Unbiased Review of iSpring

iSpring Suite 8 is an easy to use PPT add-on that produces some of the nicest HTML5 output that I’ve seen in the industry, as far as the big-name application-based authoring tools.

The most current release is iSpring Suite 8.5, which includes a Quizmaker, Interactions, and Simulations.

If you’ve ever used Articulate Studio, you will find yourself right at home with iSpring.

iSpring compared to Articulate Studio:

Studio is a great PPT add-on for authoring eLearning (if you ignore occasional bugs and publishing errors), and if you like creating eLearning with PowerPoint it offers some more features than iSpring does when it comes to Quizmaker and built-in Interactions, but Studio ’13 does not publish reliable HTML5 output.

The reason for the somewhat lack of freedom when it comes to layout/design using iSpring’s built-in Quizmaker or interactions, is because they make the output actually work across all devices, and unfortunately in the “responsive player” world, you can’t just put items in quizzes or interactions wherever you want, if you want them to dynamically adjust to different screen resolutions, look clean, and work well.

And in today’s world where some people want to use their tablets or phones to learn on (I know—many of you out there may be thinking that this is a small use case, or “none of our learners do this”), this is something that we need to be prepared for. Also, since Flash is eventually going away for good, we also need to be prepared for browsers dropping Flash support altogether—so you should be very concerned with the HTML5 output of your presentations.

What iSpring does better than Studio ’13:

iSpring utilizes almost all of PowerPoint’s features, and does a really nice job at it. Just about anything that it lacks when it comes to built in interactions, etc. can be created using PowerPoint’s features.

Also, with iSpring you can do some things that Studio can’t, like simulations, and more options with video, player settings, and reporting.

iSpring is also much more reasonably priced for what it is, a PPT add-on (just like Articulate Studio). Currently price for a license of Articulate is about $1400, with iSpring costing a very reasonable price of $697, and volume pricing discounts starting at 5 licenses (10 computers).

Why do I use iSpring?

I wouldn’t use iSpring to try to convert a Storyline presentation, this just wouldn’t be feasible.

However, I do use it whenever creating a new presentation that is PPT based, or converting existing Studio ’13 presentations as the learner complaints roll in regarding the presentations locking up on desktop due to Flash errors, or when they realize that they do not work on mobile (unless you use the Articulate Mobile Player—which you cannot do on an LMS without using xAPI, and really is just a workaround so your presentation plays in Flash on tablets and Android phones *iPhone not supported by AMP).

iSpring also puts out constant updates, compared to Articulate.

Conclusion:

If you’re using Studio ’13 today, consider switching over to iSpring, even if it’s for a short period of time if you can afford to, in order to avert major issues in the next year or two as Flash goes away.

Articulate recently released “360”, which does have much better HTML5 output, but is an expensive cloud-based model, which may not be affordable to many users. Also, and not uncommon to new Articulate releases, there are still many bugs to be fixed and improvements needed. If you were a Studio ’09 user and were an early adopter of ’13, you know what I’m talking about.

If you currently author in PowerPoint, or you don’t create complex modules that require a program like Storyline or Captivate, then consider just switching over to iSpring. If you create custom presentations that were initiated in PPT, or want to turn one of your PPTs into an eLearning course, consider iSpring.

It’s a solid program, they keep their promises, and their customer support is impeccable.

Browsers are starting to drop Flash support. Apple (not surprisingly) is heading this, with Safari making it near impossible to play Flash content. You may be thinking, “Windows and Internet Explorer won’t do this”—yes, I believe they will. If any of you are Windows 8 users, than you know the “app” version of IE does not support Flash (and this was made before Flash was dropped).  It may be the last major browser to do this, but don’t expect Microsoft to continue to support a buggy, outdated program/technology when it’s creator (Adobe) isn’t even supporting it anymore…

Regardless of what you decide, be prepared to pay for an update and go through a conversion process eventually for courses that rely on Adobe Flash.