Corona SDK is a software development kit (SDK) developed by Corona Labs Inc. Corona SDK allows software programmers to build mobile applications for iOS, Android, and Kindle, desktop applications for Windows and OS X, and connected TV applications for Apple TV and Android TV.
Corona uses integrated Lua layered on top of C++/OpenGL to build graphic applications. The software has two subscription tiers: the free Corona SDK and the paid Corona Enterprise. A Corona Enterprise subscription adds the ability to use native code in app development.
Walter Luh and Carlos Icaza started Ansca Mobile, later renamed Corona Labs, after departing from Adobe in 2007. At Adobe, Luh was the lead architect working on the Flash Lite team and Icaza was the engineering manager responsible for mobile Flash authoring. In June 2009, Ansca released the first Corona SDK beta free for early adopters.
In December 2009, Ansca launched Corona SDK 1.0 for iPhone. The following February, the Corona SDK 1.1 was released with additional features.
In September 2010, Ansca released version 2.0 of Corona SDK and added Corona Game Edition. Version 2.0 added cross-platform support for iPad and Android, while Game Edition added a physics engine and other advanced features aimed specifically at game development.
In January 2011, Corona SDK was released for Windows XP and newer, giving developers the opportunity to build Android applications on PC.
In April 2012, co-founder and CEO Icaza left Ansca, and CTO Luh took the CEO role. Shortly after, in June 2012, Ansca changed its name to Corona Labs. In August 2012, Corona Labs announced Enterprise Edition, which added native bindings for Objective-C.
In March 2015, during GDC 2015 announcement was made that Corona SDK is completely free and will support Windows and Mac OS X deployment targets.
In November 2015, Corona Labs Inc. announced support for tvOS development for Apple TV.
The SDK features audio and graphics, cryptography, networking and device information such as accelerometer information, GPS, and user input.
Corona SDK includes the following third-party tools and services:
Kwik is a plugin that allows Photoshop users to create mobile applications for iOS and Android devices with Corona SDK. Graphic designers, writers and illustrators can create mobile applications in Photoshop, and publish using Corona SDK without the need for coding.
GameThrive is a plugin and platform as a service to send push notifications to iOS and Android devices.
Lua Glider is an IDE that features a debugger, variables explorer, call stack, adaptive auto-complete, built in documentation, real-time breakpoints, split screen support, asset preview and simulator remote.
Corona Complete is a visual debugger, code editor and project manager for Corona SDK. The tool offers smart auto complete, variable memory dumping, console output, file management, error and breakpoint management.
Spriteloq is an Adobe Flash SWF exporter for Corona SDK that allows developer to integrate Flash art and animations into mobile applications.
Lime is a Lua library created for Corona SDK which allows game developers to include tile maps created in Tiled within a game. Tiled can be used as a level editor and as a property feature that allows level designers to set up game logic without the need for a programmer to change any code.
SpriteHelper is a Mac OS X application that brings developers a texture and a physic shape editor in one package.
Corona Textmate Bundle is designed to help TextMate users code Corona SDK applications more quickly. It contains a large number of autocomplete terms, commands, and snippets for access to various Corona APIs using the standard TextMate keyboard/menu shortcuts.
Particle Candy is a particle engine library that allows developers to create smoke, trails, fire, explosions, debris, flares, dust, clouds, shots, light rays, water fountains, and weather effects.
MultiRezer is a utility for developers to port games and applications to multiple devices, by rescaling graphics to fit a desired device. The tool currently supports over 10 devices, including the iPad 3.
LevelHelper is a level editor for Mac OS that helps populate game worlds. Used in conjunction with SpriteHelper, developers can import sprites and create levels by dragging sprites in a desired position.
Icon Robot is a tool that generates different size iOS icons by resizing and exporting application icons.
Corona Remote is an application and Lua library designed to send remote accelerometer data to Corona SDK. Using an iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch or iPad, developers can send real-time accelerometer data to the Corona Simulator for use when developing accelerometer-powered applications and games.
Texture Packer is a graphical user interface that offers multi-touch support, zooming and a tree view with sprites and shows changes in real time.
Physics Editor helps developers edit physics shapes. By drag shapes inside the editor and pressing the auto trace button, developers can adjust the shape’s physics parameters and directly export to a game development framework.
iAppHost creates iPhone application websites with a custom CMS that accounts for HTML, CSS and analytics.
Outlaw (formerly Corona Project Manager) manages projects and assets so developers can switch from one application to another and swap out assets.
700 Sprites is very useful because it provides a wide range of fantasy themes for application development.
bmGlyph is a bitmap font generator. Wide range of styles are available like Gradients, Glossy, Shadows, etc..
Explosion Generator 3 uses advanced engine mechanics to create perfect explosive effects in a simple way. This can be a major asset for Game Development.
Game Coder is a platform dependent application that can be used to develop applications on iOS. It provides the option of exporting the code into the Corona SDK and can be edited. And it can latter be published on the App Store.
Glitch Games Libraries are a set of libraries that can be used to speed up the development time.
Glyph Designer is a bitmap font generator that helps to add effects to any kind of fonts. Glyph Designer also has command line support allowing the process of generating multiple fonts at different sizes to be added to your automated build process.
Particle Designer is particle effect design tool allowing you to add dynamic visual effects to games like smoke, fire, rain, explosions etc.
Gymbyl.com is a webpage that provides information and code for developing, testing and all-round enhancement.
Krea IDE is a tool used on windows platform that simplifies the usage of Corona SDK. It includes many features like scene editor, physical body editor, code editor, map editor, asset management and many more.
Kutt is a tool that can help in developing the application for various screen resolutions. This tool makes the job simpler because it codes the application for different screens if the code is submitted for one screen resolution.
Level Director is a level creation tool written specifically for use with Corona SDK and Windows OS. The tool set provided allows you to rapidly create title screens and levels with ease and export them to Lua code.
Million Tile Engine is a Lua library that provides Multiple Tile Engine that is blazing fast. It helps in developing multiple tiles irrespective of the screen size and run them regardless of the map size.
MovieClipX is a tool used to make animations at a quick pace. It provides scope to provide animations to characters at and state of the game.
OPTPiX SpriteStudio is a 2D sprite animation data creation tool. SpriteStudio exports animation data in “Universal” XML or binary formats and currently supports various frameworks and game engines, including Corona SDK.
Roaming Gamer Templates and SSKCorona is guide that provides all the templates for all games and applications.
Spine replaces traditional raster animation in games, providing smoother animations that are easier to produce.Animations can be created without needing more art and are so tiny that games can make extensive use of them. Officially supports Corona SDK.
tPacker generates texture atlases and animations from sprites. It also creates the application icons for both iOS and Android in short span of time.
ZeroBrane Studio is a slick IDE for Lua and Lua-based frameworks that supports syntax highlighting, code analyzer, remote console, on-device debugging and live coding, watches, stack view
