Buffer Editor - Code Editor Reviews

So far, I really enjoy BufferEditor, 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 BufferEditor 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 BufferEditor 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!

I tried almost every iPad editor available (as of 2020). For what I need — adding an SSH connection and editing remote files — BufferEditor 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 :)

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

Here are the annoyances I had while using BufferEditor :
- 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.

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.

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!

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 BufferEditor. I feel like BufferEditor has potential but not that great right now. It needs to be more than just an editor.

I like the concept of BufferEditor, 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 BufferEditor. I have tried reopening BufferEditor and nothing.

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

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.

Any chance we could get some kind of Nerd Font? Only real issue I have right now is that my servers use fancy fonts and they don’t display correctly in the terminal.

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 BufferEditor 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 BufferEditor.

You need to use it with a external keyboard to get the full benefit. It’s a clean / good looking editor. It makes for a great coding tool. I was able to directly connect to my dev Digital Ocean server and modify the files directly. Support was excellent and prompt to answer any of my questions.

I asked about getting auto-correct for when I’m doing plain text editing. The developer promised to add it and then did shortly after—an excellent customer support experience.

I have worked through both SSH and Dropbox. Whenever I save some editing, it seems to store and reflect at a glance. But, after a few minute, it get back to the original file. I keep editing several time and am now exhaustive.
I found other users who suffer from the same phenomenon in reviews.

This is a critical problem, and it prevents from using this editor despite its awesome functionality!!

BufferEditor handles files from connected services better than other coding apps i’ve tried on iOS, and the developer is super responsive to suggestions and support (thank you for adding Dracula theme!!)

If you believe a cup of coffee is worth $5 and BufferEditor is not, you have bigger problems and shouldn’t be wasting your time writing reviews. Try writing an app sometime and then make a stupid comment like that.

Thank you for being interested in my problem.
It's the best application once the questions are solved.

Personally I like the themes feature the most, but overall a simple text editor. Disabling all line wrapping would make this the perfect editor for me.

This morning I typed for 30 minutes into a local file. I closed my iPad Pro and went home. Ten minutes later (without doing anything in between), I opened it up again and was back at the iPad homescreen. Reopened Buffer, and nearly everything was gone. I have no choice but to delete BufferEditor and find something new, and could not recommend it to anyone.

I like the VIM support. The keyboard and keyboard toggle could use some work, but what really is annoying is that the save doesn’t seem to save all the time. Not even local files. I have re-edited a file three times and every time I go back (after clicking save) I have lost all my work.

Won’t use until addressed with either a response that clears things up or an update is released.

Having the ability to access new Files app would be helpful or better integration of saving to other locations than itself.

Good Luck because this editor is nice.

Could you maybe add the ability to save to iCloud Drive in a specific folder? Pages, Keynote, Numbers, GarageBand, a MATLAB app called SIMO , and many more do this, and it’s incredibly convenient.