CoronaCards FAQs

CoronaCards lets you take advantage of the power and ease-of-use of Corona, in any native app. You include it in your project like any other SDK and can display CoronaCards in any configuration (i.e., full screen, partial screen or transparent overlay).

In other words, with Corona SDK/Enterprise, the full app is built with Corona. With CoronaCards, you have an app built natively or in another framework and then bring Corona into the mix.

Since you are using the same underlying platform, you can take advantage of almost all of Corona's 1000+ APIs. These include displaying OpenGL-accelerated graphics, audio, physics, animations and much, much more.

There are many reasons why developers use CoronaCards. For example, there are developers that are required to use a specific (non-Corona) platform or whose companies already have large investments in other platforms. With CoronaCards they can easily add richness/interactivity to their existing apps, across all platforms, in a very fast way and without having to adopt the full Corona stack.

There are also platforms, like Appcelerator and PhoneGap, that are not as well suited to rich interactive content, but that have other strengths. With CoronaCards inside those frameworks, developers can have the best of both worlds.

It depends entirely on your goals and what platforms you are using today. If you are starting fresh, we would recommend to take a look at Corona SDK or Corona Enterprise. Using Corona for your full app lets you build 10x faster when compared to other platforms because we make the entire process much easier. Corona Enterprise includes everything in Corona SDK and adds the ability to call any native library or API from your Corona app.

However, if you are already using an alternative platform or need to work on an existing non-Corona app, then CoronaCards is probably the way to go. It will let you easily add Corona's richness into those apps/platforms.

Probably not. If you use Corona SDK or Corona Enterprise, you are using Corona for your "whole stack".

CoronaCards is primarily relevant for developers actively using other platforms or that have apps built with other platforms.

Yes, but you would be accomplishing them in a different way.

With Corona Enterprise you are using Corona for the core of your app and you are then calling native libraries from within Corona. With CoronaCards, your app is built in another platform (or natively) and you are using Corona inside that app.

Either way, you would be combining Corona with native libraries. What method you prefer is really up to you and your project's requirements.

Take a look at our docs and guides. We have info on how to get started with native iOS and Android, as well as several other frameworks.

Today we support iOS, Android and Windows Phone 8. HTML5 is coming soon. And we are always considering new platforms.
Essentially, any platform supported by Corona SDK will probably be supported by CoronaCards since they are built on the same underlying core.

You can also use CoronaCards within frameworks like Appcelerator, PhoneGap, Unity and Xamarin (and any other framework that allows you to call native libraries).

No. When the feature is ready, Corona SDK developers will be able to build for HTML5 from within the Corona simulator, just like they build for iOS and Android today.

CoronaCards for HTML5 will offer essentially the same functionality, but won't require that you have a full Corona SDK Pro subscription. This would be a better option if you only need to build for HTML5 and do not need iOS or Android.

Free and open source!
You will need to purchase a separate license for iOS, Android and HTML5 (Coming soon). Windows Phone 8 no longer requires a license as of the most recent daily build.

View pricing details on the pricing page.

It is free and open source! Yes. We have a 30 day trial.
Just download CoronaCards for the platform of your choice and also download your license file. You will automatically have a 30 day trial.

Note: You will need to register/log into our site.

Free and open source! It is very simple: you just have to download your license file (available on the right side of the download page) and place it next to your main.lua file. If you have not yet purchased, this license file will give you a 30 day trial. If you have purchased a license, it will allow you to use CoronaCards without restrictions.

Note: you will need to download a new license file once you purchase a license to CoronaCards.

For trial users, if a new build becomes available for download, you will need to download both the new build and a new trial license, since trial licenses are limited to specific CoronaCards builds. A new trial license does not however extend the trial period.

Free and open source! You can keep on using the latest build of CoronaCards that you downloaded for as long as you want (with the last license file you downloaded). Any apps you have published that use CoronaCards will be unaffected.
However, if you want access to newer builds of CoronaCards you will need a valid license.

Make sure you have reviewed our docs. We also encourage you to browse and post to our CoronaCards forum.

We also have Premium Support options if you have more complex questions/issues.

We recommend that you use the Corona Simulator and a text editor/IDE (we recommend Corona Editor), just as a normal Corona SDK developer would. The simulator gives you the quick development and iteration speed that Corona is known for and lets you use all the Corona APIs to build things out. You can then put your lua files and assets into your project and run it within CoronaCards.

Just download Corona and you'll be building in no time. You'll be a Corona SDK Starter and can use the Simulator as much as you like. You do not need a paid Corona SDK license if you are just using CoronaCards.