GitHub Android App Released | Hacker News Reader

GitHub Android App Released

github.com

168 pointsBraasch40 comments

I was really disappointed with this -- I was hoping to be able to view source code nicely on my mobile device. Instead, I get a list of repos (not helpful), "news" (not helpful to me), and issues (we use Pivotal Tracker). I just uninstalled the app; I can't think of anything I'd use it for.

What else would you like to see? (I write an iOS GitHub app and am curious what people find most helpful.)

I personally would love the ability to see commit history and browse through diffs for commits, pull requests, and branch comparisons.

When I'm going into a client's office to spend the day working with them, one of the first things I do is spend 10-15 minutes perusing the commit history to see what's changed in the 4-5 days since I last looked at their codebase. I'd love to be able to do that, as well as do code reviews, on the bus/subway on the way into the office.

Couldn't you do that from your computer the night before?

Free time at home is much more valuable than free time on the bus.

ability to edit files in-app

That sounds hard and error prone. I'd like to see at the very least, sequential commit messages for a topic. Commit diffs would be nice too.

maybe; but only reason I would use such an app.

Really strong support for code reviews.

This is what I need to. For when I'm sitting on the train, would be really useful to read through the commits from the day & mark ones for further review.

> I was hoping to be able to view source code nicely on my mobile device

That would probably be bloody hard though, making code readable on a mobile device. Also of limited use, if you can't edit it.

I could see it useful to e.g. read & review pull requests on the move, but there really isn't much you can do with just a phone's surface.

And if you have accessories, why not carry a small laptop you can tether to your phone?

I don't think it would be unusable at all, with the average tablet.

Is the app even optimized for tablets?

It is not available for any of my tablets. (Notionink Adam, Transformer Prime and lg slate)

Many of us are already reading code on our mobile devices.

A combination (on Android) of aGit, the patched Connectbot (for sshagent key handling) and Terminal IDE (better editing options than connectbot) would work. Maybe install the Hacker Keyboard app too (nicer layout for onscreen keyboard).

aGit currently does not support push and commit, but I believe that is in the works.

I've used this setup on my Transformer Prime. My G2 phone is, of course, smaller, but I have used that to shell into my server and edit config files to fix a problem, so reading and editing code on a mobile device is certainly doable.

A 7" screen device such as the Nexus 7 might a nice balance though I have physical keyboards for my phone and tablet, which I really like.

I have done some editing using the on-screen keyboard on the TF201, not the end of the world, just not as nice as a more conventional keyboard. The constant toggling to get to special keys is tedious.

It would be bloody hard, but I would love to see someone do it. Even if it is just reading code, that would be a huge boost. I could browse interesting repos on the bus/train ride home and check out the code to see if it is something I am really interested in, then I know what to hack when I get home. The ability to read and review pull requests would also be a good feature to add.

I don't think of read-only as limiting. As a senior engineer on my team, I often want to glance though commits to make sure the new kids aren't making an egregious errors (we do code review as well, but being able to see diffs on my phone would be extremely useful).

Depends upon the mobile device.

I know the Asus Transformer I have is fairly niche for a tablet and thus few developers are likely to target for its feature-set, but it would be fantastic at reading or even writing code, with proper app support.

I disagree with the fact that it would be of limited use if you can't edit it. One of GitHub's greatest features for me is how easy it is to browse other people's code (e.g., compared to Google Code or SourceForge). I learn a huge amount from browsing others' code. I would really enjoy a mobile app that would allow me to easily browse and view code in Github.

Hubroid[1] has been an awesome github app for android for a long time. Considering that I get a force close when just trying to open the new app, it's still a viable option.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.idlesoft.a...

Indeed, I'm a little surprised they didn't just fork off an existing github project!

And seriously, why's editing and committing from android tablets so far fetched??

Hubroid developer here.

I was in contact with the GitHub team for awhile and had a good idea that the app was in development for awhile, but since I didn't know when they'd be releasing it (internship with them fell through this year so I didn't get any top-secret info) I just decided to keep up developing Hubroid. Still going to do that, of course, I like my design ideas better. ;)

Oh, and the force close you get is sort of my fault. I erroneously used the "com.github" namespace when implementing the account authenticator, which wholly belongs to GitHub. Thought I was using "com.github.eddieringle" but I guess a commit was overridden once or twice. Whoops.

EDIT: Btw, thanks for spelling the name correctly. I couldn't tell you how many times people write "Hubdroid" instead. Ruins my Google search result ranking, heh.

Haha, well that is certainly one way to stick it to your competition ;)

But seriously, great app. Keep up the good work!

Lately I have been finding myself surfing github just to read other folks source. I just downloaded the app. Unfortunately it doesn't currently display source... Bummer.

Seems like it allows merging of pull requests. I can now review and merge pull requests while travelling in a bus. :-)

Don't forget to disconnect and relax every now and then.

:-) Yeah I will.

I travel to a neighboring city quite often and have to often deal with urgent issues/PRs. In which case, I use Github's website on my mobile browser, but it kind of sucks.

Linux desktop app???

http://git-scm.com/ works pretty well.

purpose?

What is the purpose of the Mac OS Desktop app?

frankly, I have no idea, but win/mac users love to app-everything and except people with IT background, if you can't install and click on something it's like it doesn't exist. linux community is a bit different, and when you narrow the target: using linux + using git + using github, the probability he needs a desktop client is very low and it wouldn't get so much traction.

I work on linux and I often use gui tools for my hg/git repos, but it's eclipse extensions where I do my code, I can't even think of a use case for a standalone gui app.

I've had a few situations where I found it easier to review commits, retag, and merge from `gitk`, which sadly has a very confusing UI, over the command-line, where it's difficult sometimes to keep mental track of commit trees.

Github for Mac is much easier to use than the Git CLI. Something similar to Linux would be great so I don't have to explain the weird Git commands to everyone who wants to do a quick contribution.

Would love if I could clone repos on the sdcard, and push commits from the sdcard. So far the app doesn't even allow to browse code, so I have a hard time figuring out any use for it. I don't really care about news, and viewing commits is fine, but I can't even see the diff so... I don't know. I assume it's just a start, so I'll keep it and wait for updates to see how it goes.

It's open source -- and hosted on Github. Awesome.

Gives them an easy April 1st prank. Move the project to bitbucket.

// Comment written while my flight is delayed.

// Note to self. Download this app and do some github work next time flight is delayed.

If there's only one action in the overflow button in the action bar, you make that the button. In this app, the only action in the overflow button is "Refresh", so the app should simply just have a refresh button there instead.

Or implement pull down to refresh, which would remove the need for the button altogether.

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