If you are a web developer or simply someone who deals with a lot of code, then you definitely know the joy of using a good code editor. The reason being, it offers much-needed syntax highlighting, auto-completion, etc., and makes your life a tab bit easier. For regular computers, you have a lot of code editors to choose from like Atom, Sublime Text, Notepad++, VS Code Editor, Brackets, etc. However, you will not always be in front of your desktop or may not always carry a laptop while you are traveling.
If you have a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, you can use the mobile code editors to do some serious editing on Android. Using the following apps, you can edit and manage your code anywhere and any time you want right on your Android device. To get you started, here are some of the best Android text editor for programming that you should give a try.
Table of Contents
HTML Text EDitors
1. ACode
If your primary function is around blog development like mine, this is an ideal editor for you.
ACode is a minimal open-source text code editor with a few language support. It can let you edit any kind of source file like python, CSS, Java, PHP, etc. However, it is only able to run HTML, Markdown, and Javascript files. You can see website previews and even console messages.
Moreover, ACode also supports keyboard controls like Shift, Esc, etc. The app is totally ad-free and even supports syncing projects from GitHub via the Git utility
Price: Free with no ads.
Download ACode – Powerful code editor
2. anWriter HTML Editor
If you are mainly looking for an editor to edit HTML and other related technologies like Javascript, CSS, jQuery, Bootstrap, and AngularJS with autocompletion support then anWriter is for you. There is also built-in support for FTP to browse, download, and upload files to a server. While working with HTML, CSS, and Javascript you can preview web pages in the internal viewer which also has a handy Javascript error console. Other than web technologies, the editor also syntax highlighting support for other languages like Python, PHP, LaTeX, C, C++, and Java.
Features of anWriter include but not limited to unlimited undo, line numbering, hardware keyboard support, search and replace with regex support, ability to edit and move between multiple source files, customizable font size settings, etc.
Price: anWriter is free and contains ads. To get rid of ads and get access to additional features like support for line wrap, autocompletion support for PHP and SQL, syntax color settings, unlimited redo, etc., you need to purchase the pro version which costs $5.
Download anWriter HTML Editor for Android
Web Development Editor
3. AWD
AWD, also known as Android Web Developer, is a code editor and IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that supports web technologies like HTML, CSS, Javascript, JSON, and PHP. So, if you are someone that heavily works with these web technologies then you should give AWD a try. Being an IDE, AWD can perform error checking while or after editing the source files and also allows you to preview files within the app. AWD can integrate with your web server and connect to it in a variety of ways like FTP, SFTP, FTPS, WebDev, etc.
Other features of AWD are auto code completion, syntax highlighting, support for hardware keyboard and keybindings, search and replace with regex support, auto-saving, support for code beautification with a single tap, GIT integration, unlimited undo and redo, etc.
If you work with a lot of HTML, Javascript, PHP, JSON, and CSS then AWD is a good choice as it can also act as an IDE and show errors.
Price: The app is free with feature limitations and has ads. To remove ads and unlock premium features, you need to upgrade to the pro version by paying $6. The pro version gives access to features like code formatting, support for the hardware keyboard, color picket, git integration, auto-saving, ability to run PHP code, etc.
Download AWD for Android
Multi-Language Editor
4. QuickEdit
QuickEdit, as the name suggests, is a quick lightweight text editor and source editor for Android. It supports 50+ different languages including popular languages like C, C3, C++, Python, Swift, Java, HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript, XML, Perl, etc. QuickEdit also supports Markdown so that you can quickly create HTML documents using Markdown syntax. While editing HTML, CSS, or Markdown files, you can preview them in your favorite browser with a single tap.
The app also has support for tabs so that you can easily open multiple files and toggle between them easily. One of the things I really like about QuickEdit is that there is no limit on undoing or redoing. If need be, you can connect to servers using the built-in FTP or cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. Other features of the app include customizable indentation, word wrap, ability to change fonts and font size, smooth scrolling, support for handling large files, basic search and replace functionality, ability to edit Android system files as long as you have root access, etc.
If you are looking for a small but responsive editor that supports a wide range of languages then QucikEdit is for you.
Price: QuickEdit is free and contains ads.
Download QuickEdit for Android
5. Code Editor
Code Editor is another programming app from QuickEdit’s developer. Apart from the identical layout, there’s one major difference and minor tweaks in the app. Code Editor, out of this entire code editor list fully supports a physical keyboard. You can hit Ctrl+S to save a file, Ctrl+W to close the current file, and most importantly, Ctrl+F to search. It also supports auto intend.
Similar to QuickEdit, Code Editor also supports the syntax of popular languages like C, C3, C++, Python, Swift, Java, HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript, XML, Perl, etc.
Price: Free with ads. You can remove ads by paying $3.50/month.
Download Code Editor
Compiler And IDE
6. Dcoder
Dcoder is a minimal yet powerful code editor for Android. Foremost, I really loved the black-cmd looking interface with console font. It makes me feel less distracted and more focused. Dcoder supports a bunch of programming languages and frameworks like Assembly, C++, Dart, NodeJS, Django, Django, Java, Kotlin, Swift, etc.
My most favorite feature of Dcoder is that it provides a Dcoder keyboard with the app. The keyboard is well optimized for coding and it consists of Tab, copy-paste, and preview keys. To top it off, Dcoder also provides you 300 MB of cloud storage to store your files. You would have to sign-in for the cloud storage and henceforth, you can access your files from any device via Dcoder. Moreover, Dcoder also has native support for Git. So, if your project is on GitHub, you can easily clone the project and import it within Dcoder.
Price: Dcoder is free essentially with no ads for code editing. However, if you compile a project, you get only 200 compilations/month. To remove these limits and also get extra cloud storage, you can subscribe at $1/month.
Download Dcoder Compiler IDE for Android
Wrapping Up: Best Android Text Editor for Programming
That’s it for now. In general, I would go for Dcoder. It has everything you need in a basic text editor to even a compiler for Android. It’s free and has no ads.
If you think I missed any of your favorite apps then comment below and share them with me.
Also Read: 6 Best Android SSH Client You Should Try