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Tuple: Pair Programming Tool for macOS

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Re: Tuple: Pair Programming Tool for macOS

#61

Why would I use this over VSCode liveshare? Genuinely asking, why would I want to run video streaming if I can just send small amount of text deltas.

Live Share is great if your pairing session is extremely code-focused. But if you're jumping between the browser, terminal, IDE, docs, Xcode simulator, etc., you begin to want to see your pair's entire desktop.

Re: Tuple: Pair Programming Tool for macOS

#62

Why would I use this over VSCode liveshare? Genuinely asking, why would I want to run video streaming if I can just send small amount of text deltas.

Haven't seen either Tuple or your solution, but I assume at the very least Tuple wins out if the two programmers aren't using the same editor.

And if all you're sharing is deltas, how do you discuss existing code interactively? Can you also share text selections and/or mouse movements?

Re: Tuple: Pair Programming Tool for macOS

#63
post #12
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it works well, but the only reason we used it instead of Tuple was that it's free right now. Tuple's pricing is rather absurd ($25/user/mo.) unless your org pairs so often you can justify it on the basis of 40 hour/week use. Pop's free tier lets us pop on actual controlled sharing when simple screen sharing isn't enough.

I hear you. We're pricey. Just curious – what would a workable price/model been for you?

$10 for 15-20 hours of usage a month?

Automatically bumps to the $25 price if you go over.

Re: Tuple: Pair Programming Tool for macOS

#64
post #13

Hi folks! I'm one of Tuple's cofounders. Happy to hear any feedback or answer questions :)

Hey R00k, Love Tuple, use it daily. It really is the best for pairing. The one thing that is annoying for me and can probably find out myself, but I think it maps cmd-a to something so I can't use it to select all.

We don't bind any global shortcuts, so it's probably not us.

If, however, you only see that problem when Tuple is running or call is active, let me know and we'll look into it.

Re: Tuple: Pair Programming Tool for macOS

#65
post #8

Also see Pop (pop.com). I’ve used it extensively in the past, and have loved it. It’s currently free, works very well, and has a very responsive team.

Yes, it works well, but the only reason we used it instead of Tuple was that it's free right now. Tuple's pricing is rather absurd ($25/user/mo.) unless your org pairs so often you can justify it on the basis of 40 hour/week use. Pop's free tier lets us pop on actual controlled sharing when simple screen sharing isn't enough.

Every company has different budgets, which I get, but you're basically arguing it's only worth ~$0.16/hour (based on 160 hours/month), which seems pretty suspect given that developers (in the US) cost around $100/hour all in.

Based on that cost structure, if it saves the average user 15 minutes per month then it has paid for itself.

I make this argument solely because when it comes to developer/professional tools, tens of dollars per month is a fairly trivial cost.

Re: Tuple: Pair Programming Tool for macOS

#66
post #13

Hi folks! I'm one of Tuple's cofounders. Happy to hear any feedback or answer questions :)

It's a brilliant tool! Picture quality is excellent - I guess due to peer-to-peer - and the quality of the product also generally feels high. I recommended it to a new team just today. But the audio connection seems to keep going for a few seconds after you close the pairing screen. Could be seriously embarrassing if someone utters something after thinking they've ended the call.

> the audio connection seems to keep going for a few seconds after you close the pairing screen

I'm pretty sure this isn't true, but if you can reproduce it, please do let me know and we'll fix asap! ben@tuple.app.

Re: Tuple: Pair Programming Tool for macOS

#67
post #13

Hi folks! I'm one of Tuple's cofounders. Happy to hear any feedback or answer questions :)

The toolbar looks cut off in the demo video - this is what I see when the presenter says "you can see the icon has gone red" (cursor is from the video): https://imgur.com/UzpbGxS

Fixed! Thanks :)

Re: Tuple: Pair Programming Tool for macOS

#68
post #8

Also see Pop (pop.com). I’ve used it extensively in the past, and have loved it. It’s currently free, works very well, and has a very responsive team.

Yes, it works well, but the only reason we used it instead of Tuple was that it's free right now. Tuple's pricing is rather absurd ($25/user/mo.) unless your org pairs so often you can justify it on the basis of 40 hour/week use. Pop's free tier lets us pop on actual controlled sharing when simple screen sharing isn't enough.

Isn’t this a fraction of a percent of what most programmers are worth to their employers, at least in the US? I don’t think it needs to provide much benefit to justify the price.

Re: Tuple: Pair Programming Tool for macOS

#69
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a brilliant tool! Picture quality is excellent - I guess due to peer-to-peer - and the quality of the product also generally feels high. I recommended it to a new team just today. But the audio connection seems to keep going for a few seconds after you close the pairing screen. Could be seriously embarrassing if someone utters something after thinking they've ended the call.

> the audio connection seems to keep going for a few seconds after you close the pairing screen I'm pretty sure this isn't true, but if you can reproduce it, please do let me know and we'll fix asap! ben@tuple.app.

> I'm pretty sure this isn't true

Lol I'm not lying to you! I almost always hear an end-of-call sigh from the other person that I'm sure they aren't expecting to broadcast because they think they've ended the call, but nothing embarrassing yet!

I'll try to screen-record my next interaction and show you. I think the problem is closing the window shuts down the screen link but not the whole pairing session, but people don't realise they need to separately end the call.

Re: Tuple: Pair Programming Tool for macOS

#70
post #51

I've worked at companies with 20 employees, and companies with 100,000 employees, and not once have I ever been asked to participate in pair programming. It would have been immensely useful in college, but VS Code already has a built-in tool that would do the job... and VS Code works on operating systems that I actually use. Who is using this? What do you use it for? I don't mean to be facetious, I have just never be…

They are excellent for mentoring. As a remote senior engineer I'm not able to simply stand over someones shoulder but I can offer to drop into a peer programming session and help someone through a problem and be able to take the keyboard and show them different approaches etc. Without these tools I don't think I could do my job effectively.

Mentoring! That makes sense, and depending on where you work, the obvious "mac only" limitation isn't a big deal. Thanks for the insight!
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