What is Adobe Air

Adobe launched their latest technology called Adobe AIR at the beginning of 2008. It’s an exciting technology that lets web developers to use their skills to build applications for virtually any desktop environment.

What Exactly Is Adobe Air?

AIR stands for, the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) and is one of the latest interesting development from Adobe.

AIR runs on Windows, Mac OS X and a very usable Beta version for Linux. A version for mobile devices is on the roadmap and should be announced in the second half of 2008. It installs the first time you download and run an AIR application, much in the same way that Flash is installed on a computer if the user visits a web site using Flash and they don’t already have it installed.

Air applications run on the desktop and are half way between web based applications (which run in a browser) and full blown desktop applications such as Word or Photoshop.

Developers can create AIR applications using the HTML, CSS, Javascript, Flash, Flex (A flash framework) and PDF knowledge they already have and AIR acts as a wrapper that allows them to run on the desktop and go beyond the limitations they would normally have if they were running in a web browser.

Is It A Web or a Desktop Application?

Neither, it’s a kind of hybrid.

AIR applications differ from current web applications because AIR applications do not run in your web browser and therefore are able to use desktop features such as full drag and drop between applications, save files to the local hard drive or network and store data locally in a database.

When compared to traditional desktop applications, AIR applications are simple to deploy, easy and cost-effective to build, have better web integration and will run on all three of the major operating systems.

AIR finds the best of both worlds. It can interact with online resources if connected or use local storage (via the included SQLite database) and synchronise data when an online source when next connected.

AIR is also smart enought to know when it is and isn’t connected so you can create programmes that work with online data and use the local database as a fallback if the connection to the internet is dropped.

So Is AIR a Web Browser?

No. AIR uses HTML and Flash it needs browser technology to work. AIR uses the WebKit rendering engine (used in Safari) to display the HTML and/or Flash and process the JavaScript.

So your appplication will render predictably using the most advanced rendering engine available at the moment, but look like a traditional desktop programme. If you open an AIR application, you’ll be able to work with that application, but you won’t be able to then use the application as a regular browser to visit other web sites.

Why Does Adobe Air Matter?

The reason that AIR is significant is not so much for what can be created, but for how those applications are created and who can create them.

There’s not really that much new in AIR from a technology perspective. Its strength is that web developers can use existing web technologies, (X)HTML, CSS, Javascript, Flash and PDF to create applications that run on the desktop. AIR can work in tandem with your existing web sites and web applications and can be built by web developers using the skills they already have. In the cases where AIR will be working in tandem with an existing web site you have much of the code that you need developed already.

AIR also matters because it gives companies that only have a web presence the ability to have a presence on the user desktop as well. AIR interrupts the process of opening a browser and searching for a service. Companies that provide successful AIR applications stand to benefit from higher customer retention.

Who Is Using Air?

AIR acceptance has been rapid and already, some high profile companies such as eBay and PayPal are developing AIR applications and whole range of smaller companies are investing resources in AIR applications.

23 Responses to “What is Adobe Air”

  1. Dreadful. Usurps storage and computing resources on a naive website visitor’s computer. Circumvents the security measures implemented by developers. A new way to deliver virus, spyware, and other malware. Will be rapidly exploited to cause all sorts of havoc

  2. Sue E. Miller says:
    January 14th, 2010 at 4:59 pm

    Thank you so much for your Web Glossary. I recently had a problem printing a US Post Office “Click and Ship” label. The label would not display in Adobe Reader, hence it would not print. They told me to uninstall Adobe Air, which I’m hesitant to do since I don’t know what implication that would have. Is there a known issue with Air interrupting other web applications, including Adobe Reader?

  3. Sue, uninstalling AIR would mean that any AIR based programmes would stop working.

    As AIR is not installed as standard on computers then it implies that if AIR is on your computer then you also have some programmes which use AIR.

    I’ve not seen any other reports of the two products causing a problem for each other and as they are both made by Adobe then is seems less likely.

    Try updating to the latest version of Acrobat Reader at http://www.adobe.com/go/getreader/

    Also, there’s a handy little programme called File Hippo which you can use which will periodically check to make sure that you always have the most up to date versions of most of the software on your computer. You can get that at http://www.filehippo.com/updatechecker/

  4. @jj just like native apps and the web do then. Let’s not make any more applications then shall we. I’ll disconnect after I hit submit…

  5. Very nice, I was really needing to know EXACTLY what is AIR and it seems to be very exciting. Thanks for the article!

  6. So I still don’t understand. Why is it a good thing for me to click “I agree” and have it on my computer? What is it for? In reeeeeeeally simple terms, please…

  7. @June No problem. All of the programmes that run on your computer e.g. Excel or iTunes are created using a programming languages.

    Because most programmes on your computer share a lot of common tasks e.g opening and saving files, printing and searching then people create things called frameworks that help programmers perform these common tasks very easily and quickly without having to reinvent the wheel every time.

    For a programme created in Adobe AIR to run on a computer, that computer has to have the Adobe AIR framework installed. You only have to do this one. If you then install another programme that requires AIR then it will already know that you installed AIR previously.

    So when AIR launched a couple of years ago, it was exciting for some developers because it meant that they could write a programme once and it would run on a Windows, Apple Mac or Linux computer. It also meant that people who had good web programming skills (people that used HTML, JavaScript or Flash) could also start to use those skills to make programmes that would run on a desktop computer, not just make web sites.

    A couple of examples of AIR programmes are :

    Of course, you should be making the choice to install AIR based on the fact that you need a particular programme that runs on AIR , not just because AIR exists.

    Hope that helps.

  8. Gil, thanks a lot for your time!

  9. Can anyone tell me if jj has a valid point (Jan 11 2010). Air is on my computer and I didn’t know it till just now.

  10. Hi Brian, I think the key thing is why is AIR on your computer? What did you install that required AIR and is it still useful to you? E.g. if you use Twitter, you may have installed Tweetdeck.

    AIR only installs with your permission or by you installing a programme that requires it.

    This post shows screenshots of the install process which may help trigger your memory as to which programme caused AIR to install http://www.ashorten.com/2009/08/03/air-1-5-2-offers-improved-application-install-process/

  11. If I may, I'll take a stab at explaining this, for those still in the dark, even after reading the above.

    Air, is a Java, or Flash equivalent. For all intent and purposes, it is a "program" (or "environment" for programmers), which can be installed and runs under Widows, Mac or Linux, allowing the user to run other applications written specifically to run under Air (regardless of the underlying Operating System). Air offers a platform (aka "environment") for the app's creator(s) so the app need not write for all 3 OS', so to appeal to Windows and Mac and Linux users. Therefore the app is written for Air and it will run regardless of the underlying operating system, saving them time and money (by writing in one language, AIR, instead of the other three). Bottom line, Air works under the same principle as Java, principle described as "write once, read many".

    Hope this helps.

  12. How do you develop a program for AIR? In other words, do you have to have an application that creates AIR compatible programs? If so, what is that application? If you’ve already created a program in HTML, can that just somehow be retrofit to AIR?

  13. [...] Note2: You can download Adobe Flex Builder from CCSE Software here is an article that explain what is Adobe AIR:        Click Here [...]

  14. jimbowsaw says:
    June 6th, 2010 at 7:27 am

    Gil, thanks for the layman’s explanation. Like June I was still having a problem understanding via the previous posts. Especially the one about it being a vehicle for trouble from jj. I’ve always deleted it because I didn’t know it. Since my spouse uses facebook, now I know why it’s installed. The examples (at least that one) helped. I wouldn’t have had a clue about Polaris, etc….it’s good people like you who educate in lay terms and are not haughty that make it all work…..

  15. I do have Adobe AIR installed on my Laptop & was surprised to see that it uses 30.6MB. That seems like such a large size for the job it does, am I wrong?
    I also did a search for it & found an Adobe AIR installer.exe & after clicking on it to install, I received a message that I already had the latest version so how would I remove the installer?
    I thank you for your time.
    Joyce

  16. 30Mb sounds about right and every AIR based application that you open will take up at least that much memory. Every instance of a AIR based programme has to create an instance of webkit (the engine that web browsers like safari and google Chrome are built on).

    Look and see how much memory your web browser is using, it’s probably a lot more.

    Just delete the installer like you would any other file. When new versions of AIR become available the programmes that you installed that run on AIR will do the update for you so you don’t need to install AIR updates manually.

    Out of interest, which programme did you install that required AIR?

  17. Considering the security problems users reported, I’d never install anything using the same webkit as Chrome. Is this a tool to install malware more easily?

  18. So exactly which “secure” browser are you using Dave?

  19. I installed AIR a few days ago so I could install/run the desktop version of Write or Die (http://writeordie.drwicked.com/). I can’t honestly imagine any security risks are all that much greater than any from Internet Explorer (though actually I use Firefox, but nevertheless) or Flash or any number of other programs, especially since it’s from Adobe. So until I see some kind of major problem caused by it on my laptop, I for one am not going to worry! But I was interested to find out a little more about AIR itself – other than something from Adobe that I needed to run a particular program, I had no idea what it was. This all was very informative, thanks!

  20. Well said Melinda. I’ve been running many AIR based applications since it was launched a couple of years ago and had no problems at all. To your average Joe it’s no different to any other kind of software. I’m sure lot’s of applications useful have been built, that would not have seen the light of day were it not for AIR.

    Write or Die looks amusing. You might also be interested in Q10. It’s a full screen editor and has a typewriter sound that I find actually makes me write quicker. http://www.baara.com/q10/

  21. Oooh – thanks for the link! Q10 looks promising; I’ll have to check it out!

  22. How can I determine what programs are using AIR on my computer?

  23. It’s not a very scientific approach but if you’re on Windows (XP in my case) you can go to:

    My Computer > C: > Documents and Settings > Choose the folder with your computer name at this point > Application Data

    E.g. C:\Documents and Settings\Web Glossary\Application Data

    You’ll then see some folders with wierd looking names. They have a . and then a series of numbers and letters after them

    See the examples below.

    The first one is for BalsamiqMockups
    The second one is for polaris

    BalsamiqMockupsForDesktop.EDE15CF69E11F7F7D45B5430C7D37CC6C3545E3C.1

    com.desktopreporting.flex.polaris.8FDD73C8DA1FCEF58BC69C43E4F3474F7816E940.1

    The name of the programme as you know it is the bit just before the number.

    Windows Vista and Windows 7 use slightly different folder structures.

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