iSwifter Service Brings Flash Games To iPad

A cloud-based streaming service that allows iPad users to play Flash games on the Apple device has been released on the App Store. iSwifter streams Flash games from portals to its dedicated iPad application, in a similar way to console-focused services OnLive and Gaikai. Apple's devices do not natively allow users to play games or view content in a web browser that uses the Adobe Flash plugin. Recently, Apple updated its policy and now allows developers to use third party development tools to create games and apps for its devices. Flash game portals supported by the app at launch include Yahoo! Games, AOL Games, Facebook and Kongregate, with, at time of writing, one game per service playable. User reviews on the iTunes App Store indicate that there is a degree of lag associated with playing games through the app, a common hurdle for could-based services. iSwifter is the product of tech incubator YouWeb, a support service for entrepreneurs that has produced gaming startups Aurora Feint, CrowdStar and Sibblingz. The company plans for more games and services to be added in coming weeks, and for iPhone and iPod touch, as well as Android and Windows Phone 7 versions of the app to roll out in the future. “We are targeting the much larger user base of casual and social gamers who want to consume gaming content on-the-go”, said Rajat, creator of iSwifter, along with his co-founder, Rohan. “As more mobile devices hit the market," he continued, "there is no reason why game developers should be locked out of the hottest handsets.”