While Android is a great platform for Facebook and Angry Birds, it can also be a viable mobile solution for web developers. However, web developers can’t be pleased with just any regular old text editor — they need specialized code editors to make it quicker and easier to do their work. I’m going to show you the top four HTML editors for Android that should allow any web developer to do plenty of work on a tablet or some quick fixes on a smartphone.WebMaster’s HTML Editor Lite
My personal favorite of web-focused code editors is called WebMaster’s HTML Editor Lite. This free app offers some really nifty features to make coding as easy as possible. These features include:
- Syntax highlighting
- Line numbering
- Open and close tag buttons as well as other code-related buttons
- Navigation buttons
- Its own file explorer
- A recent files dialog to access anything you’ve recently worked on
Despite its name, the app supports HTML, PHP, CSS, and JavaScript files, which should be enough file support for most web developers. It’s snappy and lightweight, so it definitely deserves a look if you’re on the search for a code editor.
Android Web Editor Lite
The next editor on my list is Android Web Editor Lite. It is a bit simpler than the above mentioned app, but it can still get the job done. It also offers:
- Syntax highlighting
- Line numbering
- Insertion of sets of tags (meaning it inserts both <> and </> at the same time, where you enter in code in between them)
- Support for an FTP server, which can allow you to easily upload your edited files onto a web server without having to use an additional app for FTP functionality
However, there are a few downsides to this app. For example, it doesn’t support SSH/SFTP servers, nor does it offer multiple FTP server support. The app also doesn’t look quite as clean as WebMaster’s HTML Editor Lite, which I tend to place a fair bit of consideration on.
920 Text Editor
Another great editor to use is called 920 Text Editor. This editor doesn’t focus on just web development languages, but also includes other programming languages such as C++, Java, Python, and plenty more. While — as is to be expected — it includes syntax highlighting and line numbering, it also offers:
- A tabbed interface to allow more than one file to be open at a time
- An HTML previewer
- A color picker (which is good for CSS files)
- The ability to run the app in root mode
- A search tool which supports regex
This allows a web developer to get a lot of serious work done. However, it does lack any sort of FTP support, nor does it offer web developer-friendly shortcuts such as tag insertion as the text editor aims to support more than just web languages.
DroidEdit
Last but not least is DroidEdit, another editor that supports languages like C++, Java, and Python besides HTML, PHP, CSS, and JavaScript. I happen to like this one a lot because it has a very clean, well-developed user interface. It offers (in my opinion) the best syntax highlighting with deeper contrasting colors. It also includes a number of different themes if you don’t want to use the Holo-styled theme. Also, did I mention I really like the user interface? It also includes:
- Line numbering
- An HTML previewer
- Bracket matching
- Infinite undo and redo
- Document sharing with Dropbox, email, and more
The pro version also features SFTP/FTP support, built-in Dropbox support, custom themes, and the ability to run the app in root mode. Overall, I think it’s a great general code editor, but it may not be an ideal solution for those who want web-specific text editors.
Conclusion
All four of these text editors are great choices to get going for web development on an Android device. However, despite the fact that they don’t focus entirely on web coding, 920 Text Editor and DroidEdit are the best ones of the list because they are very functional and offer a clean user interface. In any case, these apps offer some pretty nice features to make web development easier, which may allow you to drop your current computer for a lighter, more modern tablet.
What web development features do you look for in a text editor? Which HTML editor for Android is your favorite, whether it’s included here or not? Let us know in the comments!
For more great Android tips, check out our Android guide! Also, if you’d like to set up an FTP server to connect to, why not try CoreFTP?
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