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Announcing Xamarin 3

blog.xamarin.com

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Re: Announcing Xamarin 3

#91

Post by kayoone »

runjake wrote: post #71
natfriedman wrote: post #19

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone! This release was the result of a lot of hard work; especially the new visual designer for iOS, which took two years to build. You can read more about our platform here: http://xamarin.com/platform http://xamarin.com/studio http://xamarin.com/visual-studio And our new Xamarin.Forms library is explained here: http://xamarin.com/forms

Please, please, how about an affordable option for hobbyist/free app programmers? The current free Starter version isn't it. Edit: Wow, natfriedman. If you could only see the uparrows this comment is getting :)

This. I have been using C# with Unity3d a lot and love it and i would love to try Xamarin with a sideproject, but $1000 per year/seat (yes i want VS integration) is just too much.

Making this more affordable would do wonders for C#s popularity in the mobile space and possibly trickle down to a lot of other usecases.

Re: Announcing Xamarin 3

#92

Post by apineda »

supermatt wrote: post #58

I tinkered around with Xamarin, and a very basic app (using some 3rd party libraries) or even using the tutorial/sample apps was immediately outside of their free tier. Now I would like to understand the logic behind the 30 day free trial. If you are preventing app distribution (binaries are only valid for 24hrs when compiled in the trial version) why restrict it to 30 days? Why not allow people to tinker around as m…

I agree. It's a wall to scale and about half way up your thrown off by incompatible examples, a time limit that restricts any kind of real tinkering, and a price tag that makes you require paying clients before even knowing the platform!

Re: Announcing Xamarin 3

#93

Post by evo_9 »

It's a real shame that Xamarin has a such a prohibitive pricing structure.

My employer would love for me to use this on projects but they simply won't pay that much for a tool EACH YEAR.

Considering Visual Studio, if you actually pay for it and don't go to an event and get a free copy, is a one time cost that a company can semi-easily justify (we've been on VS2010 for over 4 years now, with 5 developers, that's a major expense if we have re-subscribe each year).

But with Xamarin, unlike Visual Studio, it's a 1 year subscription. I hate to say it but I agree with my employer, as much as I LOVE using Xamarin to build mobile/cross platform apps, the current pricing model is just crazy.

I'd say drop the subscription only option (maybe have that as one of the choices), and add some 'buy it, you own it forever' options, hopefully without raising the price (ideal world you'd drop the price, too).

Re: Announcing Xamarin 3

#94

Post by dewiz »

supermatt wrote: post #58

I tinkered around with Xamarin, and a very basic app (using some 3rd party libraries) or even using the tutorial/sample apps was immediately outside of their free tier. Now I would like to understand the logic behind the 30 day free trial. If you are preventing app distribution (binaries are only valid for 24hrs when compiled in the trial version) why restrict it to 30 days? Why not allow people to tinker around as m…

Completely agree, I've tried three times to start using Xamarin always hitting the paywall, it's annoying and I'm pretty sure they lost a lot of visibility this way. Just waiting for MS to buy them or release something similar.

Re: Announcing Xamarin 3

#95

Post by evo_9 »

natfriedman wrote: post #45
untog wrote: post #34

Kind of amazing that Xamarin now seems to have better dev tools for iOS than Apple do. I was badly burnt by buying a Xamarian dev license a couple of years ago for $499 then not using it (my own fault entirely) so I've been hesitant to jump back in to Xamarin-world, but it's really only a matter of time. I'm very impressed.

Drop me a note - nat@xamarin.com

Would be nice if after subscribing you get a better price to renew your subscription, I don't see that as an option right now though, right?

For example my Xamarin License expired on May 24th; to renew I have to pay the full price again, correct?

Re: Announcing Xamarin 3

#96

Post by DonGateley »

natfriedman wrote: post #80
supermatt wrote: post #58

I tinkered around with Xamarin, and a very basic app (using some 3rd party libraries) or even using the tutorial/sample apps was immediately outside of their free tier. Now I would like to understand the logic behind the 30 day free trial. If you are preventing app distribution (binaries are only valid for 24hrs when compiled in the trial version) why restrict it to 30 days? Why not allow people to tinker around as m…

Thanks for the feedback; it's challenging to come up with the right model for evaluations, but we're taking this input seriously. We do offer extended trials (up to 90 days); you just have to email us.

Since you are here, I want to voice agreement with prior comments on the need for an open ended trial for learning and evaluation but with restrictions only on making it commercial.

I've tried these kind of limited time trials in the past and have found in every case that my time proved to be even more limited. Suitably restricted open ended time trials, if possible, can only help you with sales ultimately. This is especially the case for people with sporadic bursts of time limiting loads.

I also agree with the criticism of the very large bump required just to use Visual Studio. OTOH, I might find that of no real consequence given enough time to fully evaluate the tier that contains just your IDE (which looks pretty nifty actually.)

Re: Announcing Xamarin 3

#97

Post by wvenable »

evo_9 wrote: post #93

It's a real shame that Xamarin has a such a prohibitive pricing structure. My employer would love for me to use this on projects but they simply won't pay that much for a tool EACH YEAR. Considering Visual Studio, if you actually pay for it and don't go to an event and get a free copy, is a one time cost that a company can semi-easily justify (we've been on VS2010 for over 4 years now, with 5 developers, that's a maj…

You do own the software forever. It doesn't expire after a year; you just will no longer have access to new releases and support. It's their last FAQ item on the pricing page.

It does seem a bit odd to hide that detail on the very bottom of the page. I have other development tools (JetBrains products) that having similar pricing models without signing up for a "subscription" and with a discount for renewing each year. I feel a lot better about that than what Xamarin has presented here.

Re: Announcing Xamarin 3

#98

Post by SneakerXZ »

They aim on enteprise clients otherwise I cannot justify the pricing.

I cannot imagine spending 600 USD for both platforms just to build hobby project (and with missing Visual Studio support) and if I cannot build a hobby project, how can I propose it to my employer when I don't have any experience with it?

I would love to use Xamarin and would be willing to pay (I could justify 300 USD for all platforms (iOS, Android, Mac) with Visual Support for my hobby and indie projects. I hope Microsoft buys them or they will be more friendly to indie and hobby developers.

Re: Announcing Xamarin 3

#100

Post by benologist »

natfriedman wrote: post #80
supermatt wrote: post #58

I tinkered around with Xamarin, and a very basic app (using some 3rd party libraries) or even using the tutorial/sample apps was immediately outside of their free tier. Now I would like to understand the logic behind the 30 day free trial. If you are preventing app distribution (binaries are only valid for 24hrs when compiled in the trial version) why restrict it to 30 days? Why not allow people to tinker around as m…

Thanks for the feedback; it's challenging to come up with the right model for evaluations, but we're taking this input seriously. We do offer extended trials (up to 90 days); you just have to email us.

Please kill the 64kb limit. You're just blocking little tutorials and samples, the starting point for most people.

Please, please, please do not read this as "make it bigger".

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