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I work in tech as a software engineer and I (mostly) don't want to do this. I want my phone to work out of the box. The other thing I'd add is that even when I

I work in tech as a software engineer and I (mostly) don't want to do this. I want my phone to work out of the box. The other thing I'd add is that even when I want to write a mobile app, doing it on the device itself would be a nightmare. Composing emails is already hard enough.

wruza 4y ago
I (mostly) don't want to do this. I want my phone to work out of the box. Software working out of the box and programming aren’t mutually exclusive.
acomjean 4y ago
If I wanted to write a mobile app for an apple device I really can’t do a native one as I run Linux on my computers. Yeah there’s flutter or react for app development. But it’s just different. Samsung has a thing called “dex” that allows your smartphone to hook up to an external monitor, as does the steam deck. These machines are powerful enough to develop on, they’re just locked down enough
- perryizgr8 4y ago
  You can run full blown VS code on Dex. It is quite slow on my S10, but this is a 4 year old phone now.
easrng 4y ago
ehh i do dev on my phone sometimes (Termux and sometimes in-browser editors) and it's an ok experience imo
dTal 4y ago
This kinda begs the question. Yeah, writing a smartphone app is already painful, and doing it that way on the device would be ridiculously more painful. Is that an inherent property of the form factor, or the result of systematically orienting the system towards consumption? I say the latter. I used to program with great facility in BASIC on my calculator in high school. I was not even the only one who could do this. The input methods available were much less rich than what a smartphone can provide, not to mention the display. Now, in 2023, the easiest way to write simple programs on my phone is by emulating that calculator. Come on!
- dehrmann 4y ago
  I think you beat up your own strawman. True, development on the device is harder because of the form factor, but what truly makes it harder is devices are more complex, so everything else is more complex. It means more complicated API, frameworks, IDEs, etc. To the original question, table stakes are an order of magnitude greater than when 80's computers booted to a Basic prompt.

wruza 4y ago

I (mostly) don't want to do this. I want my phone to work out of the box. Software working out of the box and programming aren’t mutually exclusive.

acomjean 4y ago

If I wanted to write a mobile app for an apple device I really can’t do a native one as I run Linux on my computers. Yeah there’s flutter or react for app development. But it’s just different. Samsung has a thing called “dex” that allows your smartphone to hook up to an external monitor, as does the steam deck. These machines are powerful enough to develop on, they’re just locked down enough

perryizgr8 4y ago
You can run full blown VS code on Dex. It is quite slow on my S10, but this is a 4 year old phone now.

easrng 4y ago

ehh i do dev on my phone sometimes (Termux and sometimes in-browser editors) and it's an ok experience imo

dTal 4y ago

This kinda begs the question. Yeah, writing a smartphone app is already painful, and doing it that way on the device would be ridiculously more painful. Is that an inherent property of the form factor, or the result of systematically orienting the system towards consumption? I say the latter. I used to program with great facility in BASIC on my calculator in high school. I was not even the only one who could do this. The input methods available were much less rich than what a smartphone can provide, not to mention the display. Now, in 2023, the easiest way to write simple programs on my phone is by emulating that calculator. Come on!

dehrmann 4y ago
I think you beat up your own strawman. True, development on the device is harder because of the form factor, but what truly makes it harder is devices are more complex, so everything else is more complex. It means more complicated API, frameworks, IDEs, etc. To the original question, table stakes are an order of magnitude greater than when 80's computers booted to a Basic prompt.