It has been more than 2 years since Textastic 5 released on iPad. It was a free update to an app that had been receiving great updates since 2010. Just a few days ago, Alexander Blach released Textastic 6, a major update that replaces both Textastic for iPhone and iPad in a new Universal avatar. I’ve been using it over the last few days and it really is a great update as well as a step in the right direction.
Textastic was already a fully featured IDE for iOS, with support for syntax of more than 80 languages and this upgrade is more focussed on power user features and modern iPads. Textastic 6 adds full support for the iPad Pro, along with both Split View and Slide Over modes on iPads that support it. This is a welcome addition, because now you can work on code and view previews side by side. iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users get 3D Touch for accessing recently used files as well. Textastic 6 still supports the amazing keyboard shortcut bar on top of the iOS keyboard that I love. At first I thought Dropbox support wasn’t that great, since the open menu in the app says Dropbox doesn’t support opening files. Thankfully, Alexander has outlined how you can link Dropbox and work on your Dropbox files easily here. Alexander clarifies,
The file provider extension of the Dropbox app does not yet support “open” mode – it only supports import and export. That’s why it doesn’t appear in the system-provided document picker when you select the “Open…” command in Textastic. This is something Dropbox would have to add to their app.
If you’ve been looking for an editor for code on iOS and for some reason Coda isn’t something that you prefer, Textastic 6 is a very competent option with its support for various languages, modern iOS features, great keyboard shortcut bar, and more. Textastic 6 is available for $9.99 on the App Store as a universal app. There’s also a Mac version available for $7.99 on the Mac App Store.
Update: Added a link to the Mac App and clarification about Dropbox.