Runestone Text Editor Reviews

by 🐝Fly

After updating to the new version, it's really hard to use. Devices with iOS 18 are lagging a lot and getting really hot, especially with this new feature. It's just not practical. Could you let users choose whether to display the quick create interface when reopening? This feature feels pretty unnecessary in many situations.

by Feverdream

The only reason it ask you to unlock it for the pro version is so that you can actually use it for the languages that they claim that you can already use it for and so it’s basically worthless for python because you’re not able to see the number of spaces and so you can’t deal with non-terminals, which is a critical part of the language.

They obfuscate this by making it free to download and then paying for premium and then they ask you for more than the top tier app because they know they’re not going to get it unless they put you in a bind.

This feels like a bait and switch to me and it’s very clear that it was intentional so that makes it hurt all the more.

It’s stuff like this that makes me want to release a free app that replaces this, so they actually have to work for the money.

by Kowabunga

Installed on iPad Pro with iPadOS 15.5. No files will even open. Great reviews apparently, but I can’t even get to its core functionality without being able to open a file. Complete waste of money.

by Armychick45

I just downloaded and purchased the Premium version of Runestone. I opened it and started to play around with it, only to discover that there is no way to actually preview what I am coding. When I went to request a refund of the $9.99 I just paid, I got a message stating “failed requesting refund, unable to request refund.” So now I’m stuck with an app that doesn’t have what I need and I can’t get my money back!! If I could give RunestoneTextEditor 0 stars, I would!! Buyer beware!!

by GB13😎

I spent many, many hours getting my custom theme just right – gone now after the latest update. 😣 Please provide us with some way of exporting our custom themes, so users like myself can protect our time & effort from being lost to app amnesia.

by AnonymousRP

There are issues opening most files (regardless of their type) that are accessed through a cloud repository (in my case I used OneDrive). Please fix if possible. Thank you!

by MrAssman

I’ve loved this text editor app til a recent update added the big new file button at the top which seemingly has caused RunestoneTextEditor to run very poorly. It lags/stutters like crazy now and heats up the phone during use. I looked for a way to disable it and there’s no option to do so.

I think this is caused from the 1.5 version update

by Alterae

the only thing missing is syntax highlighting for code blocks in markdown

by ToddZie

Simple interface, powerful functionality, streamlined, makes it easy to capture, edit, update and browse all kinds of text files.

I’ve tried a lot of text editors - over a 10 year history with my iPhone - some are awful, some are good, this one is my favorite.

Well worth the one time $10 gratuity !

by Alscwh

It is so nice to open and use an application produced by someone who truly thought about its use and function. Runestone is a well-planned, well-designed app. It's a pleasure to use because it was designed that way. Great purchase.

by DRM 87654383557

I have used pretext as my simple text editor for years. But it has a few limitations and is no longer being updated.

I have tried quite a few alternatives but they were either poorly implemented or overkill for my desired use

I continued searching and recently discovered Runestone. I find it to be very well constructed and the design intuitive. So far, I have not encountered any deficiencies or problems while using it. The basic free version is very functional and has no pop up adverts pushing for upgrade.

The premium version has a few features that are worthwhile for me .. so I upgraded. This is now my preferred simple text editor

by NinerRider

I rarely write review, but RunestoneTextEditor deserves it. Like others, I’ve tried several other editors, Coda, Koder, Textastic, etc. none of them really worked for me. Then I stumbled over Runestone. It took less than 5 minutes before I purchased the premium version. It does everything I need, is fast, has a super clean interface, is easy to use, and actually works. It’s the perfect editor for me.

by Erbitron

I wanted to be able to edit notes I store in iCloud from my phone without having to download a whole thing or wrestle with a custom file format that I can’t edit anywhere else.

RunestoneTextEditor does exactly that and it does it well. Haven’t encountered any major bugs while using it and I love how straightforward it is.

by Jad6os

I use it for opening all sorts of files on iOS. It feels native, lightweight and just perfect.

Bonus points if we could support protobuf files or even bigger bonus points if we can install our our highlighting for custom file types

by Stilla_Gorilla

Let me start by saying the UI is very well designed. The navigation is easily navigable. The extra paid features are well worth the asking price. Thank you for not making this a subscription based app. The help section and Simon’s websites, including his twitter page are helpful. Thank you for making this for everyone to enjoy.

by 346 Blend

I like RunestoneTextEditor, it’s easy to use and it feels like I’m working on the
Atom text editor. I can take this little convenience ANYWHERE! Great work.

by Stricken7

This is a great app. Smooth design, fast performance, a lot of awesome features. And all for a low one-time price. Nice work!

by HackedPotato

Runestone is absolutely amazing for what it does. I just wish the symbol bar could be toggled with a setting on demand.

by Rgigger

Really great editor. And one of the few that will actually let you set the file extension.

by Aviris

If you’re looking, you know what it is and I’ll tell you it is worth it. Even without premium it’s a great text/markdown editor. If you use it even a couple times a week the premium update is worth it and reasonable for what you get (my opinion of course).

by Dhdeckard

I’ve tried so many text editors from Coda for iOS to Koder to Textastic. They’ve all been “ok”, but the problem I kept coming down to was the syntax highlighting. I’m a web developer and I use Atom on Mac every single day. I discovered RunestoneTextEditor and the syntax highlighting looked pretty good, but then I found where you can create your own theme and I immediately bought Premium and got to work replicating Atoms theme I use. I got it 90% of the way there and I’m in love. I’ve wanted this for years. THANK YOU.

If I could ask for anything it would be tabs for multiple files open at once and maybe a tree view on the left to browse files and folder structure, but other than that I LOVE IT.

by WhiplashZamboniMan

If you are a VoiceOver user like I am and on iOS 17.4.1, there is one small problem when punctuation is set to anything but all under VoiceOver, verbosity. When walking through a text file line by line, VoiceOver fails to include the last character of every line whether or not the last character is punctuation. Setting verbosity for punctuation to all correctly identifies every character on the line.

This editor is quick! A few of the others I've tested that are supposed to work with VoiceOver are so slow they are completely useless. I'm using this editor to write LaTeX documents and it works very well.

by Kcwookie

I was very surprised that Apple released the Vision Pro without a text editor. All other Apple devices come with one. RunestoneTextEditor is a simple solution. While I did not need any of the premium features, I purchased the full app to support the developer. Since this will also work on my other devices, I will add it to all of them.

I appreciate the developer not making this a subscription like everybody else does. I dislike subscriptions and avoid them like the plague. The developer was kind, I can’t say enough good things about RunestoneTextEditor. I strongly recommend it.

by YesJustWolf

I’m editing files straight out of Working Copy, where I keep a local copy of my “dotfiles” project. Lots of files in there live inside directories that start with a dot, such as .config etc. Or the files themselves start with a dot, like .inputrc, .bashrc. I can’t figure out how to get to these files in Runestone. I wanted to report this as a bug but could not find the appropriate place to do so; so I’m doing it here. RunestoneTextEditor is great and clearly worth five stars so I’m not going to dock stars for this bug, but please, please, take this under consideration.

by Alicerunsonfedora

Runestone definitely exceeds the expectations of being a lightweight text editor for iPad and iPhone. With its modern design an architecture, RunestoneTextEditor feels right at home with tons of other iPadOS apps while packing a rich feature set that’s come in handy in the few times I’ve used RunestoneTextEditor . The Premium package is definitely worth the price and extends Runestone further to how I like my editing tools. It’s a strong contender against the editor I’ve used for years on iPad, Textastic, and I’d love to see something similar come to the Mac.

by Warrenao

This is the one you want for fast, lightweight text editing, whether or not you’re a coder. And I concur with others’ comments that the $10 premium price is a bargain. There’s just nothing else out there that combines a lack of unnecessary complication while supplying a toolbox of everything you need.

Bring the subtlety and flexibility of a desktop app such as SubEthaEdit or BBedit to your iOS device by installing this fine little gem today.

by SwampThingTom

Great editor for programming and markdown.

by Riseansmal

Without the lag from network latency to development containers… well done, please protect the DX on iPadOS.

by Whoareuiamme

Amazing UI and great customization options

by Portals4523

I paid for the premium, just want a nice editor to edit on my iPad here and there. Very happy with it.

by DrewOnBass

RunestoneTextEditor just fell into my lap like a gift. Exactly what I needed

by Mr.Haboubi1988

I'm not a developer but this is a very good app!
My wishes: 1. fullscreen mode with no top bars or anything just immersive writing. 2. Org mode support

by Pdxmph

Runestone is a nice, lightweight editor that works well in the iPadOS ecosystem. It doesn't have the affordances of heavy-duty desktop tools, but it's a great companion to Working Copy.

by Mr.Unclean

Let me start by saying the UI is very well designed. The navigation is easily navigable. The extra paid features are well worth the asking price. Thank you for not making this a subscription based app. The help section and Simon’s websites, including his twitter page are helpful. Thank you for making this for everyone to enjoy.

by NerosOw

Really simple and smooth. It is easy to get the hang of it! Great app!

by Cdransf

Lightning fast, flexible and fully featured. I’d love to see support for Typescript syntax highlighting too. Highly recommended.

by JellikCG

RunestoneTextEditor is beautiful, clean, and responsive.

by No_Bug

If add ssh for edit server file, I will pay

by Chuckpebble

I’m trying to learn Swift on my iPad. Storing and referring to code snippets right in Swift Playgrounds just was not cutting it anymore. I was going through text editors looking for something that I could keep as a slide over for quick reference. I saw a blog post on about this on Daring Fireball, and within minutes of downloading I knew I had exactly what I needed. I just copied my sample into a new plain text file that I named with a .swift extension and I’m off and running!

by Lakhesis

I’ve only done a few small scripts with it, but it’s already better for writing and editing code on my phone than any of the other editors I’ve tried. It’s well thought through, and fast. Love it.

by Naman34

Possibly better than many editors on the Mac too!

by Jed Fox

Runestone is a great text editor.

by Velgor

Great app! Cheers for the added entertainment value.

by Chris.Fiebelkorn

Seriously, this is the best text editor on iOS. I love Textastic, but this has forced a switch! Love it!