Twitch is one of the most popular video services still using Flash, with most everyone else having transitioned to the lighter and faster HTML5. As of today, the website’s paying Turbo users will get access to a new video player.
My MacBook Air is pretty capable. Sure, it’s not for hardcore gaming, but it can get most things done pretty well on the Internet. Twitch? Twitch brings my machine to its knees, the fans blaring as though it’s trying to cool a molten core.
That should get better with the move to HTML5, a long overdue transition. The company has promised an HTML5 player for a while, having formally announced the new player at last year’s TwitchCon. It recently got delayed.
The company says “load times are expected to be faster with better frame rates, while taxing our viewers’ devices less,” using the new player.
The new player doesn’t support ads right now, which is why it’s being rolled out to Turbo-only users, who pay a subscription ($8.99 per month) to get rid of ads.
More people will get access this summer, with the Flash player being formally sunsetted (read: killed and burned in a fire) sometime in the future.