We’d like to let the community know about an upcoming change that will affect some developers using Flash-only players in their webpages or applications. Previously, a URL like http://www.youtube.com/v/VIDEO_ID would default to the ActionScript 2 version of the Flash player, and it was necessary to explicitly add in the version=3 URL parameter to request the newer, ActionScript 3-based player. Starting on Wednesday, May 2, we will be changing the default behavior so that the ActionScript 3 player will be loaded in those scenarios.
This change to the default version affects both the Embedded and Chromeless Flash players. Developers who are using the newer <iframe> embedded player will not see any change, as that already defaults to the ActionScript 3 player when Flash playback is needed.
If for some reason you explicitly need the ActionScript 2 version of the player, perhaps because you’re hosting it from within a parent Flash container that was written in ActionScript 2, then you should change your code to explicitly add in the version=2 URL parameter to the player URL. Most developers will not need to do this, though, and they’ll automatically get the benefits of the modern ActionScript 3 playback experience without having to change their code.
As we’ve previously announced, the ActionScript 2 players are all officially deprecated, and have been for several years now. Our plan is to shut them down completely starting in October of this year, so while it is still possible to explicitly request them with version=2 if they’re needed, our recommendation is that you do not continue to rely on the ActionScript 2 player in your code.
Cheers,
—Jeff Posnick, YouTube API Team
