I like to program a little on my iPad, but there is no Tab Button for indents. Now that iOS 8 allows second party keyboards, am I saved? Does anyone know of a virtual keyboard with a tab button? I have a Bluetooth keyboard that works, but sometimes I just want to indent without one. 
How do u use choicescript on an iPhone or iPad I’m curious
You have to use a plain-text editor. I like CodeAnywhere, because then I can continue editing no matter which of my devices I am using at the time.
I like Plaintext, but it has no tab button. Neither did Code Anywhere. I was hoping that third party keyboards would fix this.
I could be wrong, but I do seem to recall that if you tap space with x fingers on the iPad (say 4), it inserts that many spaces - it’s not a \t (tab) character, but it would allow you to indent at least, something to tide you over until a keyboard with a tab key comes along?
It does, but 4 spaces just means I have to go back and change them to tabs and hope I don’t miss any. I’m sure that a third party keyboard will put in a Tab soon, but I haven’t seen one yet.
There are no end of text editors, even on iPad (I’d assume) which support regex based search and replace (which would allow you to search for x amount of spaces and replace them with x tabs etc).
I wouldn’t bank on a keyboard with a tab key coming out anytime soon, as I can’t imagine the number of people who program via the touch screen of an iPad is all that high.
You might have more luck searching for a keyboard with configurable keys, and setting one of them to the tab character?
I would take that too. I found a text expander that can supposedly take four spaces and turn it into a tab… for some programs… and costs $5. I think a free keyboard or replacer should be there…somewhere.
That sounds useful, if it works in real-time.
I’m not certain you’ll find a fully featured one for free though, remember that apps (inc. Keyboards) need to be coded/developed by someone and it’s extremely hard (if not impossible) to fund a keyboard app with ads (I mean really, who’d want that?!) - so they really would be working and publishing it for nothing. Typically 3rd party keyboards on android have basic free and more extensive paid versions (which is where I’d expect a tab key might come in).
I’d pay for a keyboard with a tab. The text extender is limited to certain apps, so I’d rather not get it. There are about 6 or 7 keyboards now, but mostly either colours or the pause-n-swipe kinds.
Just saw this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.pocketworkstation.pckeyboard&hl=en_GB
So maybe a free one isn’t a far-fetched thought after all! o_o
Either way, I do think it is only a matter of time - Apple are just a little late to the game with 3rd party keyboards, large screens and… well, quite a lot of other stuff too really! ^^
But at least when Apple implement stuff, things do actually work.
I have a magnetic keyboard that folds as a case onto my iPad mini, and it connects via Bluetooth. Couldn’t you just use any freestanding Bluetooth keyboard? Perhaps they aren’t so common if you work normally on PC and don’t have two odd keyboards from past iMacs on the shelf…
I have one too. You can get some very cheap ones on eBay. The early versions of iPads work for later ones too, even cheaper, but they don’t physically fit together.
Pages for Apple finally added a Tab button too.
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You guys are responding to a two year old issue… did they have these options back in '14?
This was my thread! It was near and dear to my heart.
It took years for Pages to get that Tab button. I used a different text editor, just for the Tab. I also bought a Bluetooth keyboard, but sometimes you just want to put in some tabs without digging out or carrying the keyboard.
When I’m forced to code on the iPad, I now use Pages and then use a free app called PlainText to copy/paste into my Dropbox.
I’m sure there’s a cleaner way, but my method let’s me work offline and doesn’t change my Dropbox copy until I want it to.
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