Buffer Editor - Code Editor Ratings and Reviews

functional but can be better

Grabbed it on a sale (thanks) and love that I can directly clone and edit github as others mentioned. Has a slight learning curve (setting and user guide takes a few taps and scrolls to read), feels like this is tailor made for people used to vim’s style. Auto completing quotes didn’t work all the time (turns out its because I didn’t name the file with an extension). Some functions only gets undo by using software keyboard not cmd+z, for example when tabbing multiple lines using the software tab key (is it a magic keyboard/iOS limitation that hardware tab key deletes selection with a tab character?), or after search and replace. Also would it be possible to have redo shortcut as well for non-vim mode?
Another minor UI issue is that the software keyboard buttons messes with the ipad built-in swipe from the bottom functions when using a hardware keyboard.

Can still be improved!

So far, I really enjoy this app, and I love that I don't need working copy to access github. However, while the auto-complete features are already great, I feel as though this app still lags a bit behind Textastic in terms of productivity. For me, the biggest issue is the lack of emmet, which is something I've become used to using in every text editor I've used to date; I really hope to see it appear in a future release. As the app is right now, despite costing the same, it's just not quite on par with Textastic yet, but the way things are going, I have hope that that will change soon!

Thrilled for editing over SSH

I tried almost every iPad editor available (as of 2020). For what I need — adding an SSH connection and editing remote files — this app finally nailed it. I had an SSH connection running within minutes, you can navigate your remote file structure in the left-hand pane, tap a file to open, type with streamlined highlighting, and save (cmd-s) to immediately upload your changes to the remote server. I admit that this is a pretty low bar, but no other app accomplishes it! You get tabs for multiple open files, and a basic remote terminal. Also, I really appreciated the ability to customize the font/size/spacing and theme — I finally have the Atom “One Dark” theme back that I missed from my Mac! I feel more productive already :)

Poorly polished

The app really seems to lack behind Textastic in most areas of usability and is really badly polished.

Here are the annoyances I had while using the app:
- The is an annoying and significant slowdown whenever a key on the keyboard is pressed.
- searching for text (which I could only figure out how to do by pressing cmd+f on my hardware keyboard) does not show you the text that you are searching for
- changes made during the weird text searching does not get added to the undo buffer, so changes are permanent (and it is really hard to see the cursor during text replacement)
- the file browser is generally unintuitive and only allows you to delete and rename files.
- the stinking file browser stays on the left side of the screen for the entire time you’re editing a file
- syntax highlighting is SUPER limited. The C syntax highlighting did not even recognize “uint” or “bool”
- auto-closing parenthesis, brackets, and quotations does not work
- Settings are unorganized and thrown into a single menu

There are many many more annoyances but those are the problems I discovered after 5 minutes of using

I would not be distracted by the UI eye candy… Looks good but does not function well.

Developer Response ,

Hi, Thanks for the feedback.

- The is an annoying and significant slowdown whenever a key on the keyboard is pressed.
We have not experienced this issue. Please contact us via email with more details.

- searching for text (which I could only figure out how to do by pressing cmd+f on my hardware keyboard) does not show you the text that you are searching for
You should see highlighted rectangle over the text/characters. Which theme you are using if highlighting is hard to see ?

- changes made during the weird text searching does not get added to the undo buffer, so changes are permanent (and it is really hard to see the cursor during text replacement)
There is undo over the software keyboard and cmd+z works with hardware keyboard when in edit mode. Which theme you are using if cursor is hard to see?

- the file browser is generally unintuitive and only allows you to delete and rename files.
Press the ”+” button on top for more actions (Functions differs between different "connections" and views)

- the stinking file browser stays on the left side of the screen for the entire time you’re editing a file
Press the fullscreen button on top right of the editor or shortcut with keyboard to get rid of the file browser view while editing.

- auto-closing parenthesis, brackets, and quotations does not work
If you have issues. Please contact us via email with more details.

You can contact us: support@blakzero.com

Great editor for quick revisions on the go.

I have been searching for a mobile IDE with git support for quite some time and I’m happy to say that I’ve found it! There are some settings that I feel should be on by default, such as auto indent and auto bracket. With those settings enabled, its really easy to make quick additions or plot out an idea while on the road. The only feature I wish existed was contextual suggestion outside of a languages syntax.

Good editor, but not what I need it for

I like how you can import files and change them and then save it and I like the auto-tab, but when I wish it would show syntax errors where I forgot to place a bracket or etc. For $5 I felt like it didn’t offer much I could just use notepad instead, but if it worked like an IDE and had a compiler in it too for Java totally see spending $5 on this. I just don’t see a good reason to spend $5 on this app. I feel like this app has potential but not that great right now. It needs to be more than just an editor.

Awesome support and just what I needed

My laptop needed to be sent out for repairs but still needed to get work done. Was able to get my iPad setup and pulling from my repo super fast. Happy with the editor and glad I found it.

As for support, it’s rare to get a real person replying to you within a day. Not only that but they worked on getting my issues resolved quickly. Thank you!

Also, thanks for having the Dracula theme!

Git not pulling updates

I like the concept of this app, but it’s essentially useless to me because the repo I cloned is never being updated. Since the first clone, none of the updates I have pushed from other devices have loaded to this app. I have tried reopening the app and nothing.

Edit: thanks for the response! It works now... was having trouble finding what I needed in the usage docs

Developer Response ,

Hi, thanks for contacting. You have to pull the changes manually. Press ”+” sign on top right and press ”Pull from remote”. If you still need help please send email to our support: support@buffereditor.com

SIMPLE and has dedicated save

I chose this editor simply on the fact that I could use CMD-S to save files instantly to usb drives. It does that and so much more, with too many options to list. It’s hasn’t failed or had to restart. Just like a quality text editor should do.

Lag when navigating through directories

There’s a considerable pause when navigating through the directories and loading files in cloned projects. This pause does not exist if I disable networking (e.g. put the phone in airplane mode) which tells me that the app is doing a network call whenever you change directories/load files. The lag is pretty annoying. I don’t want to have to put the phone in airplane mode just to use this app.

Developer Response ,

Hi, This issue was fixed while ago. Please always use the latest version of the app. If you still have any other problems, we are happy to help and solve the issues. email: support@buffereditor.com