iCloud, iOS version of BBEdit

[Christian C. Berclaz]

Hello

Now that iCloud is open to non-Mac App Store apps, the natural question would be, when can we expect an iOS version of our favorite editor?

I was looking at Coda which seems to be quite a neat apps on the iPad but frankly I'd prefer an iPad version of BBEdit and that I can work seamlessly on files in iCloud or Dropbox.

What do you guys think about this?

Cheers

Chris

[Mike Konia]

I'm using Textastic on iOS and I'm quite happy with it. Bevor I have worked with Coda for iOS, but never liked it.

[lux]

I'm working with Editorial for iOS and I like it. Textastic is an excellent choice also.

lux

[Christian C. Berclaz]

I agree there are options available for iOS, but what best than having BBEdit on Mac and iPad with all pref synchronized across all devices to seamlessly go from one to the next device and continue working at the desk and on the move.

[jgill]

TextWrangler perhaps, I don't see the point of having BBEdit on iPad, I mean, what features would you leave out?

[hmurchison]

I"m a fan of this idea  An iOS version doesn't have to replicate the entire featureset but rather offer great editing on the go. 

[jgill]

For me, BBEdit's standout feature is its live preview of HTML pages and integration with Applescript, Perl etc. I don't know if anything else does this. Certainly not Textastic, which is okay as a temporary substitute. I wouldn't want to have to markup a full page with it, never mind a whole site.

[Christian C. Berclaz]

I increasingly think that with devices like the iPad Pro (12 or 9.7) the need for a laptop over a tablet is no longer clear with 2 exceptions: we still lack a full fledge file system (for certain activities only) and many critical apps are not yet available for the iPad. BBEdit is one of them, though there are alternatives they are not as desirable as having a full fledged version of BBEdit for iOS and seamlessly work either from the desktop or from the iPad.

Thus my repeated plea for an iOS version of BBEdit :)

[cmah]

Seems that the autumn 2017 advent of iOS 11 could be an important milestone for this issue.

This new iOS version will supposedly include a real file system and other changes which would make users consider an iPad Pro instead of a Macbook.  Would this therefore be the ideal time for BBEdit to go to the iPad?

Certainly this is the kind of information we as users might like to have before buying new hardware.

-Carole

[Simdude]

Without Xcode on an iPad, it's a non-starter for most developers. I have used Textastic (along with the very cool Working Copy for git management) and worked on some web projects. It cannot replace my MacBook pro with dual large monitors as having a full UNIX system with a lot of screen real estate simply blows away a 12" iPad, even if the iPad Pro is matching the horsepower of laptops a few years ago.

That being said, I would love BBedit anyway. Textastic is a great editor on iOS but having the same editor on both systems would be a nice benefit. The question is would you want the version of BBedit Barebones would have to create to work in iOS? i.e. forget Applescript/shell scripts, worksheets and I'm sure a list of other features. Also, BBedit has a long history and I'm guessing a lot of objective-c. How much would have to be rewritten in Swift for iOS?

Finally, how much would you pay? I would have no problem at $20 or even $30 but I don't know if that's enough for Barebones to justify development. Games get downloaded by tons of people. Text editors are more of a niche. Especially those geared at developers.

[Timothy Waters]

Yes!

Please, for the love of all that is nerdy, please make an iOS version at least for iPad! I would gladly pay another $50 license fee for an iPad version of BBEdit!

[@lbutlr]

I don’t have this original post, but not sure what the OP{ intended by “iCloud is open to non-Mac App Store apps” but taken on its face, it has nothing to do with making apps for iOS.

Making BBEdit for iOS would be nifty, but I am not sure how well it would do, and I suspect it would take a lot more effort than anyone outside BBEdit would expect.

That said, if It’s a reasonable thing to do, I am sure the gang at Barebones is already looking into it.

And they couldn’t, I don’t think, make it $50 for iOS, which makes it less likely.

-- 

Wally: That's my nickname, "Waly" with one el. Dilbert: Who calls you

that? Wally: Most people, they just don't realize it.

[albopf]

Mike Konia referred to using Textastic on. IOS. Yep, that’s what I’ve been using lo these many years. Poor old Textastic seems to have “the monopoly” on iOS code editing. But there’s no way to clear cache in Textastic, so when you go for a preview, there’s sometimes no telling *which* prior version of the page (or other linked site pages) you may see. So, if I’m eager for decent previews (along with other more sophisticated editing) I must whip out the laptop for good ol’ BBEdit. I’m not myself sophisticated enough to know what file structure (or other things) keep(s) from making BBEdit unlikely on iOS, but I surely do miss it there. Just sayin’.