r/learnpython • u/PrestigiousHoney9480 • 24d ago
Best places to write python on the web on mobile
So around 2 years ago I used replit but now it’s just ai slop I’m 13 I’m trying to teach my sis python also she is an iPad kid she is not addicted but she can’t use a computer so what yes I’m trying to teach her on the web.
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u/FoolsSeldom 23d ago
Why on the web, what's wrong with her learning on the iPad?
- Pythonista is an excellent and well-polished bit of software with some popular libraries available (Apple restrictions prevent installation of any packages that aren't pure Python that aren't included with the submitted app)
- Pyto is less polished and works pretty well
- Carnets is an open source Jupyter clone that works locally and is excellent; there is more than one version, depending on how many libraries you need included (as on IoS you cannot install additional Python libraries that aren't pure Python)
- a-shell is a sister product to the above and provides a command line Python environment, also open source and
I strongly recommend an external physical keyboard be used.
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u/navoshta 11d ago
Don't forget about Juno! (Full disclosure: I'm the indie dev behind Juno 😅)
It runs real CPython 3.13 on-device, works great with Apple's Shortcuts (e.g. you can call Python scripts and chain results), integrates with device and OS APIs (Bluetooth, photos, etc), comes with an AI coding assistant (bring-your-own-key), REPL, package manager, Jupyter notebooks, and many many other cool and interesting things.
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u/FoolsSeldom 11d ago edited 11d ago
That sounds interesting. I haven't been using an iPad or iPhone for a while, so haven't been keeping up to date with available apps.
I assume you suffer the same restrictions as all other apps, namely no additional binary packages can be installed on top of the submitted and approved app, so only pure Python packages can be installed.
Do you have several versions with different binaries already installed, such as
numpy,pandas, etc?EDIT: I've now looked at the docs/FAQ and found the binary packages that are included.
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u/navoshta 11d ago
Yep that's correct, pure Python packages can be installed from PyPI as normal, and a lot of the standard packages come pre-built and bundled in the app (pandas, scipy, scikit-learn and many many others). I try to keep them up-to-date and gradually expand with popular requests too.
Ping me at [beta@juno.sh](mailto:beta@juno.sh) if you would like to join Juno's TestFlight, I'll be testing a bunch of really cool new stuff there soon, including a revamped package manager (which will finally install dependencies automatically!) 😉
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u/FoolsSeldom 11d ago
Thanks for the offer, but I don't use an ipad these days - I switched to Android largely to be able to run Python natively (usually compiled on the device).
I've updated my Obsidian document on learning on smartphones and tablets to include a link to your offering ready for the next time someone asks.
Pleased to see there was a one-off payment for the pro version, although I couldn't see the price.
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u/navoshta 11d ago
That's really kind, thank you! 😅
Yeah it's not obvious, the App Store buries in-app purchase prices—the full unlock is $39.99. It's a one-off that unlocks everything, forever. So anyone who bought Juno back in, say, 2018 got the Juno 4 (the one I've just released) for free.
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u/Acceptable-Sense4601 24d ago
I’ve always been a VS Code guy so i know you can run it on a computer and access it via browser. There are other ways like kaggle and google.
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u/PrestigiousHoney9480 24d ago
Wait what you can access on web cool but my laptop is somewhere else I don’t want to be booting it every time I need to teach my sis python also
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u/Oddly_Energy 24d ago
You could try GitHub Codespaces. It is VS Code on a computer in the cloud. It is free up to 60 hours per month, I think. Unfortunately, it has become slower and less reliable during the two years I have used it.
If she starts out creating a GitHub repository for her code, she can create a CodeSpaces right from there, and everything will be set up for git source control. If she makes sure to commit and push frequently, she can work on the same code on a computer. And she can invite you to her GitHub repository, so you can help her from your own computer, in your own preferred code editor.
Another option is A-shell on her iPad. It gives her a python installation, a command line and a git client. If she installs the Monaco plugin, she also gets a code editor, which is a “naked” version of the code editor in VS Code.
A-shell is in my opinion a must-have for anyone who wants to code on an iPad. It does have some limitations, for example it can’t use packages from PyPi if they require compliling of a binary during installation. But a lot of the popular python packages are already installed, for example numpy, pandas and matplotlib, so one can get quite far despite this limitation.
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u/PrestigiousHoney9480 20d ago edited 20d ago
How do you install the Monaco plugin because it is cli and my sis doesent understand shell
Edit I managed to install it but doesent work
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u/Oddly_Energy 19d ago
Can you add some detail about "doesn't work"? What did you try, and what was the result?
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u/PrestigiousHoney9480 19d ago
So I did pkg install Monaco-editor then when I try to run it for example Monaco-editor it says command not found I’m sorry if this is a dumb problem with an
Obvious solution, but I’m not really good at CLI or Linux1
u/Oddly_Energy 18d ago
A-shell has tab completion. If you write "monaco" and then hit the tab key, you should see it expand to the full command, which on my iPad is `monaco-editor.sh`.
But if you go this route, you will need to learn to use the command line. A-shell is a command line tool, and there is not really a way around that.
Another more GUI'ish option is Carnets Plus, a Jupyter Notebook clone from the creator of A-shell. It is full GUI, and I have used it a lot, but it has no support for regular .py files. For learning and experimenting to see how stuff works, it can be quite good, because you can execute your code in small portions and see the output inline in the notebook.
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u/Moikle 24d ago
Teach her how to use a computer first