Note: This is the Adobe AIR Developer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document. Adobe maintains a number of additional FAQs, including the Adobe AIR General FAQ and the Adobe AIR HTML Security FAQ.
General
What is the Adobe AIR?
Adobe AIR is a cross-operating system runtime developed by Adobe that allows developers to leverage their existing web development skills (Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax) to deliver web applications beyond the browser.
How is Apollo related to Adobe AIR?
Apollo used to be the code name for Adobe AIR prior to the public beta of the Adobe AIR 1.0 release.
Is Adobe AIR available for download?
Yes. You can download the most recent release from the Adobe AIR download page.
What type of applications does Adobe AIR target?
Adobe AIR is targeted at allowing web developers to build and deploy desktop applications using web technologies.
What types of developers is Adobe AIR targeting?
Adobe AIR is targeted at developers who are currently using web technologies such as Flash, Flex, HTML, and JavaScript as well as Ajax techniques to build and deploy rich Internet applications.
Is Adobe AIR free?
Yes. Adobe AIR is free (similar to Flash Player and Adobe Reader).
Is the Adobe AIR SDK free?
Yes. The Adobe AIR SDK is free for developers to download and use (similar to the Flex SDK).
What platforms does Adobe AIR target?
Adobe AIR is supported on Windows, Mac OS X, and numerous versions of Linux.
You can find more detailed information in the current Adobe AIR Release Notes.
Does Adobe AIR support mobile devices?
Adobe AIR 1.5 does not work on mobile devices. However, we are working on bringing Adobe AIR to the mobile world.
The Adobe AIR roadmap includes plans for enabling developers to deploy AIR applications using the same tools, servers, and programming models across desktop and mobile devices.
For more information on the Adobe mobile platform refer to the Adobe Mobile Experience Suite FAQ.
Is Adobe AIR part of the Open Screen Project?
As a supporter of the Open Screen Project initiative, Adobe will deliver Adobe AIR for devices, free.
For more information on Adobe and the Open Screen Project refer to the Adobe Open Screen Project FAQ.
Development
What technologies can I leverage within an Adobe AIR application?
Adobe AIR applications can be built using Flash, Flex, and HTML/JavaScript or a combination of the above.
Flash based applications can include HTML-based content and HTML-based applications can contain Flash based content.
In addition, Adobe AIR applications can integrate closely with PDF documents.
Can I use just HTML and JavaScript to build an Adobe AIR application?
Yes.
What IDE do I use to develop Adobe AIR applications?
You can leverage any existing IDE that you already use for Flash, Flex, or HTML/JavaScript development such as Flex Builder, Eclipse, vim, and so on. Adobe AIR does not require a specific IDE. We support extensions to a number of popular IDEs such as Flex Builder, Dreamweaver, Flash CS3, and Aptana Studio.
We also provide a set of command line tools that allow developers to test and package AIR applications from the command line. These tools can be found in the Adobe AIR SDK.
Basically, you can use any tool that outputs SWF or HTML files.
Can I create Adobe AIR applications with Flash Authoring?
Yes. Flash CS4 Professional has native support for building and packaging Flash applications on Adobe AIR.
For Adobe Flash CS3 Professional, Adobe provides an extension that adds support for packaging and previewing AIR applications. You can find more information, as well as download the extension from the Adobe Flash Download page.
Can I create Adobe AIR applications with Dreamweaver?
Yes. Dreamweaver CS4 provides native support for building and packaging JavaScript/HTML applciation on Adobe AIR.
For Dreamweaver CS3, provides an extension to Adobe Dreamweaver that adds support for authoring and packaging AIR applications.
You can find more information, as well as download the extension from the Adobe AIR Tools for AIR and Ajax page.
Can I create Adobe AIR applications with Flex Builder?
Yes. Flex Builder 3 has full support for authoring Adobe AIR applications. You can find more information in this article.
Can I create Adobe AIR applications with Aptana Studio?
Yes. Aptana Studio has a plugin to support authoring Adobe AIR applications.
How is the Adobe AIR runtime distributed?
Adobe AIR can be distributed in a number of ways, including but not limited to:
Can developers distribute the Adobe AIR installer with their applications?
Yes. In addition to creating and distributing cross-platform Adobe AIR application installer files, it is possible for developers to write their own custom native installers that install Adobe AIR and the Adobe AIR application.
In order to do this, developers must first apply for and receive a free Adobe AIR Runtime Distribution license.
What HTML and JavaScript engine is used within Adobe AIR?
HTML and JavaScript within Adobe AIR are handled by the WebKit HTML/JavaScript engine.
Is this the same WebKit project that the Safari browser on Mac OS X and the KHTML Browser in KDE use?
Yes.
Why did Adobe choose WebKit?
We spent a considerable amount of time researching a number of HTML rendering engines for use in Adobe AIR. We had four main criteria, all of which WebKit met:
- Open project that we could contribute to
- Proven technology, that web developers and end users are familiar with
- Minimum effect on Adobe AIR runtime size
- Proven ability to run on mobile devices
While the final decision was difficult, we felt that WebKit is the best match for Adobe AIR at this time.
Does the Adobe AIR runtime's use of WebKit result in a new HTML engine that developers have to account for?
No. Our goal is to maintain complete compatibility with existing WebKit implementations. This will help ensure that content that runs in WebKit-based browsers, such as Safari, will also run within Adobe AIR applications.
Does Adobe plan to submit changes back to the WebKit project?
Yes. Our goal is to become an active member of the WebKit community and submit fixes and changes to the WebKit project for consideration.
Is this the same WebKit as the WebKit framework on Mac OS X?
Not quite. The WebKit Open Source project, and the Apple WebKit Framework for Mac OS X are two different things.
Adobe AIR is using the code base directly from the WebKit project, and not from the Apple WebKit Framework.
Where can I find more information on WebKit?
You can find more information on WebKit on the:
Where can I download Adobe's modifications to WebKit?
You can find out more about Adobe's changes to WebKit for Adobe AIR here.
Can Adobe AIR applications communicate with other Adobe AIR applications?
Yes. Adobe AIR applications can communicate with each other via the use of the LocalConnection ActionScript API.
Can Adobe AIR applications communicate directly with databases?
Adobe AIR provides a built-in database store based on SQLite.
Adobe AIR does not provide APIs to connect directly to other databases, although it is possible to handle those connections using the ActionScript Socket API.
In general, however, it is recommended that your AIR applications connect to a database in the same way that web applications do by connecting through a middleware tier.
How much control do developers and designers have over their application's appearance?
Developers and designers have 100% control over their application's appearance.
Can developers extend Adobe AIR with native code?
No. This functionality is currently not available in Adobe AIR 1.5.
Can Adobe AIR applications launch default applications for a file type?
No. This functionality is currently not available in Adobe AIR 1.5.
Can Adobe AIR applications launch native applications?
No. This functionality is currently not available in Adobe AIR 1.5.
Does Adobe AIR provide an application update mechanism?
Yes. There are a number of APIs that allow developers to update AIR applications.
Adobe has also released a beta framework for updating applications.
Is Adobe AIR an .exe /projector creator?
No. Adobe AIR is a cross-operating system runtime that runs on the user's system.
One of the advantages of this is that Adobe AIR application installation files can be much smaller, as it does not require that the entire runtime engine be distributed with each and every copy of the application. It simplifies user installation by allowing a single binary to be provided for all operating systems.
It also allows us to integrate the technologies together (Flash, HTML, PDF) on a much lower level than may otherwise be feasible.
Finally, it allows us to provide a more standardized and consistent security model for Adobe AIR applications and users.
What security model does the Adobe AIR runtime provide?
Our goal is to provide the functionality that developers need and want, while also allowing them to create secure applications.
At the root of any policy is the fact that Adobe AIR applications are downloaded to, installed, and run from the user's desktop. Therefore, they run in a different security context than applications that run in the browser, and have a security model closer to that of a desktop application.
You can find more information on the security model in this article.
Does the Adobe AIR runtime require administrative privileges for installation?
Yes. The runtime requires an administrator privileges to install.
Do Adobe AIR applications require administrative privileges for installation?
Yes. Applications require admin privileges to install just like other native desktop applications.
Do Adobe AIR applications run with administrative privileges?
Adobe AIR applications run with the privileges of the user who starts the application. When the operating system applies security restrictions to applications (such as UAC in Windows Vista) those restrictions will be enforced on Adobe AIR applications.
Does Flash version 8 and below SWF files run in Adobe AIR?
Yes. However, the Adobe AIR APIs are only exposed to Flash content via ActionScript 3 / AVM2, and thus Flash 8 / AVM1 SWFs will be able to run, but they will not have direct access to the Adobe AIR APIs.
Feedback
Where can I get help on issues related to Adobe AIR?
First, please be sure to review the Adobe Air release notes to determine whether the issue you're experiencing is a known one.
Next, search the Adobe AIR forum to see if your issue has already been reported. If not, try posting a new topic describing the issue that you are experiencing.
Lastly, if you want to send a bug directly to the team, please complete the Feature Request/Bug Report Form.
We cannot guarantee a personal response, but we do review bugs submitted to this form.
Where can I send feature requests for Adobe AIR?
Please complete the Feature Request/Bug Report Form.
News and Information
Where can I find the latest news and information about Adobe AIR?
FAQ Information
Is this an official FAQ?
Yes. This is an official Adobe AIR FAQ.
How can I send feedback about the FAQ?
If you have feedback in the FAQ, please post it in the Adobe AIR Forum.