iPad version any time soon?

[Ctcmtm]

I completely agree with the OP, and would go further to say that Sublime Text 2 on iPad and Android is a natural fit and could easily be the number 1 editor on tablets. With growing transition to these kinds of devices, developers should not be shrugging them off. $9.99 seems reasonable when jumping across the PC/Tablet boundary, especially given that this is about average for advanced editors on iPad. I imagine apps in the Android marketplace are similarly priced. I am not impressed with the current text editing offerings in the app store, but the advantage for the ST2 team is that they have an established product out on desktop platforms that is already well known and obviously liked, and could easily pull-in customers at the same price point as other editors on the tablet app markets who don't offer free lite (or paid/demo Win/Mac/Linux) versions, and for which their potential customers must make a purchase based on screen captures, reviews, and faith alone. I am definitely willing to pay for Sublime Text 2 on the iPad. I already know what a great product it is.

[nick.]

... the ST2 team ...

It's just Jon. The fact that he supports three OS's is already impressive. It's no small task to port an application to iPad/Android, and I'd prefer Jon spend his time working on the desktop version. Because,well, there's a keyboard.

[Ctcmtm]

That is very impressive indeed! Well, there is always a bluetooth keyboard if necessary though...

[atomi]

With growing transition to these kinds of devices, developers should not be shrugging them off.

Yeah, I bought a really nice ICS tablet - for my mother. The growing trend is grandmas and grandpas and compute illiterate people who generally hate OS's window managers.
Even if there was someone out there that designed a real nice keyboard that wasn't a rubbery mess and was easy to type in, you would still need to develop off of your device either through ssh of ftp to even test your code.
You can't run a LAMP stack or any interpreter that isn't severely hacked and gutted. The fact is the system software for these devices are plain crippled.

Anyone that suggests that they want to code on their tablet is really being naive. And they just don't understand that these tablets will always be marketed and designed exclusively for consumers.
Sure Joe Blow developer down the street might add his own stripped down interpreter that might just work enough to write a cute script or two. But a tablet is not a developer tool it is a consumer device.

If I catch a developer writing code on a tablet I will publicly laugh. I will literally point at you and have a hearty and genuine laugh at your expense.
And If I'm going to be spending significant time being mobile I'd rather take a UX31 or similar ultrabook with me.

[subhog]

Anyone that suggests that they want to code on their tablet is really being naive. And they just don't understand that these tablets will always be marketed and designed exclusively for consumers.

There were many statements of this kind through the history of computing. "I estimate that there exists a world market for about five computers." or "I see no need for anyone to have more than 4 kilobytes of RAM.", just to (inaccurately) quote two of the most famous. I'm sure that the #1 reason people don't do coding on tablets is because there are no good apps to code on tablets. I'd definitely like to see one. And because of that, I'd gladly pay MORE than for the desktop version.

Have you ever used your tablet to connect via ssh to a remote server? Well, I did, and found that possibility pretty useful.

As for the keyboard thing, well - notice that desktop computers also don't have keyboards unless you buy one

[atomi]

@subhog

Oh I'm not saying that server management isn't something that can't be done on a tablet (I even mention ssh). I'm a big fan of screen, bash, irssi, top and even use nano from time to time. Even some light editing on the server side for small incremental updates to code might be something you could do on the couch or in bed with your tablet. As a hardware device a tablet has potential to be very useful.

What I am saying is that the software for these devices, iOS and Android, are not designed for developing. And neither is the form factor. The system software I'll say again is severely crippled. They are appliances not workstations. Microsoft so far has been the only software developer that I know of that is interested in creating a full stack operating system that could be used on tablets. It might be a worthy bet that this type of hybrid system software will create a market for applications that allow creatives to develop enterprise projects on tablets.

But you are kidding yourself if you think using Android or iOS as they are today is going to provide a comparable environment to desktop software for developing. I don't propose to know what the future holds. If Windows 8 with metro turns out to be the direction both Android and iOS move to with respect to hybrid desktop/mobile software this current situation may change.

With this in mind, anyone thinking of porting Sublime Text with all of it's dependencies to crippled mobile devices as they are now is being idealistic to say the least. It's a bit like asking Jon to port Sublime Text to your new internet tv with keyboard. So yeah, I stand by my statement, if I catch someone using a tablet as a development platform I will have a hearty laugh at them.

EDIT: For the record, although the possibility for change exists, I still strongly believe both Google and Apple will not follow Microsoft in developing hybrid tablet/desktop software as generally speaking tablet consumers do not in fact care about coding or developing on their tablets.

[atomi]

I know you're trying to be clever but just a quick Google search turned up

http://code.google.com/p/python-for-android/
http://pythonforios.com/

Of course these are crippled and not the only dependencies Sublime has.
But, that was the point I made.
As for Jon not having time, I don't know what his schedule is like so I won't comment on that.
I'm sure if he decided to delve into the mobile market he definitely could.
And I'd bet it would be a pretty neat little niche editor.
But not something I and probably most serious developers would actually use to program.

[quodlibet]

I looked at the market (and my wallet) a few months ago, and after some soul-searching decided to buy the cheapest netbook with the longest battery life I could find. My netbook is fairly portable (about twice the weight of an iPad, but it does come with a keyboard) and runs Sublime perfectly --- which is what I got it for.

For me, Sublime is the killer app. I will not use a platform that doesn't support it, because otherwise I'd spend my days writing wistful threads about tablet support.

[jonshipman]

It's no sublime but I recently found this:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... idedit.pro

Works pretty well when I'm out of town with the wife and the boss calls with a "urgent site breaking bug" that turns out to be a typo.

[atomi]

I believe Sublime will likely run on Microsofts new Surface tablet since it runs Windows 8 but I'm just speculating of course.
I also believe IOS actually runs on x86 just fine but for some reason Apple hasn't decided to combine code bases but maybe this new Surface will incentivize Apple to allow desktop applications on Ipads. I don't know again, i'm just guessing here, so we'll see what happens in the coming months.