Trying to figure out how to watch Flash videos on your iPad? Apple doesn’t support Adobe Flash video on any iPad – including the new iPad 3rd generation.  Adobe has also recently discontinued their attempts to get Flash to work properly on mobile devices in general. Fortunately,  There are still a variety of ways to watch Flash videos on your iPad.

HTML5 alternative for Playing Flash on iPad

While Adobe moves away from Flash, many websites will realize you’re on an iPad that use Flash on your Mac or Windows PC send you H.264/HTML 5 video instead. YouTube is one of big examples. It’s continuing its push for Google’s open source WebM format by adding support for 1080p playback to its HTML5 player.

Before you try anything else, simply try going to the website in Safari. And if it doesn’t work automatically, look for link for “Mobile version” or “iPhone/iPad optimized”, use it.

Skyfire App for Playing Flash on iPad

SkyFire is now on version 4 and its support for Flash has gotten better with every release. They now boast smoother video playback and because they proxy the content it could save you time and bandwidth (important for those of you with low 3G data caps.) Skyfire allows you to watch Flash videos that otherwise don’t work on iPad. More than 200,000 websites supported and new ones added daily.

SkyFire for iPad – $4.99 iTunes link

iSwifter App for Playing Flash on iPad

iSwifter is designed for iPad only but they claim incredible speed and wide ranging support for Flash content. The download itself is free but you’ll be prompted to “buy” the app for $2.99 if you want to support them. Other games are available inside the app for $0.99 in-app purchases as well.

iSwifter for iPad – Free with in-app purchase – iTunes link

Aiseesoft iPad Video Converter (Computer-based software)

Aiseesoft iPad Video Converter is not an iOS app,  but a computer-based tool instead. It can quickly turn Flash video into a format that compatible with the iPad.

Just add your flash video(if the video has not been downloaded to your local computer, you can first visit All Video Downloads to download them for FREE),  and then click ‘Convert’ button.  Once the file was converted, all you need to do was inport to iTunes and sync it to the iPad. A few minutes of waiting later, and you will be able to view the uploaded video, in its entirety fromyour iPad.

so…there you have it.  This is admittedly not ideal, but you can quickly convert and play long Flash video on your iPad. Priced at $29 only, but you can get it to format other popular video formats to iPad/iPhone 4S/iPod compatible.

Aiseesoft iPad Video Converter – $29 – More info and free trial