How To Enable Adobe Flash on the Nexus 7

You may have noticed that your Nexus 7 only comes with the Chrome browser and, as such, doesn’t have Flash built in. In fact, if you try to download any alternative browsers from the Google Play store that say they support Flash, they still won’t work. Now, if you’re like me, and still rely on websites that use Flash, this can be pretty frustrating. No worries though, there’s a fix.

I. Before You Begin

1. This will erase your device when you unlock the bootloader (if you haven’t already done so) so please backup anything you want to save.

II. Root the Device and Flash a Custom Recovery Image

1. Head to our How To Root the Nexus 7, follow that procedure and then return here when done.

III. Flash a Custom ROM with Flash Support

1. Either search through our ROM repository for a Nexus 7 ROM that supports flash, or use the one I have compiled below based on Modaco’s Custom ROM but with all the extras removed so it’s essentially stock Jelly Bean just with Flash added and save it to your computer.

Stock Custom ROM with Root and Flash

2. Plug in the device via USB cable.

3. Copy the ROM .zip file to the storage of the Nexus 7. Do not extract it, leave it as a .zip file, and put it on the root of the storage, not inside any folders.

4. Unplug the device.

5. Open ROM Manager on the device and click Reboot into Recovery.

6. Once in recovery, select Backup and Restore > Backup and let it backup your current setup.

7. Select Wipe Data / Factory Reset and confirm.

8. Select Flash Zip from SD card.

9. Select Choose Zip from SD card.

10. Find the ROM .zip we just added to the storage and then confirm.

11. Once it’s done flashing, select Reboot System Now.

12. Once rebooted, go through the setup process and you’ll see the original Android Browser in the app drawer with Flash support built in. Enjoy!

If this procedure helped you be sure to thank/donate to Paul at Modaco who created the original ROM with Flash Support!