Run VSCode and terminal on any iOS device

Every time I see something like this, I'm a bit sad, that we live in a world where tablets (especially iPad M4) have comparable performance to most laptops, but we still cannot run a general purpose OS (macOS/Linux/Windows) on them.

Tablets are surely capable of running VSCode, Docker, VMs, etc. locally, and from UX standpoint, VSCode is basically Chromium, so experience would be the same if these tools ran directly on device.

Re: Run VSCode and terminal on any iOS device

#7

Post by devjab » Tue, May 28, 2024, 5:49 AM UTC

palad1n wrote: post #5

I want to believe! Anyone tried this yet?

I haven’t tried it but their approach seems very promising. VS code has some excellent support for working on remote code, and if they somehow manage to make that bridge with an iPad that will be a game changer of sorts for iPad development.

It will of course require you to have an environment to actually run your “cloud” vs code. So it’s still different from developing on a Mac, especially if you want to utilise containers as your default way to run your code “locally”. Which I’m not sure things like GitHub code spaces support.

Re: Run VSCode and terminal on any iOS device

#8

Post by FredPret » Tue, May 28, 2024, 6:06 AM UTC

Blink doesn't have a lifetime license, which prevents me getting it. I just don't like working with rented tools.

There's an excellent app called iSH which runs Alpine Linux on iOS. I wish it were possible to boot into iSH on the iPad

Re: Run VSCode and terminal on any iOS device

#9

Post by nottorp » Tue, May 28, 2024, 6:09 AM UTC

What does this do in plain english?

It seems to either run vscode in a browser tab on ios or start an instance on a desktop that edits files on ios or run something in a 'cloud'...

I suppose it makes sense at a first glance if you know what all the other stuff referred to in the article is, but otherwise ... not really.

Re: Run VSCode and terminal on any iOS device

#10

Post by AJRF » Tue, May 28, 2024, 6:09 AM UTC

Hate to be that guy, but Samsung DeX is a much closer vision to a "Mobile device that doubles as a usable computer" than an iPad has proven to be since it launched 14 years ago.

Especially if you get one of the Z Fold devices. It's a phone, a small tablet and a pluggable computer - all in one.

Has had great terminal support for the past decade through Termux and can even run Emacs!