As web developers we often find the need to do some work from locations where a computer is not available or just inconvenient to use. Here are nine mobile applications that would certainly make your life easier and give you freedom to work on the go if you have an Android phone or tablet.
1. DroidEdit Pro
When it comes to text editors on Android, DroidEdit is simply the best. The application packs a lot of useful features including syntax highlighting for several popular languages, code indentation, SFTP/FTP support and code completion. A fine addition to any web developer’s mobile toolkit.
Price: $2.21 (Free version available)
2. AndFTP
Many times you just need to upload or access your files on a remote server, and there’s not a computer in sight. AndFTP allows you to do just that right from your Android smartphone. Like any typical FTP client, you can manage multiple servers and download, delete, rename or move your files. It also has support for SFTP, SCP and FTPS protocols.
Price: Free
3. VT View Source
VT View Source brings the functionality of examining the underlying code of any webpage to your phone. The application supports HTML, CSS, XHTML and JavaScript sources and can be configured to render the source code in mobile and desktop browser modes. Once you enter a URL, you are presented with the page’s source which you can save to a file for later use. You can also open source code via your browser’s “share page” functionality.
4. Ksweb Server
Ksweb is a complete web server suite that enables you to run or debug your web applications on your Android device either through LAN or from anywhere on the Internet. It packs a full web server with PHP, MySQL, lighttpd and nginx support as well as msmtp for sendmail support.
Price: $2.99 (six-day trial available)
5. Google Analytics
If you want to view analytics of your website on the go, Google Analytics for Android is a convenient way to do just that. It provides you with all of the important statistics from your account and also offers great graphical visualizations which could come in handy. This app is optimized for usage on phones and tablets, so you can practically get your analytics from anywhere.
6. Hackers Keyboard
Coding with the usual variation of Android keyboards could be a real hassle, especially when you are doing something intense. Hackers Keyboard brings a more traditional desktop keyboard layout to your Android device which could come in handy if you’re into shell scripting or working with the command line. Some of the apps on this list, such as Droid Edit, recommend Hackers Keyboard for the best experience.
7. ConnectBot SSH Client
ConnectBot is a powerful SSH client that allows you to connect to Secure Shell servers from your Android phone or tablet. It can manage simultaneous SSH sessions, create secure tunnels, and copy/paste between other applications. Linux administrators who need to administer their servers from a remote location will find this application very useful.
8. WebMaster HTML Editor Lite
WebMaster Lite is another very good text editor available for free on the Google Play store. It’s ideal for web developers who work with HTML, CSS JavaScript or PHP and supports code completion and syntax highlighting for those languages. It also has built-in preview features as well as multiple text encoding options.
Price: Free (Pro Version available for $4.99)
9. Terminal IDE
Terminal Ide is a complete command line application that brings a full JAVA, C++, C, HTML and Android development kit to your device. It also comes with bash, tmux, nano and git pre-installed and works with vim as well. Perhaps its best feature is the ability to log in via telnet/ssh. The only downside is its lack of support for android 5.0 Lollipop and above at the moment.
What are your favorite Android developer tools? Let us know in the comments section below.
Ayo Isaiah is a freelance writer from Lagos who loves everything technology with a particular interest in open-source software. Follow him on Twitter.
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