Testing Distribution

I have a project which I would like to test by distributing across a small number of devices. I dont want to pay the annual fee just for testing purposes. How do I do this?

When you say “distributing”, what exactly is it that you’re wanting to achieve?

You can sign-in with the same account to multiple mobile devices. This way everyone will have full editing rights to the app.

Or, you could share the app (costs a one-off fee of 1,000 energy units) and share it with users who then have the same app, but can’t edit it.

Is this going to be a commercial project eventually?

Pete.

Provided you are not charging for these devices, you could maybe load them with WifiManager and provide the QR code to clone the project. Depending on Size of the project they may need to purchase energy as well for the widgets.You would also need to provide instructions on how to load the wifi credentials and Auth token from BLYNK via the WifiManager Interface.

From what I have heard the illusive BLYNK 2.0 is suppose to have a different pricing structure that is geared a little more towards smaller scale distributions. This is the main feature I have been waiting for as I have an idea that I want to pitch at work, but the current pricing makes things difficult.

Distribute = install on multiple devices. Lets say < 12.

I dont currently have plans to make it commercial, but it could be a viable commercial app I think…so maybe down the road.

Yes, the current pricing structure is very unattractive for a small number of installations and discourages trying out an app in PlayStore etc just to see if it catches on.

A separate pricing structure for those scenarios I think makes business sense as it would increase the installed base of Blynk apps and thus potentially lead to more users at the higher rate plans.

A pricing structure aligned with how apps are typically distributed (PlayStore etc) would be a good fit. For example a modest publishing fee then a per app download fee. Popular apps could generate more revenue than the current fixed price structure (which is more aligned with in house app distribution).

Under the current fee structure, if I decided to publish the app, I would just re-write my user interface app using a different tool/language and then distribute rather than paying the fees. Essentially just using Blynk as a quick and easy prototyping tool.

@Curtis2012 I’m not sure that you’re approaching this from the right direction.
You don’t need to pay a monthly subscription if the app isn’t going to be used commercially. Obviously if you want to publish your app to the App/Play Store you do need to go down the subscription route, but the options of sharing or cloning are just as simple to use from an end user point of view and are much much cheaper.

Pete.