Here is a +1 for the splash screen. I don’t mind it and probably nobody will either. I can always show mine after the initial splash screen. For me at least it is not worth the $99.00 bucks to remove it.
“Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining” - Josey Wales
This quote appears to be the sentiment of many.
Taking a feature that was available previously and suddenly charging for the same feature, without advance notice, seems to be the primary complaint. A fair complaint to be sure. However the minimal price is not an issue in my situation given that I appreciate all that Corona allows me to do, especially if bugs that impact every single Corona developer, like this:
https://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/62256-tableview-error-question/
Can be dispatched more promptly.
---- Corona, this is the question I have:
Before purchasing this plugin I have a question though: Does Corona intend to convert other “features” we currently enjoy “free of charge” into “non-free” plugins in say, the next 3, 6 or 12 months? I would think that if this is the case that discussions around this issue should be well under way internally and it would be decent to give us a heads up to where this is going. As someone who has started, run, and sold 2 businesses, I understand the need for a revenue stream (preferably multiple streams) and will gladly contribute to said stream for use of this great tool. With that in mind, everyone from the largest business to solo home hobbyist needs cost certainty to be able to plan 3, 6 or 12 months out. That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?
—STOP READING HERE IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ HOW I THINK THIS SHOULD BE HANDLED—
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Extend!! Corona should offer non-free plugins that extend existing functionality to create truly “premium” functionality above what we already have. This would be easy to achieve by simply going through the feature requests and go the premium plugin route for popular functionality they add, as well as making libraries such as the Widget library much more robust (and premium) for people like myself who develop business apps.
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Differentiate!! Don’t just add a splash screen because “everyone else does it”. Lua is crazy simple to learn so build on that advantage. Is anyone else working on a world class framework for building business apps? The ability to build useful business apps that have more power to access hardware would be nice without having to Frankenstein an app via an Enterprise account. A robust bluetooth or widget premium plugin could be a nice start.
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Communicate!! I know, nerds are often snarly introverts who don’t want to look up from their keyboards much less explain what we are doing, but sharing a roadmap can go a long way in building good will. Make us partners in where this is going and we will gladly follow, dump surprises on us and foment a rebellion. Human nature being what it is, it is easy to give something (such as making Pro free - probably a mistake) but very hard to take something away (we had splash screens before, now suddenly we don’t). A little less “fog of war” could go a long way!
I get tired of reading a single, long post so I’ll stop here as I could go on an on with ideas but I hope someone from Corona reads and can at least answer the question I have posted above.
Thank you for reading!
Ed
+1 - I agree with Ed here.
I wonder how this is going to work where my currently splash screen transitions right into an animation right after (eye blink). Even if I do purchase the plugin.
Is Corona gonna jump right in the middle of that?
I have the problem the corona splash screen is shown just a half second, and after that I have a black screen for a half second. Is that a known issue?
I think we can improve the quality of corona by add a monthly gift to a user for the better post, free plugin… And the gift will be a free version of the corona enterprise for one year
@funkyvisions the flow goes:
iOS: UILaunchImange -> Corona Splash Screen -> Anything you do in main.lua + other modules.
Android: Corona Splash Screen -> Anything you do in main.lua + other modules.
@sunmils, in theory the splash screen should stay up for around two seconds, but if the OS is slow loading/starting the app, it could impact that duration. So as to not hijack this thread, why don’t you open a new thread around the timing of the splash screen
Thats true, I will open a new thread with a sample video.
Crap. That’s definitely going to affect my flow. No more blinking eye for me I guess.
You should still have your blinking eye. It had to come after UILaunchImage and our attempt to show Default.png on Android. You can still have whatever features you have in main.lua. It will just be after our splash screen, or you can get the plugin and not have our splash screen in the way at all.
Rob
My splash screen was my company logo with the eye open, then in main.lua I blinked it. It looked seamless (see earlier video). Now there will be a Corona logo in the middle of all that unless I buy the plugin.
@Rob, just my 2 cents worth… why do this as a plugin at all?
I won’t reiterate what others have said about the “underhand way this was handled” and I agree that some level of support for a great framework is absolutely acceptable for Corona to be around to support me, and my apps, in the future but…
Why not just have a subscription of $99 a year (like the old pro subscription) and if you build with that account NOTHING changes. If you have not paid for a subscription then include the mandatory splash screen? Surely that is the simplest implementation and doesn’t break any existing code base? Why force developers to change what they have if they are willing to pay for their development environment. Surely your build server is able to look up the account being used and build/adapt accordingly?
As a free product I was happy to forgo certain features that other environments get but if we are now paying for Corona again then I really feel we should be getting some better tools. Specifically the following:
- Code profilers (like Unity has) for optimising our code, batch draws, etc.
- Proper access to the Open GL pipeline (for applying effects post render but before screen draw). Maybe implemented as a callback?
- Multi-processor support - most modern mobile devices have low clock speed but many cores that we can’t take advantage of
- Multi-threading (co-routines are OK but they are still essentially single-threaded time sharing mechanisms). For example, open a background thread to preload assets, perform costly state management, etc.
- A decent debugger.
Lol, read the whole topic and still didn’t get how to change colours of the splash screen. Could anyone make a manual or something?)
Currently you can’t change the color, only the image on a black background. See:
https://docs.coronalabs.com/plugin/CoronaSplashControl/index.html#custom-splash-screen
Rob
Since this post is still active, Rob or anyone from Corona could you kindly take a look at my question on page 8 and take a crack at answering it?
BTW, I just did an ad hoc build with the new splash screen, and other than it being a sore thumb (as far as color goes), it doesn’t really disrupt what I am trying to accomplish.
Thank you!
Ed
@Rob Miracle,
Just a suggestion…
The documentation for the splash screen plugin could use some details about sizing and scaling of the splash screen image. For instance, what width, height, and orientation is expected; and how the splash screen handles different screen sizes.
Thanks 
@Rob Miracle,
Could you clarify something for me? I’m trying to understand the implications of using Corona’s splash screen vs using iOS Launch Images.
Scenario 1: Using Corona Splash Screen
ios = { enable = true, image = "Default-Landscape@2x.png" },
Scenario 2: Using iOS Launch Images Only
ios = { enable = false },
Let’s assume that I’m using the same image for both Scenarios. In Scenario 1, is it actually the case that both the iOS Launch Images and Corona Splash Screen are working? Or is it just the Corona Splash Screen (maybe overriding the iOS Launch Images functionality)?
If it’s both, then is there even any point to doing Scenario 1?
Thank you!
We have no way to bypass the iOS Launch Image system. If you want a single “Default.png” that works for both iOS and Android, you would disable the splash screen for iOS and enable it for Android.
Rob
I worked on my Apple TV app today and never noticed a Corona splash page. Should I have? I was executing the binary directly on the Apple TV since Apple TV builds are currently broken and I can’t submit via TestFlight.
doug
Corona used to cost $350 - $500 per year. Then they made it free. Now they charge $99, but only if you don’t want their splash screen. That’s a bargain. Never understood how anyone could complain about benefiting for free off the labors & expense of others. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.