iOS iPhone IDE

[con]

Swift learner here. Guessing this is a long stretch but can anyone recommend a good iPhone IDE app where I can code and run projects like Xcode? I am often away from home including in a part-time job which sometimes has a lot of waiting time (and not the best place to bring my MacBook), so such a tool would be perfect. I saw up to a few in the App Store that seem limited in functionality based on reviews.

And if there's no suitable tool yet, maybe someone can think about developing one. If it works well and there's a free trial/edition I'm sure people would pay a nice price for it (but please: one-time fees, no subscriptions lol).

I've sometimes fallen out of the self-education routine for weeks on end due to being away from my tools for too long, but my phone is nearly always with me so if something like this were available I'm sure it would be a productivity godsend for me and others alike.

 

[casperes1996]

There is no app that will actually let you do this and unfortunately nobody can go and make one because with a few minor exceptions like using WebKit's JavaScript engine, programs that allow arbitrary code execution are not allowed on the App Store.
Furthermore, code is text heavy so doing that on a touch screen phone may not be pleasant but yeah.

In any case you have some options still, though nothing that will actually allow you to develop programs.

Swift Playgrounds:
If you have an iPad to take with you, Swift Playgrounds is Apple's only Swift coding solution for iOS. It allows a limited environment for writing arbitrary code along with guided lessons.

Swift Unwrapped:
A learning tool provided by the excellent Paul Hudson off of Hacking With Swift. It's full of lessons, challenges and all. It doesn't allow full code writing environment as per App Store rules, but it has quizzes for Swift including writing small snippets yourself to be evaluated.

LeetCode:
If you're far enough into learning that you want to take on algorithm challenges, LeetCode is an excellent website providing facilities to take on their algorithm challenges in many languages including Swift. Since your programs don't run on your device but instead on their website it has no problem with iOS or App Store limitations so it also exists in app form.

Your Own Remote Platform Flow:
Inspired by Leet Code's web server solution, you could also try and set up your own remote system. Set up a code-server on your Mac and you can access Visual Studio Code from any device through a web browser straight to your Mac. This will only really provide a decent workflow for command line programs or situations where you don't need to run your GUI program, but perhaps can rely on a test suite. It's also a tad flimsy and you'll want to make sure security is managed since exposing a code-server to the internet does give anyone accessing it command line access to your Mac
I only personally use this inside my own network if I want to take my iPad to the living room and still fiddle with something and even then I find myself thinking "Should've just brought my laptop", because it's not always an entirely good experience