CoronaLabs is not popular. What the future?

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

Hi,

Recently, I see the fact that 9 out of 10 employers never heard about Corona SDK (especially in Europe).

Just 1 of 10, heard, but thinks that PhoneGap is much better.

Each time, for new customer, I need to explain why CoronaSDK is much better. But always I hear the same answer: if Corona SDK is much better than phonegap/sencha, why we never heard about it???

For the last 2 years I’ve took a part of development for the following projects:

-    Mobile-wallet,
-    App for Financial Traders,
-    Apps for Restaurants / Small business automatization,
-    Mobile learning apps(games),
 

And I’m sure that CoronaSDK is the best crossplatform framework that to build powerfull native application.

But guys, CORONA STAFF, you need to start thinking about PR.

Because is so hard to find a job for Corona Developers. And it’s a big problem.

Please help us.

#2

It’s the same problem on oDesk and Elance - not much Corona work. Probably not much that Corona can do really. Besides, their efforts are elsewhere.

#3

Corona is much better than Phonegap? Maybe, but only for creating simple games - Corona is very limited, I can use several plugins in Phonegap, e.g. for making QR codes reader. Corona even limited own functionality - I can’t develop my one app which use getTunerVolume feature, because Corona deprecated this functionality (and even do not inform about this!). Corona also not working on Intel mobile CPUs.

#4

Hmmm. Maybe Corona is unknown, maybe not. I wouldn’t know, but I surely wouldn’t base my judgement based on whether employers know it or not.

I’m curious though, which other frameworks out there allow you to do what Corona does: code in Lua (which I love) with a fast graphics engine, and export to multiple devices? Don’t start about Unity, by the way - I tried it, and is a WHOLE other level of complexity compared to Corona.

#5

if the market won’t have a demand for corona developers, the platform will die :frowning:

#6

Yes, as with any product, obviously.

But as an Indie developer, I am the market myself. I’m not in need of an employer, and Coronolabs is’nt either, because they make their sale from me directly.

#7

Didn’t know if i should chirp in here - possible for OP to take offence, sorry.

@Thomas6 - hits upon a good point.

As an indie we do an internet search to find the best product to make our apps based on our circumstances. We find it then go away and produce our app.

The people who i think the OP is talking about are customers who think i want an app, who can make it for me - they search for developers , perhaps they only have limited info of options to build - and not wanting to seem dumb come back with - “well i haven’t heard about corona.”

It’s at that point where the responsibility falls upon you to sell your skills and what you can do with corona to sell your ability to do the job.

A simple - “Ok i understand you may not have heard about it but let me show you some apps i have produced using corona which are on the market right now - up and running doing what my client wanted them to do”

T.

#8

I wouldn’t normally ‘chip in’ on something like this… But in my opinion, if a potential employer is telling you what SDK they want their app building in, you probably don’t want to be working for them anyway.

Most decent clients just want an Android and/or iOS app, that works according to their brief. As the Developer, you should get to choose your own axe.

#9

Caithan, I have to disagree; when employing app developers, I would naturally pick developers who were familiar with the technologies my company is using. It wouldn’t make sense to hire a Corona developer if all of my company’s projects were in PhoneGap. It’s the same logic as with any other software development; I wouldn’t hire a .NET developer for a Java code house either. It is therefore important that Corona markets their product to companies (and to universities), so actual Corona courses and jobs start to appear. Only then can Corona hope to become a true industry standard.

#10

$0.02:

different tools for different tasks - one is usually “best” for a particular job, tho often the case that several are “good enough”.

not with intent to insult corona, but to blindy assert across-the-board that “corona is best” is naive.  there are many tools, and many kinds of apps, and there isn’t a single tool out there that is universally “best” at building all kinds of apps.

corona, phonegap, unity, marmalade (probably corona’s closest functional competitor, specifically the “quick” flavor), etc, all are good at several things, which does muddy the middle-ground for crossover/hybrid apps.  but each also has it’s particular strengths.  got a lot of traditional ui to do?  try phonegap.  got a 3d game to do?  try unity.  got a hybrid/custom ui or 2d game?  try corona/marmalade.

that’s obviously generalized for brevity, but you get the point – it’d be ridiculous to consider building a 3D game with phonegap; just as it’d also be ridiculous to build a “find your doctor” -type app with unity.

#11

Dave, do you really think that webview phonegap app need to compare with corona native bundle? what about performance? gaps in security for webview? and so on.
last 2 years I use corona just for biz app development. if you know how to use it, you can do it.
more of that, for enterprise license you can use android and ios sdk.

#12

@vadiminc, take a look at the following thread for the answers you seek… Particularly Walter’s response…

http://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/52129-windows-8-support-but-still-no-love-for-biz-app-devs/

I am in the same boat with you and have finally made the decision to cut my losses and move on for business apps. Corona SDK is great for games and other apps with custom UI but where native UI and behavior is required it is not a good fit nor will it ever be (as per Walter’s guidance). I will continue using Corona SDK for apps that are a good match to this definition but will stop trying to make a square peg fit a round hole. Not productive.

So coming back to your original question… Look at top tier companies and their mobility projects, look at their careers pages and the skill sets required. You will find the answer very quickly. Best of luck in your endeavor.

#13

@ksan, thanks for your answer.

What do you think, is it good idea to start IOS dev using SWIFT lang or not?

#14

@ksan, I have built GridPanel, more powerful ScrollView, Sidebar. And will be glad to share it.
But I don’t think that the problem in widgets library, as you said in that topic. The main problem is that the PR was failed. Because CoronaLabs could be used for biz apps, not for all of that, but most of. And the market doesn’t know about it. That’s a problem!

#15

@vadiminc

Swift is a very nice language, and it’s reminiscent of Lua in many ways. However using it will lock you into the iOS market since you don’t have any way of creating cross-platform apps with it. There are a few ongoing 3rd party projects trying to bridge the gap and make it possible to use Swift for creating Android / .NET apps as well (http://www.remobjects.com/elements/silver), but they’re still at an early stage in development and I’m not so sure how useful they will be.

@All

I’ve used Corona to make business apps, and it works well as long as the client doesn’t demand a true native feel across platforms. I’ve hardly used Corona’s widgets as I wanted full control over the look, feel and functionality which led me to create my own library.

I agree with Dave above that there are different tools for different tasks. My clients are mostly interested in iOS apps which has made Android a secondary priority for me. At the moment I use Swift for iOS based business-apps where clients demand a true native experience and Corona where OpenGL apps makes sense.

#16

I just like to share with you my personal experience with corona. You can not build a 100% true native business app with corona . Biggest issue are with native text field , map, browser etc. These are the most commonly features required for any business app. If I knew swift or java I would use it. Corona is great but there are limitation. Recently made a business map and it’s getting 100 install a day. It has a login screen. Managing the text field was a nightmare and still not perfect. Have you seen the sample business app? This is what corona can do best. You will see map flicks when u move between scenes because corona hide and show to manage native object. (Just an example) I work for a company and they have 200 apps outsourced and built using actual tools. They want 100% native feel app - corona can’t match. I wait for some miracles to happen for native object … I love corona

#17

It’s the same problem on oDesk and Elance - not much Corona work. Probably not much that Corona can do really. Besides, their efforts are elsewhere.

#18

Corona is much better than Phonegap? Maybe, but only for creating simple games - Corona is very limited, I can use several plugins in Phonegap, e.g. for making QR codes reader. Corona even limited own functionality - I can’t develop my one app which use getTunerVolume feature, because Corona deprecated this functionality (and even do not inform about this!). Corona also not working on Intel mobile CPUs.

#19

Hmmm. Maybe Corona is unknown, maybe not. I wouldn’t know, but I surely wouldn’t base my judgement based on whether employers know it or not.

I’m curious though, which other frameworks out there allow you to do what Corona does: code in Lua (which I love) with a fast graphics engine, and export to multiple devices? Don’t start about Unity, by the way - I tried it, and is a WHOLE other level of complexity compared to Corona.

#20

if the market won’t have a demand for corona developers, the platform will die :frowning: