Corona Pro Plugins

Solar2D Native builds
#201

Actually I think that not enough kudos have been wafted your way, Brent and Rob, for those great tutorials. Gave me a boost for sure in plugin development. Very helpful, thanks!

One thing that surprised me in Android development is that Android Studio wasn’t very helpful, and the tutorial recommended simply using a text editor and command line development to get the Android code to compile. I used A.S. for my PhoneGap project with no issues, so that was bad :frowning:

For the marketplace, of course a +1. :slight_smile:

best,

Jen

#202

Thank you Jen. 

Regarding Android Studio, when I started working on the Android version, I wanted to use Eclipse, but I found the interface confusing.  Once I got a taste of Android Studio, I liked it much better.  Taking Corona SDK out of equation, I think Eclipse’s layout tools may be a little better, but I found Android Studio overall to be a much friendlier to someone not that familiar with Android native development.

So why did I go call command line on you?  Given the samples, existing  project templates, it was easier to learn the command line commands than it was to figure out what all things I needed to add into the GUI environments to make their Android native apps work with Corona’s libraries. 

At some point, I want to come back and offer a tutorial on doing this with Android Studio, but I don’t know when I can get to it.

Rob

#203

+1 over here too. I am a native Android developer too, and I know the power of Corona in cutting down coding time. Really looking forward to the market.

Currently looking for a plugin to add/edit events in Calendar. 

#204

Here we go guys, they listened to us :slight_smile:

http://coronalabs.com/blog/2014/04/18/introducing-3rd-party-corona-plugins/

#205

I wouldn’t call two plugins by one developer a marketplace and if that’s a sign of the prices to come, it’s going to end up at Unity pricing at no time.

#206

It’s just the beginning :wink:

#207

The question is: the beginning of what?

I am with @cspence. Two plugins highly over priced.

And is the first time that I see a product that charges you on 2 dimensions: time (1 year license) and # apps.

I am pretty sure that if Corona open the approach to the community, we would get developers creating the plugins for free and making it available for everyone…

Btw, it appears that Paypal has a REST API (https://developer.paypal.com/webapps/developer/docs/api/) , so we don’t need a plugin to use it… Anyway, for me Paypal is of no use, since Apple will not approve an app/game with Paypal.

#208

I just think you should have an open mind about this. Corona is unable to create a marketplace right now due to higher priorities. However, they did hear out their customers and tried to meet them halfway. They teamed up with several developers that would specifically focus of creating plugins, that would try to fulfill the customers’ needs. $60 is definitely not over-priced, as plugins do take quite a lot of effort to make (speaking from personal experience) and in a long term they should pay back.

All I’m saying is try to look at the bright side of things that Corona is listening to your requests and is trying to fulfill them in at least some way while still focusing on its own priorities.

Cheer up!

#209

For something like this (payment processing) I’d rather pay $90 than free. Every time. The guy offering it for free is either a hobbyist or is more likely to go out of business without cash coming in – then you’re kind of stuck.

I’m getting ready to pay $75 to upgrade a plugin for which I originally paid $300 – because it saves me LOTS of time (which equals $) over doing it myself. 

I think the 1-year time limit is loony, but not the app limit or the pricing. It’s not a tween library or something like that, it’s a plugin that directly affects how people give you money.

 Jay

#210

My point of over priced is due to the combination of price + limits of 5/10 apps and 1 year.

I would gladly pay 50 bucks or more for something that I can use forever in 1 app, or a 1-year license for all apps, but not both limitations.

If you are afraid of using free stuff, you should stop using Android, OpenSSL,… and any other open source projects that exist today.

And even when you pay, that is no guarantee that the company that sold you the product would still be running x years from now…

#211

You can submit any suggestions to this forum:

http://forums.coronalabs.com/forum/638-gremlin-interactive-plugins/

#212

You’re probably not going to use a plugin like that in dozens of apps, anyway. It’s a fairly specialized doodad, especially since with iOS you can only use it for non-digital purchases. So is $60 a year really out of line for something that handles the ecommerce part of your app?

 Jay

#213

I have nothing against them selling the plugins. They can do whatever they want, and charge how much they want. The problem is when they have the monopoly of the market.

It still exists (at least for me), a huge gray zone on what I should expect to be included in Corona SDK and what not (that I should buy from 3rd party). Even the difference between the licenses (Pro x Enterprise) are not well defined. Today a feature that is not in the Pro version, is because it is in the pipeline to be or it will never be? Same for the plugins. If you remember, Facebook started as an API and now is a plugin. Same for Google Play IAP. What happens if Corona decides that it will now be a 3rd party plugin that you have to buy from these guys? 

Imagine if you had to pay 50 bucks for each plugin that you use in your app. On a normal game I use: Game Center, Google Play Games Services, Facebook, Amazon IAP, Google Play IAP,… Do you get me? 

In my view, Corona should improve its SDKs with new functionalities without increasing the costs to the developers, that already pay a subscription that is not cheap.

#214

I agree Corona Labs should continue to deliver internally, as part of our subscription what is there today and more going forward. The value of plugin developers is that they may address niche needs which Corona Labs do not intend to ever deliver. Now as for the pricing… Here’s how I look at this.

  • Can I do it myself? (Yes/No)
  • If Yes, how long would it take? (x hours)
  • What is my opportunity cost for x hours of my own time.
  • Compare cost of item vs my opportunity cost
  • Will I break even? In other words can I make back the $60 invested in 5 apps over the course of a year?
  • If the answer is no then why the heck am I wasting my time building 5 apps that won’t earn me $12 each?

etc etc. You see my drift. If you don’t think it is worth more than $60 for you then you probably don’t need it. Make sense?

#215

Well, following you reasoning, Corona could increase their SDK license that you won’t mind to pay, right? After all, the time that it is saving you versus coding natively…  :)

#216

Shhhh!

#217

I have a feeling they will soon.  Pro is the new Starter.

#218

There is always a point where the equation tips over. Plus, I don’t find Corona SDK’s x10 faster promise is always true anyways.

#219

I say that because I am in the last 2 days coding natively (because Corona does not support Front Camera in the fill shape) and man, I lost all the pleasure in coding… It will take 1 week to finish something the app for 1platform, with Corona t I would have it done 1 day for both…

#220

Totally agree there, I find it slower in many cases working around issues I always seem to run into.

Surprising I am finding Unity as fast and many cases faster than working with Corona.