Textastic – Text Editor with Syntax Highlighting (Alexander Blach $9.99)
*UPDATE*
I am upgrading this app to a 5 Star app. This app has recently made some changes that will soon hit the app store that make this app a 5 star app!! Well done guys!! This release adds FTP and Dropbox support which virtually meets all of my needs for this type of an app. It does not have SVN support but I have found a way around that. I’ll make a note below on how I solve that issue. That being said the implementation of Dropbox in this app is very nicely done. I’ve been playing with this throughout the beta process and I have watched it go from simple, to GREAT!
The iPad is definitely not the idea place for web development. However, the ease of use, size and other factors make the iPad an obvious choice for just about any activity involving the internet. So while one might not think that developing on the iPad is a great idea, I think many would agree that it is a lot easier to have your iPad with you all the time than it is to have your laptop with you and connected all the time. So whether you are out on the town with friends, in a meeting or lounging around the house, it becomes very easy to make minor updates and fixes to websites or your code as you think about it rather than waiting until later and possibly forgetting. This is NOT a universal app, it works only on the iPad. Then again, I doubt I’d ever want to use an app like this on the iPhone.
I already use tools such as iSSH for connecting to my servers, but editing code from within a terminal window is not a good experience. Additionally using an app such as notes or even pages on your iPad is not going to help out much. Thats where Textastic comes into play. Combine that with a Bluetooth keyboard for your iPad and you have a pretty decent development environment. There are many things they could do better, but all in all the iPad is missing a proper IDE at present. I have looked at several options for writing code and most of them don’t even come close to being as good at this app.
The developers are located in Germany and are very responsive to inquiries about the app, especially bugs and issues as well as feature requests. One request I have had is to incorporate scp into this app. There are many apps that support ftp but not sftp or scp. The main reason for this I suspect is the encryption standards surrounding ssh and the *US* laws about using those standards. In the case of this app, since they are from Germany this undoubtedly poses a problem for them. At any rate here are some features for you:
FEATURES:
- View and edit your files in landscape or portrait mode.
- Type using your bluetooth keyboard.
- If you type using the onscreen keyboard, additional keys are supplied, those most used by web developers.
- Works great with TextExpander which means you can create templates for your files or tags or most commonly used blocks of code and easily put them into any of your documents by using your shortcut text.
- View your file list or view your document in full screen.
- Edit the attributes of the document including file name and encoding type.
- The app will act as a WebDAV server allowing you to easily drop files into the app or remove files or even move them around.
- Send files to other apps such as Pages or any Dropbox apps.
- View proper syntax of your code.
- View color coded code.
- Find text within the file you are currently viewing.
- Organize your files into folders.
- Use different syntax and color coding depending on the file type.
- Upload or download a file to any FTP or Dropbox site.
- Transfer a single file via FTP or Dropbox or transfer an entire directory.
- After transfer, the app remembers from whence you transferred that file and allows you (with just a couple of clicks) to re-upload that file overwriting the what is currently on your FTP or Dropbox server.
- Add multiple Dropbox or FTP accounts.
- Move files around both locally and remote.
- Delete or rename files locally or remote.
- If used in conjunction with crontab on another machine you can also combine this with Subversion making this app complete!
- The latest release includes many improvements to the app.
The one feature I’d REALLY like to see that would make this app just plain KILLER is subversion integration. I could easily import and export any files and ensure they are backed up through my subversion server. If they can bring subversion or SCP or SFTP to this app then this app will be KILLER. Even without those features it is still worth the $4.99 price tag. The developers are very responsive, I have contacted them in the past regarding this app and they are currently working on Dropbox integration right into the app rather than having to open the file in a separate Dropbox app. They are also working on integrating FTP and SFTP (when they can) for the future. I currently use this app not only for various development projects I am working on but also for all of my Reviews. I type the reviews in Textastic and store them using Dropbox. I can then easily copy out the hyper-texted code and paste it right into the WordPress app (which is not a very good place for writing code). I love working with this app, it works so well and is perfect for exactly what I do. I spent a while looking around for the correct app for writing code and found this one to be the best one out there. The other apps are either sluggish or lacking in features. This one has a done a great job for me.
This most recent release brings FTP and Dropbox, although it’d be nice to also have SCP, SFTP or Subversion this is definitely a HUGE improvement making this one of the best apps I’ve seen in the app store for working with code. The implementation is simple and easy to use and on my machines I make it work with Subversion through automation using the following steps:
- Mount your Dropbox onto a machine.
- SVN co all the files to a directory on your Dropbox.
- Setup a crontab that first does and SVN UPDATE on that directory, then does an SVN ADD on that directory, then does an SVN COMMIT on that directory.
Then you are done, you will find that any new files dropped into a certain area on your Dropbox will automatically be added and committed and all files will stay up to date. The only time you’ll need to manually do anything is if there is a conflict. If you change a file and re-upload it to Dropbox from Textastic, that file will be automatically committed. I am very pleased with this app. Well done!
