbage collection, so that the garbage collection process does not disrupt the user experience.

Improve management of data transfer with a new property to determine the number of bytes remaining in the write buffer and a new event for when data is being sent to the network layer.  New APIs allow apps to easily track progress and provide feedback.

Support for the JPEG-XR advanced image compression standard (International Standard ISO/IEC 29199-2) provides more efficient compression than JPEG, enables both lossy and lossless compression support, and adds support for alpha channel transparency.

Developers can now take advantage of LZMA compression for their SWF files. LZMA compression can reduce SWF size by up to 40%, enabling users to benefit from richer experiences with shorter download times and reduced bandwidth consumption.

DisplayObjectContainer now implements a removeChildren API allowing developers to quickly remove all of a container’s children using a single API call. 

A new MovieClip.isPlaying property returns the MovieClip’s current playing state.

Developers can now write multitasking iOS applications that can play audio while in the background, such as music applications or reliable voice conferencing apps with multitasking support.

Encrypted local storage support is now available on mobile devices. Applications can more securely store sensitive data on a user’s device, enabling support for storage of sensitive data such as passwords, certificates, and auditing information.

Open documents in popular file formats like PDF, PSD, DOC, PPT, and MP3 using the native application associated with that file. For example, opening an MP3 file will launch iTunes on systems where iTunes is the default application for MP3 files.

Record audio locally on your device without the need for a server.

Take advantage of runtime support for the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to build time-sensitive, real-time networking applications such as multiplayer games.

Create native installers that launch and communicate with native processes using standard input and output. Communicate with native libraries built using Java™ and .NET and native apps. Create operating system–specific installers (native installers).

Control how content is printed including choice of printer, paper size, and number of copies without a dialog box. Retrieve printing information, such as printable area, whether the printer will print in color, or if the print job is currently active.

When an unexpected error occurs within an application, capture the error or error event in a single location and present useful information to the user, such as instructions on how to report the issue or restart the application.

Enable applications built using Adobe Flash® software or Flex to be enabled for screen-reading software, including JAWS (Windows only).

Enjoy printing support across Mac OS and Windows platforms.

Create and share high-performance, real-time effects using Adobe Pixel Bender®, the same technology behind many filters and effects in Adobe After Effects® software.

Reuse HTML, JavaScript, Flex code, and ActionScript between web applications and desktop applications deployed on Adobe AIR.

Manage structured data within a local database using synchronous and asynchronous APIs.

Enable traditional desktop app behavior on Windows and Mac OS. During installation, an AIR application is connected to all the operating system hooks for native app, including the task manager, program files, and Start menu or Dock.

Applications deployed on Adobe AIR can create native menus for each operating system.

Applications deployed on Adobe AIR can use drag and drop to share data with the local operating system or other applications.

With the Adobe AIR extension for Adobe Flash Professional CS, build rich media applications and deploy them on the desktop as easily as they are deployed to the browser. The extension provides application debugging and packaging.

Take advantage of built-in support for Adobe AIR in Adobe Flash Builder® software. Using the Eclipse™ based IDE, build, debug, profile, and deploy Flex projects on the desktop or to the browser.

With the ability to run at startup or user login, applications such as IM clients can run automatically in the background from startup.

All application files are installed locally, eliminating the need to make server roundtrips and increasing application response time.

With the Adobe AIR extension for Adobe Dreamweaver® CS, build HTML-based applications and content and deploy them on the desktop as easily as they are deployed to the browser. The extension provides application testing and packaging.

Flash Player allows Adobe AIR and AIR apps to be installed directly from a customizable badge on a website. The badge detects whether the AIR runtime is already on the user's computer. If necessary, the runtime is included  at installation.

Simplify the development of animated mouse cursors by moving the task to the operating system. Enable an enhanced user experience and improve performance.

Enjoy 50% faster running of JavaScript code without any code changes to the application using the new SquirrelFish Extreme JavaScript engine. The updated WebKit supports JavaScript profiling.

Detect when mass storage devices such as cameras and USB flash memory drives are available to synchronize files such as photos, videos, MP3 files, or other files.

Build peer-to-peer applications or local servers that make it easier to communicate with other local applications or remote applications over the network.

Connect to a server that requires TLSv1 or SSLv3 for socket communications.

Benefit from better text input handling with IME software. The new API enhancements are designed to use with the new Flash Text Engine.

Applications deployed on Adobe AIR can exchange messages in real time with web applications running in the browser.

Applications deployed on Adobe AIR can be associated with a file extension so that when a file of that type is opened, the application is invoked.

Get complete control over text layout to flow text and sophisticated typographic elements. Create multilingual apps using device fonts that can now be anti-aliased, rotated, and styled, or build your own unique text components.

Use most major frameworks to build AIR applications. Supported frameworks include jQuery, Dojo, Ext JS, and Spry.

The WebKit engine, Flash engine, and local embedded database are managed independent of the operating system and any web browser.

Get the tools to package, test, and debug applications deployed on Adobe AIR in the free Adobe AIR SDK.

Applications deployed on Adobe AIR can feature customized window chrome, or no window chrome at all, enabling innovative, branded designs.

Applications deployed on Adobe AIR can be launched from web pages. If a user chooses to launch an AIR application from a website, the AIR application will run on the desktop.

Adobe AIR enables applications to detect when they are connected to a network. When offline, data input can be stored locally and then synchronized with the server upon reconnection.

Adobe AIR uses Adobe Reader® software to enable viewing of PDF content within AIR applications.

Applications deployed on Adobe AIR can detect and change the z-order, height, width, and visibility of windows, enabling complex applications that use multiple windows to present information.

Dynamically generate audio and create new types of audio applications such as music mixers and sequencers, real-time audio for games, or even audio visualizers with enhanced sound APIs.

Applications can be deployed on Adobe AIR using HTML as the native language. The WebKit HTML engine is a proven, full-featured HTML engine that supports JavaScript, XML, and other languages.

Applications deployed on Adobe AIR can read and write local files on the user's computer. Standard operating system security restrictions apply.

With applications deployed on Adobe AIR, the same installer file can be used across operating systems. This simplifies deployment and installation for both the business and its users.

Applications deployed on Adobe AIR can read and write to the system clipboard, enabling communication within and between applications.

Manage runtime configuration to disable runtime updates, prevent installation of untrusted applications, and prevent application updates.

By default, Adobe AIR is configured to look for automatic updates to the runtime on a regular basis. If an update of the runtime is required, the update is downloaded and installed (after user authorization).

Developers now have a way to better implement intra-application navigation by responding to a new event (LocationChangeEvent.
LOCATION_CHANGING) to be notified when content within the HTMLLoader control attempts to change the location of a page.

Easily build input support for complex characters and symbols (such as Chinese and Japanese characters) using your standard keyboard or input devices.

Adobe AIR includes the high-performance, open source Tamarin virtual machine for processing ActionScript 3.0 bytecode.

Stream beautiful video from your computer’s camera with higher compression efficiency and industry-wide support, enabling both high-quality real-time communications (e.g., video chat and video conferencing) and live video broadcasts.

Take advantage of key rotation support, V3 license chaining, domain support, enhanced output protection, and device filtering features.

Support interoperability with legacy phone systems via the Flash Media Gateway (FMG) and other third-party clients (through the open RTMP protocol) without the need for transcoding.

Protect streaming video across devices while eliminating the deployment complexity of a license server.

Leverage hardware acceleration of the entire video pipeline for best-inclass high-definition (HD) video playback experiences. Reduce processor and memory usage and enable smoother video, and higher fidelity on mobile and TV devices.

Deliver live streaming and real-time interactive video with improved playback performance and increased frame rates of high bit rate content running on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.

Enjoy robust protection for multimedia content including video and audio. Content protection supports usage models including per-user licensing and ad-supported content.

Create native installers that launch and communicate with native processes using standard input and output. Communicate with native libraries built using Java™ and .NET and native apps. Create operating system–specific installers (native installers).

Use new sound APIs to reduce latency for high quality streaming audio playback.

Developers can now take advantage of cryptographically secure random number generation to build more secure algorithms and protocols.

Set the execution bit on a file. Take advantage of encrypted TLS sockets and access to the MAC address.

The WebKit engine has been updated to provide additional security for HTML applications on the desktop. These enhancements reduce the potential exposure of applications to common web vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting and code injection.

Adobe AIR provides a sandbox for all network content, similar to the browser sandbox, that restricts network content from accessing the full capabilities of the runtime.

Protected by industry-standard AES encryption, the zero-configuration, encrypted local database provides a more secure place to store sensitive information.

Enjoy support for a wide range of business models, including video on demand, rental, and electronic sell-through, for streaming media as well as downloaded content.

Take advantage of support for the next-generation Secure Internet Protocol.

Create engaging interfaces using built-in support for 3D effects. Enhancements to the Drawing API add the z-dimension, real perspective, textured meshes in 3D space, and a retained graphics model, while improving rendering and developer productivity.

The installation process for all Adobe AIR applications verifies that the application is signed and provides information about its source and capabilities.

Adobe AIR provides an encrypted local store using the Advanced Encryption Standard so that applications can store sensitive information such as passwords or keys.