There is definitely one good reason - to support the development of Corona. But I am trying to be pragmatic and to find a good technical reason as well.
Faster builds, okay, but I’m not in a hurry.
I am mostly interested in business apps and simple games - do I have any chance to benefit from the new Graphics?
Is Premium Support that useful?
Are daily builds that valuable?
Which use cases require the full collection of plugins?
Any clarification would be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
Alex
You can see the differences here:
http://www.coronalabs.com/pricing/
I mostly create apps between work and going to sleep and my kind of apps are not that graphic intense but I needed IAP so I bought the “Basic” pack. Also, I don’t think I will make more than 100k, which is the revenue limit for the “Basic”.
If you look under “Premium Graphics” there is a lot of stuff, which I don’t know, that is only available in “Pro” and up:
http://www.coronalabs.com/pricing/premium-graphics/
My kind of apps are within the language sector and the apps just loads images, connects to a database etc. so for me “Basic” is enough, and I only bought that so that I could use IAP’s.
Best regards,
Tomas
Thank you, Thomas,
I’ve definitely seen those charts, but I am not sure if I fully appreciate the benefits of the Pro version - definitely because of my lack of experience with Corona. All those extra features are simply words for me, and I might spend months finding out what’s behind those words.
Say, premium graphics - there is a lot of hype around this feature but from what I am able to understand, it is only needed for apps that manipulate photos, or produce some visual effects. These are things that I will probably never need in my apps, as far as I can see right now.
Those extra plugins, do I need any of them? There is very little information about plugins. Say, for the one that looks most promising, Social, all information I could find is that “This plugin provides a way to post a message to various social providers”. Which exactly messages? Will it simplify getting a list of friends from Facebook?
“Access to Premium Support” - what does that mean? I saw this page:
http://www.coronalabs.com/products/support-training/
and according to it, 5 hours of premium support cost more than the Pro license for the whole year. Does this mean that the Pro level gives me some very limited access to premium support?
There are many other questions like these.
I am a professional mobile developer building iOS and Android apps for clients in London. I also have a number of personal projects. My initial reason for using Corona was the fact that I simply don’t have time to maintain both iOS and Android versions of my personal projects, and I don’t think HTML5 is the way to go for cross-platform development.
I also spoke to one of my clients, and of course they would be interested in a non-HTML cross-platform solution, but they have very little idea of what can be done with Corona in the realm of non-game apps. If I was successful implementing my personal projects with Corona, I would most probably found enterprise clients who would be interested in exploring Corona.
This is why I am thinking of going Pro. However, when buying something, I want to have a good idea of what exactly I am buying. And I don’t find sufficient the information I can find on the Corona website. This is why I am hoping that people who are actually using Corona can give me some more information.
Alex
There is definitely one good reason - to support the development of Corona. But I am trying to be pragmatic and to find a good technical reason as well.
Faster builds, okay, but I’m not in a hurry.
I am mostly interested in business apps and simple games - do I have any chance to benefit from the new Graphics?
Is Premium Support that useful?
Are daily builds that valuable?
Which use cases require the full collection of plugins?
Any clarification would be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
Alex
Hi Alex. While I’m a staffer, I was a customer first, so let me share my thoughts on this. Hopefully you will get responses from other community members.
Let’s start with new graphics. If you plan to build iOS 7 apps, the new graphics will be more important. To do the translucent backgrounds for things like nav bars and sharing panels will need access to things like gaussian blurs, etc. But for most simple games, it’s probably not as appealing.
The paid support can be useful. Many indie developers look at the cost and see it as prohibitive but for studios using our product, it’s an effective way to get the help they need.
Daily builds… I would say this is potentially the most important thing to me. While the time between builds 2076 and 2100 was pretty short, we normally average 3-4 months between public releases. For some this is fine, but if we fix widget bugs, you will want them when we fix them. If Facebook changes it’s rules on how things work, which they frequently do, then daily builds is how you stay atop of those changes. When iOS 7 came out, it was after a public build. iOS 7 broke things, the fixes rolled into the daily builds. Most of the time the public build will suffice. For others, it doesn’t. I can’t predict how it will impact you, but for me, daily builds are very important.
Plugins fall into three main categories: Advertising which are available to everyone. Sometimes this may include other 3rd party developed plugins because they want to reach a wider audience. Some of the multi-player game providers fall into this group. The next group is the In App Purchases group. For the most part, you have to be a Basic level or higher to access IAP. In today’s app market place, for pay apps struggle. Advertising requires a high volume of installs and enough use to generate revenue. IAP is the current way that many are able to monotize their apps. Since you say you are a professional developer, I would assume making money is a driving factor, so having more ways to make money with your app could be important to you. The 3rd category, premium plugins are where we provide additional functionality that you might want. Some of these include access to the iOS Contacts, Access to the iTunes library, Quicklook (let’s you view pdfs, office docs, etc. in your app), Pasteboard (for copy/pasting), using Zip files, and the social plugin to make Facebook and Twitter easy. If you are planning on Business apps, many of these are quite important.
The intent of Starter accounts is for hobbyists. They are doing it for fun. Once you step into the “I’m doing this to make money”, being a paid subscriber and some level only makes sense which goes back to your first point: You’re funding continued development of the product.
Rob
Thank you very much, Rob!
This is exactly what I needed. Daily builds is indeed the key.
Will subscribe to Pro tomorrow.
Alex
Interesting… I’ve got the Pro subscription yesterday, but I am still a Starter on the forum…
It takes some time for the forums to sync up with reality. If it’s not fixed in a couple of days, bump this thread and I’ll see what I can do to manually plumb the system.
Rob
Thank you, Rob.
Hi Rob,
Sorry to bother you, but a week later I am still a Starter…
Many thanks,
Alex
Okay I fixed it.
Rob
Thank you very much!
You can see the differences here:
http://www.coronalabs.com/pricing/
I mostly create apps between work and going to sleep and my kind of apps are not that graphic intense but I needed IAP so I bought the “Basic” pack. Also, I don’t think I will make more than 100k, which is the revenue limit for the “Basic”.
If you look under “Premium Graphics” there is a lot of stuff, which I don’t know, that is only available in “Pro” and up:
http://www.coronalabs.com/pricing/premium-graphics/
My kind of apps are within the language sector and the apps just loads images, connects to a database etc. so for me “Basic” is enough, and I only bought that so that I could use IAP’s.
Best regards,
Tomas
Thank you, Thomas,
I’ve definitely seen those charts, but I am not sure if I fully appreciate the benefits of the Pro version - definitely because of my lack of experience with Corona. All those extra features are simply words for me, and I might spend months finding out what’s behind those words.
Say, premium graphics - there is a lot of hype around this feature but from what I am able to understand, it is only needed for apps that manipulate photos, or produce some visual effects. These are things that I will probably never need in my apps, as far as I can see right now.
Those extra plugins, do I need any of them? There is very little information about plugins. Say, for the one that looks most promising, Social, all information I could find is that “This plugin provides a way to post a message to various social providers”. Which exactly messages? Will it simplify getting a list of friends from Facebook?
“Access to Premium Support” - what does that mean? I saw this page:
http://www.coronalabs.com/products/support-training/
and according to it, 5 hours of premium support cost more than the Pro license for the whole year. Does this mean that the Pro level gives me some very limited access to premium support?
There are many other questions like these.
I am a professional mobile developer building iOS and Android apps for clients in London. I also have a number of personal projects. My initial reason for using Corona was the fact that I simply don’t have time to maintain both iOS and Android versions of my personal projects, and I don’t think HTML5 is the way to go for cross-platform development.
I also spoke to one of my clients, and of course they would be interested in a non-HTML cross-platform solution, but they have very little idea of what can be done with Corona in the realm of non-game apps. If I was successful implementing my personal projects with Corona, I would most probably found enterprise clients who would be interested in exploring Corona.
This is why I am thinking of going Pro. However, when buying something, I want to have a good idea of what exactly I am buying. And I don’t find sufficient the information I can find on the Corona website. This is why I am hoping that people who are actually using Corona can give me some more information.
Alex
There is definitely one good reason - to support the development of Corona. But I am trying to be pragmatic and to find a good technical reason as well.
Faster builds, okay, but I’m not in a hurry.
I am mostly interested in business apps and simple games - do I have any chance to benefit from the new Graphics?
Is Premium Support that useful?
Are daily builds that valuable?
Which use cases require the full collection of plugins?
Any clarification would be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
Alex
Hi Alex. While I’m a staffer, I was a customer first, so let me share my thoughts on this. Hopefully you will get responses from other community members.
Let’s start with new graphics. If you plan to build iOS 7 apps, the new graphics will be more important. To do the translucent backgrounds for things like nav bars and sharing panels will need access to things like gaussian blurs, etc. But for most simple games, it’s probably not as appealing.
The paid support can be useful. Many indie developers look at the cost and see it as prohibitive but for studios using our product, it’s an effective way to get the help they need.
Daily builds… I would say this is potentially the most important thing to me. While the time between builds 2076 and 2100 was pretty short, we normally average 3-4 months between public releases. For some this is fine, but if we fix widget bugs, you will want them when we fix them. If Facebook changes it’s rules on how things work, which they frequently do, then daily builds is how you stay atop of those changes. When iOS 7 came out, it was after a public build. iOS 7 broke things, the fixes rolled into the daily builds. Most of the time the public build will suffice. For others, it doesn’t. I can’t predict how it will impact you, but for me, daily builds are very important.
Plugins fall into three main categories: Advertising which are available to everyone. Sometimes this may include other 3rd party developed plugins because they want to reach a wider audience. Some of the multi-player game providers fall into this group. The next group is the In App Purchases group. For the most part, you have to be a Basic level or higher to access IAP. In today’s app market place, for pay apps struggle. Advertising requires a high volume of installs and enough use to generate revenue. IAP is the current way that many are able to monotize their apps. Since you say you are a professional developer, I would assume making money is a driving factor, so having more ways to make money with your app could be important to you. The 3rd category, premium plugins are where we provide additional functionality that you might want. Some of these include access to the iOS Contacts, Access to the iTunes library, Quicklook (let’s you view pdfs, office docs, etc. in your app), Pasteboard (for copy/pasting), using Zip files, and the social plugin to make Facebook and Twitter easy. If you are planning on Business apps, many of these are quite important.
The intent of Starter accounts is for hobbyists. They are doing it for fun. Once you step into the “I’m doing this to make money”, being a paid subscriber and some level only makes sense which goes back to your first point: You’re funding continued development of the product.
Rob
Thank you very much, Rob!
This is exactly what I needed. Daily builds is indeed the key.
Will subscribe to Pro tomorrow.
Alex
Interesting… I’ve got the Pro subscription yesterday, but I am still a Starter on the forum…
It takes some time for the forums to sync up with reality. If it’s not fixed in a couple of days, bump this thread and I’ll see what I can do to manually plumb the system.
Rob
Thank you, Rob.
Hi Rob,
Sorry to bother you, but a week later I am still a Starter…
Many thanks,
Alex
Okay I fixed it.
Rob