Publish my Game with Version 2013.1202 after Feb/2014

[gritob]

Heyho

I am currently using Mac OS 10.7.5 (XCode 4.6.3) with Corona 2013.1202. I didn’t switch to Graphics 2.0 because my project is nearly finished and it would probably just result in problems I don’t want to deal with. I’ve seen that Apple forces you to optimize your apps for iOS 7 starting on Feb/2014. Will there be any problems publishing my Game to the appstore with the version I am using or do i have to switch to a newer build? The next build would require an upgrade to Graphics 2.0 and I can’t access daily builds because I am using the starter version. 

Let’s say the worst case requires me to upgrade to 2.x. Do I also have to get XCode 5.x with iOS 7 support or does Corona handle this stuff in some other way? I am just asking this because XCode 5.x would also require an upgrade to Mac OS 10.8.x.

Greetings

gritob

edit: currently my application runs fine on my IPod Touch (5th) with iOS 7.x. 

[A_Funny_Development]

from the Apple site:

“Starting February 1, new apps and app updates submitted to the App Store
must be built with the latest version of Xcode 5 and must be optimized
for iOS 7.”

You need to upgrade your Mac OS to 10.8.x / XCode to 5.x to add new apps or upgrade old ones after Feb 1st.

I kinda got screwed in the sense I have a mac that can’t be upgraded to Mavericks…so either a new Mac or Mac in the cloud for me.

Best of luck with your game.

-Rick

[gritob]

thanks a lot. sadly this blows because i cant upgrade either

[thegdog]

As someone pointed out to me in another thread, you don’t need to upgrade to Mavericks.  You can run Xcode 5 on Mountain Lion (which is OS X 10.8).  Can you upgrade to Mountain Lion?  Because if not, that has nothing to do with Corona; that’s completely an Apple thing.  You would hit the same problem if you were coding natively in Objective-C as well.

Now, if you can upgrade to Mountain Lion, or have Mountain Lion already installed, then you can still build for iOS 7, with the daily build of 1260.  However, as a Starter member, then you likely don’t have access to 1260 since it was not a public release.  It would be great for Corona to release 1260 as a public release (posthumously) so that Starter members could still release updates to their apps before transitioning.

Of course, you would also have that option of using graphics compatibility mode along with the latest Graphics 2.0 public release as well.

But again, if you cannot upgrade to Mountain Lion, then you have no options other than getting a new Mac or using a service like Mac in the Cloud to build your apps.

[gritob]

yes i cannot upgrade to mountain lion. fortunately i have a friend with a mac and mavericks who is going to help me out, so this should be fine in the end :).

[A_Funny_Development]

Hey thegdog!!!

How is this done? I have mountain lion yet when I try to upgrade xcode it won’t allow it…am I missing something???

Any info is appreciated!

—EDIT—

Duh, never mind…I can’t upgrade to mountain lion either…a 2006 iMac…oh well.

[rob]

If you are in a position to develop for Apple as of Feb 1 (OS-X 10.8 or 10.9 and Xcode 5, which you have to do on your own), and your concern is Graphics 2.0, I would recommend that you rename your corona SDK folder in /Applications to CoronaSDK-g1 and then download 2100 the current public build.  Add this one line to your config.lua:

graphicsCompatibility = 1

at the same block you define your width and height and see how your app goes.  There should be very few changes needed.   Now if you use the old deprecated sprite library, there is a couple of extra steps you need to do.   This is the fastest way to get around the Feb 1 changes required by Apple.  If it doesn’t work, then you can look at other answers.  For Pro and Enterprise subscribers, you can use 1260.

Rob

[thegdog]

To be clear, it appears that you must be on OS X 10.8.4 or higher to use Xcode 5.

[davemikesell]

@rob

If you are in a position to develop for Apple as of Feb 1 (OS-X 10.8 or 10.9 and Xcode 5, which you have to do on your own), and your concern is Graphics 2.0, I would recommend that you rename your corona SDK folder in /Applications to CoronaSDK-g1 and then download 2100 the current public build.  Add this one line to your config.lua:

graphicsCompatibility = 1

at the same block you define your width and height and see how your app goes.  There should be very few changes needed.   Now if you use the old deprecated sprite library, there is a couple of extra steps you need to do.   This is the fastest way to get around the Feb 1 changes required by Apple.  If it doesn’t work, then you can look at other answers.  For Pro and Enterprise subscribers, you can use 1260.

Rob

Rob - I have a current app built for a client of mine that uses build 922, and we’re going to make some enhancements, so I’ll be needing to upgrade.    It uses director to change scenes, UDP sockets, some widgets, and just basic images (no sprites).   

Would those requirements make either of the upgrade paths you suggest (2100 vs. 1260) the better one for me?   For example, I know there are widgets changes from 922 to 1260.    Are there more from 1260 to 2100?   If so, I’d be inclined to make the jump all the way to 2100.

[rob]

Some people have run into issues with Director.  It’s not been updated for Graphics 2.0, however I think everyone has worked out the issues and maybe it was the graphicsCompatibility = 1 flag fixed it.  The G2 route will be the best route.  We won’t be fixing any more issues in the G1 branch, so when Apple decides to reject apps for some reason, the G2 branch will be the only resort.  G2 has the latest widget fixes and more coming. 

So to me, G2 seems like the best way to go.

Rob

[davemikesell]

Thanks, Rob - I’m making the jump to 2100.   How long will the graphicsCompatibility flag be supported?   

I should really dump director for storyboard, too.   

[rob]

Actually I would grab one of the later daily builds.  We introduced a new scene manager called Composer that will eventually replace Storyboard (that is all new features and bug fixes will go into Composer, not storyboard).  That is the most modern way to go.  Director hasn’t been updated in well over a year and I don’t know if Ricardo has plans to maintain it or not.  Composer is the most future proof way to go.

As far as how long we will keep the graphicsCompatibility flag around is unknown but at some point we will have to move forward.

Rob

[thegdog]

Also be advised that if you release your app based on build 2100, it will not work on any Android tablets that use the Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset (like the Motorola Xoom and original Galaxy Tab 10.1).

[davemikesell]

Really, storyboard is already deprecated?   Geez, that seems kind of fast.   Hopefully basic things like this stabilize soon.   

[davemikesell]

@thegdog - Really?   Which build do you use?

@Rob - In your opinion, how stable is composer vs. storyboard at the moment?   I may have to be releasing within the month.   

[thegdog]

@davemikesell,

I just started with my move to the Graphics 2.0 engine since I just released an update to my app.  I had downloaded Build 2100 to try to use graphics compatibility mode on it, but got hung up on that bug, which another developer pointed out to me when I reported problems.

It has since been addressed, so I am starting on trying to move again and just grabbed 2162 to start playing with.

[rob]

There is a bug in removing scenes with Composer that’s not been addressed yet.  It’s also only available in daily builds at the moment.  But it fixes all many of the outstanding Storyboard bugs.  For instance, you can hide overlay’s with transitions now.

We are keeping storyboard around in the SDK for a while.  We also made the storyboard library open source on GitHub available so that you can continue using Storyboard for as long as you wish, but we will only be fixing bugs in Composer going forward.

If you are using Graphics 2.0, you probably should a later daily build as we’ve been fixing odd issues with odd devices.  

Rob

[davemikesell]

Thanks, gdog and Rob.   I’ve got both of my projects now working with pure G2.0 (i.e. non-G1 compatible) and storyboard on build 2100.   I’ll try a later daily build to get some of the fixes, though frankly, I’m not seeing any issues.   

When is the next public release scheduled?

[rob]

We don’t have an ETA for the next public build.  Engineering confirmed that the remove bug will be fixed and is in code review so it may come up in the next daily build or two. 

If you’re happy with Storyboard and it’s working for you, there isn’t any urgency to move.  We do recommend that new projects start using Composer when you get access to it.  I know a lot of Pro and Enterprise subscribers prefer to stay with the public builds, in that case, you only have Storyboard at the moment.

Rob

[A_Funny_Development]

from the Apple site:

“Starting February 1, new apps and app updates submitted to the App Store
must be built with the latest version of Xcode 5 and must be optimized
for iOS 7.”

You need to upgrade your Mac OS to 10.8.x / XCode to 5.x to add new apps or upgrade old ones after Feb 1st.

I kinda got screwed in the sense I have a mac that can’t be upgraded to Mavericks…so either a new Mac or Mac in the cloud for me.

Best of luck with your game.

-Rick