DraftCode Offline PHP IDE
Reviews and Complaints

I like being able to write coding whenever and wherever I like. I’m a beginner at Php and like having a place to practice. A couple of things I would like to see added. Enable mcrypt in php.ini file and when you update WordPress to 4.3 that it works. One more thing. I would like to send feedback or request for future releases without going thru twitter. Thank you for a job well done...

I really like DraftCode. I'm not using it as an IDE; I'm simply using the webserver runtime as an engine for a note-taking app that I wrote. It's a good feeling to be running customized code within the confines of iOS. If you're curious, my app can be installed from my website kylla.info . (The install uses the download zip file suggestion from stackoverflow.) DraftCode is well worth its purchase price.

I am suppose to code everything there inside the App. There is no way to import a folder or file with PHP code you already have and run it there. I connected the iPad to my mac, expecting it to appear on iTunes so I could transfer my files and run my projects offline, but it does not show. I can’t even use dropbox or any other filing system to import my code. It only works if you manually code everything inside the App. Does not work for me! Beware!

I don't know if I would call this an IDE as much as I would call it a local Webserver. It's more like a mobile version of MAMP and not so much a mobile version of PhpStorm, however, it does offer you the ability to edit and run your code on the fly. If you get it working with a solid text editor and sync it with a repo or ftp server then you'll be close to building full featured apps without your desktop in no time.

Considering I spent $6 on coffee today, this app is a steal!

I see that it supports WordPress, which is insanely cool! Please try to add Drupal.

There is practical use for mobile development. I love this! One suggestion: focus more on the MAMP server, rather than code editor. If you could somehow integrate with Coda or an established code editor for iOS, the possibilities would be endless! My current setup: Prompt 2, Coda, DraftCode. I'm virtually able to do any sort of development now, at any time, and it's an amazing world. Thank you.

I love this app.

If you’ve used (or heard of) WAMP or MAMP, this is like that, in a “lite” version.

When I travel - or even when I’m just home sitting in bed - I often prefer my iPad to a laptop. DraftCode let’s me work on web applications without dealing with remote servers or even needing an internet connection

Sure, it isn’t a 100% replacement for working with a full-featured IDE on a laptop, but it’s great for knocking out prototypes or demos, working on a plane, or any time mobility is the #1 consideration.

I love (LOVE) this app.

Only two things prevents a 5-Star review:

1) Scrolling:

When scrolling, the screen snaps back to where you started and you must find your place again. I can't express how frustrating this is when you're trying to flow... This behavior occurs consistently doesn't happen system wide. You have to scroll twice after any change made because of the maddening "SNAP!"

2) Undo

I rarely use this function because it's more destructive than helpful. It doesn't undo one step at a time, it jumps back a seemingly arbitrary number of steps so you have no idea what was undone.

If you've just squashed a bug and then hit undo a few lines later, you have my sympathies…

Fix these and it's practically perfect (and probably one of the most valuable apps in the store)!

[ iPhone 8 • iOS 13.3.1 ]

I am impressed with the ability to do PHP on the iPad. I got phpliteadmin by downloading and unzipped it using short PHP commands. Also brought over files from my online site the same way. Awesome! I am able to "share HTML/CSS files" built in PHP to Koder (another great app) and run on a local web server that connects to other users on my network. This might be a good way for me to have a completely offline server for my app to host static pages on my local network right from the iPad. Not sure yet how many connections it will handle. I was golfing in the Adirondacks with 30 guys for 3 day fall event and used a big laptop and printer for our tournament results -- no data coverage, old school. I am assuming Apple won't allow a dynamic language like PHP to be a web server but if they ever do this would be the app to host local dynamic pages.

I waited for months before I decided to buy this app. I wasn’t sure if the app does what I need and basically it does some of the things.

It actually runs the PHP code even when the file has HTML and/or CSS markup on it. It’s perfect if you are trying a website that use modules or common codes to include those files using PHP.

What I will say it needs it’s a way to access a folder in iCloud. You can import the files from the cloud or an entire folder. Now, the changes are saved locally in the app sandbox but no in the original folder in the cloud. If you are working in a project in your Mac you will be able to import to DraftCode but those changes are no synced back to your Mac. Textastic is a good example of how sync files on iCloud. In order to get them back to the cloud, you need to export the project as a zip file.

Also, the app is not yet iPhone X optimized.

The app store has only two apps for offline PHP development. I bought them both and I can tell you that DraftCode is the only app that will let you develop professional PHP web apps offline.

DraftCode's user interface needs some work. They have a decent extended keyboard but they could use a better one and they lack colored syntax highliting, however if you know what you are doing with PHP this is the app for you.

DraftCode has an internal web server (or at least an emulation of that) so you can use most $_SERVER variables and pass $_POST variables between pages, something that the other competing apps do NOT allow you to do.
DraftCode also supports JavaScript, CSS and HTML so you can be in total development mode and never need an internet connection.

It lacks a way to email the files you created to yourself or to upload them to a server when you do have internet but you can use AirDrop of copy and paste the code from the app to your email program of choice.

Again, if you are in need of a serious offline PHP coding solution, get DraftCode and you can get straight to work.

The competitor's app is called Kodiak. They have a beautiful user interface but they lack web server functionality so you can't really do any serious coding and anything you do has to be self-contained to one page.

DraftCode is the way to go for me!

PHP without MySQL mmm! useless...
can't import from Dropbox...
need undo button,
need manual...

This app is pretty great and works well. Just need GD support to run Drupal instead of Wordpress. Thanks for this.

Has huge issues and cant be relied upon. Too many issues to work around or even mention here. Dont expect this to work well. I hope that they fix it.

You've already worked exceptionally hard typing code on a iOS device. It becomes more frustrating when the app deletes all your code after tapping 'run'.

In the description it says that mysql is supported. What does this mean? can I created a database? This app desperately needs a tutorial on how to access all these extensions. Also, this app needs syntax highlighting and snippets. If anybody can tell me how to access a mysql database, that would be great

Ive bought and used this for 30 seconds before I found out that Apple put an upload restriction on the app! What good is a webserver if you cannot upload files to it and use it?!? The program itself works very well but this restriction renders this program absolutely useless to me... And probably most other web developers.