From the Forum — Issue #20

From the Forum — Issue #20

From the ForumWelcome to the latest installment of From the Forum. In this series, guest blogger Alex Jackson highlights outstanding threads from the Corona Forum. The goal is to bring attention to the most captivating, interesting, and thought-provoking discussions taking place in our very own backyard.

Please visit the forum to join these conversations or start your own!


1. IAP reviewer promo code solution

Generating good word of mouth can be tough for a struggling indie developer, and getting your app in front of as many eyeballs as possible can be the key to a successful launch. However, if you’re developing a paid app or an app that relies on IAP (In-App Purchases) for deeper gameplay, you must find ways for people to get it without jumping through digital hoops.

Developer schroederapps shared a useful idea to let folks get your app without giving away the farm. His concept is to use a custom, unique URL scheme which unlocks IAP in the app when the reviewer downloads and installs it, and this was not seen by any authorities as a red flag for app piracy.

Head over to the original thread to find more info on this solution, including a link for using custom URL schemes in iOS.

http://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/37264-rejected-by-apple-cause-of-promo-code-custom-solution/

2. Differences between native.newWebView() and native.showWebPopup()

I’m going to spare everyone the extensive preamble on this one: we’re going to get technical and I know you’re going to love it.

Calling URLs with either the native.newWebView() or the native.showWebPopup() APIs can do different things. In the following thread, developer ksan has a thorough and in-depth discussion on the differences and similarities of each, and why you might use one versus the other. Go check it out!

http://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/47121-nativeshowpopup-does-not-return-to-my-app-when/

3. Facebook friend tagging tips

Facebook has been a hot topic lately. Getting it into your app and making it play nicely with the rest of your code can be a struggle, but once you do it, you’ll feel like a superhero. Once you’ve done that, you may want to take the next step: friend tagging in photos. It sounds more complicated than it actually is, but you will need to understand Facebook Graph V2 API references.

Fortunately, schroederapps has us covered again with a useful little snippet in this thread:

http://forums.coronalabs.com/topic/47137-tagging-facebook-photos-using-facebookrequest-anybody-done-this/


About Alex

Alex Jackson is an indie developer and the founder of Panc Software, specializing in retro-style gaming. He has created several mobile applications, enjoys long walks on the beach, pixel art, and reading the Corona forums. Contact him by email or follow him on Twitter: @pancsoftware. Check out his new game Crosstown Smash on iOS, Android, and Amazon devices!

Rob Miracle
[email protected]

Rob is the Developer Relations Manager for Corona Labs. Besides being passionate about helping other developers make great games using Corona, he is also enjoys making games in his spare time. Rob has been coding games since 1979 from personal computers to mainframes. He has over 16 years professional experience in the gaming industry.

5 Comments
  • Jason Schroeder
    Posted at 16:29h, 16 May

    Thanks as always for these posts, Alex – and thanks for the kind double-shout-out! I have been meaning to make a simple drop-in Lua module to enable Corona debs to add URL Scheme IAP promo codes to their apps with ease. I’ll try to get it ready ASAP and I’ll post a link to it here and on the forums once it’s done. Even better, it’ll include code to authenticate promo codes against a simple web-hosted text file, which allows you to add and remove promo codes at will without updating your app.

    Best,
    Jason Schroeder (@schroederapps)

  • Alex
    Posted at 08:57h, 17 May

    The pleasure is all on this side of the blogpost my friend. Your contributions make the Corona development world go round. I was right in the middle of rolling my own module like this, so your work comes right in the nick of time!

    Keep being awesome, and I’ll be sure to shout it from the Internet mountaintop!

  • Kerem
    Posted at 09:14h, 17 May

    Alex,

    Thanks much for including my random blabberings along with the awesomeness from Jason. Most appreciated. Keep up the great work! Have a good weekend.

    All the best,
    Kerem

  • Graham Ranson
    Posted at 10:03h, 19 May

    Looks like we may have an official solution to the first thread soon – http://www.pocketgamer.biz/news/59089/apple-allows-developers-to-give-away-in-app-purchases-via-promo-codes/

  • Jason Schroeder
    Posted at 20:49h, 20 May

    As promised, I’ve created a module for enabling IAP promo codes. All you need to do is require the module into your app, and make a few minor adjustments to the module’s lua file. Here’s a link to my post showing how it works, with download links for the module as well as a sample project: http://www.jasonschroeder.com/2014/05/20/in-app-purchase-promo-codes-for-corona-sdk/

    Enjoy!