Working Copy Enterprise

Access Git repositories on the go. Clone, edit, commit and push while allowing other apps access to repositories.

Git is a important part of our work-life and iOS can take part in this. The ability to commit even when offline has added utility on a device that moves in and out of network coverage. Cloning repositories gets you a local copy on your iOS device with commits for all branches. You can browse the content from within the app and make changes. Other applications supporting the Files app, WebDAV or x-callback-url has access to these files. Changes made can be committed and the commits can in turn be pushed back to the remote.

The idea of doing significant programming on iOS might seem far fetched when you are used to a large screen, a physical keyboard and a full IDE. But just as it turned out that not every email is serious prose, then not everything that goes on in Git is significant programming. Sometimes you just want to update a TODO file or make adjustments to your Jekyll site. Sometimes you just need to add a file the designer sent after hours. 

If you ever make reminders about small things to do with the code-base, then you should give Working Copy a try. You will spend less time moving stuff around and you will get much better commit messages when you write them for fixes that are still fresh in your mind. You wont be leaving your computer behind any time soon, but sometimes it is faster to just fix things with the device in your hand.

When you do need to perform real work on iOS, Working Copy is a powerful tool. Editor has syntax highlighting for more than 50 programming languages and a built-in color picker. Preview images, Markdown and HTML files with a Javascript console pointing to errors in your code. Create new branches and merge or rebase them back, with a brilliant merge-tool for handling conflicts.

Even if you never edit a line of code on iOS, Working Copy is a great companion for reviewing and discussing code. Repositories are cross indexed and with powerful fuzzy search you can quickly jump from a symbol to the declaration or reverse from the declaration to all usages. A graph of your commits lets you zoom out for a overview of of the commit tree or zoom in for specifics about each commit, with speed and beauty you won’t find in desktop Git applications. Review the changes your files have gone through with a diff viewer that is great for text and images. There is even hex-dump mode for that obscure occasion.

Working Copy Enterprise has the same features as Working Copy and includes the in-app purchase for pushing commits back to remote servers. This makes it easier for IT departments to deploy the application to employee devices. If you are purchasing Working Copy for yourself, there is no advantage or disadvantage in picking the Enterprise version. Note that repositories in one app will not show up in the other.