Mar 8, 2011 11:31 GMT  ·  By

Wallaby, a tool used to convert Adobe Flash FLA files into HTML to have them running optimally on iOS devices, is now available for download.

The software, available as a 32-bit Macintosh and Windows application, allows developers to drag and drop their Flash content into the app’s interface to have it instantly converted to HTML5 code.

Previewed in 2010, "Wallaby" is the codename for an experimental technology that converts Adobe Flash Professional (FLA) files (particularly the artwork and animation contained in them) into HTML.

Apple’s iOS devices are known not to support Flash natively, but several third-party solutions, like the Skyfire web browser, seem to fill that gap.

However, web developers will see Wallaby as a great opportunity to have their websites displayed on Apple’s iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches, without the need of additional third party tools on the user’s end.

In fact, “Wallaby's primary design goals were to get the best quality and performance on browsers within iOS devices,” Adobe claims.

“These devices are known to have a relatively slow JavaScript interpreter,” the Flash makers say.

However, Apple has recently announced a much-improved JavaScript experience with the IOS version of Safari.

Still, Wallaby's ability to export to HTML5 does avoid usage of complex JavaScript for developers.

Typical output includes 3 files (the HTML file, a CSS file and a JavaScript file) plus an asset folder for SVG and image content.

Delivered as a stand-alone native AIR application installer, Wallaby makes use of Adobe dynamic link libraries including Flame 2.1, Flamingo, Bravo and AdobeLinquistic.

It also installs CMaps, Jquery, Javascript and other supported files which are all self-contained with the installer in both the Mac and Windows versions of the Adobe AIR application.

Wallaby for Mac supports both OS X 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard. The best results were achieved on Snow Leopard, Adobe said. On the iOS side, the most thorough tests were carried out successfully on iOS 4.2.

Some design elements such as Filters are not supported. A detailed list of supported and unsupported features is available on Adobe’s Features and Status page.