Hi I am trying to install Visual Studio Code on my 12" iPad Pro - so there is pleanty of poke there.I find the Visual Studio Code downloads and I click on Down Load for Mac and I get a zip file !!!!How can I install this zip file on my iPad ? Thanks Nigel

Aren't you the guitarist from Danger Danger? :) TBH I know lots of people who are starting out learning to code, but don't know much about computers, operating systems and the like. Even many code bootcamps don't go over this in detail. If you didn't know better you might well assume that an iPad and a Mac ran the same software.

I sort of wonder if you guys are getting shilled. I have to stop and wonder what someone asking these particular questions wants with MS Code. Can someone tell me how to run this cd on my iphone. I don't see a disk drive for it to go in. I need it so that I can finish setting up the SQL backend for my competative classifying AI on Tensor Flow other technical gobbledygook. I guess if you don't really use a lot of mac at all, Apple is pretty opaque about what they're selling you. Its just shiny. And expensive.

Unfortunately no, because iOS - the operating system on iPads and iPhones - is not the same as macOS (formerly known as Mac OS X), the operating system for MacBooks, iMacs and Mac Pro computers. While they share substantial amounts of code under the hood, iOS is tailored for Apple’s phones and tablets. It does not have a traditional file system like a desktop computer, so you cannot download .zip files, .pkg, .dmg files etc. All software on iOS devices is distributed by the App Store exclusively. iOS has no support for mice or other traditional pointing devices, etc. so all software must be designed for touch interaction only. (Some apps support keyboard shortcuts with external keyboards, but not all.) Microsoft Surface computers are different - they may have a tablet form factor, but they have Intel processors and run a full version of Windows; in essence they are thin, light laptops without a built-in keyboard. You can install most Windows apps on them (like Visual Studio), use a keyboard and mouse, or use touch and the Surface Pen, Dial, etc.

Joseph Ackerman It has nothing to do with your opinion of whether it is a full laptop replacement. It is a different operating system, that is why, and VS Code has not been compiled to run on it or published in the app store. This, and only this, is why. Nigel Price It is a fantastic portable computing device and is rather versatile. I would really appreciate having VS Code right on it, but for the time being, I use JumpDesktop to remote into my Windows machine (I also have LTE on my iPad Pro) and I can even use a mouse (Swiftpoint GT) with that app and the remotely connected system.

You can't as far as I'm aware. The iPad is just a tablet. Despite what Apple tells you, it isn't yet a full laptop replacement. So unless it's in the App Store, you won't be able to install it. There was a proposal last year which doesn't look like it went anywhere: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/10928

Can I install Visual Studio Code on an iPad ?

27 Replies

Andy Timmons
Copper Contributor
Feb 10, 2018
I sort of wonder if you guys are getting shilled.

I have to stop and wonder what someone asking these particular questions wants with MS Code.

Can someone tell me how to run this cd on my iphone. I don't see a disk drive for it to go in. I need it so that I can finish setting up the SQL backend for my competative classifying AI on Tensor Flow other technical gobbledygook.

I guess if you don't really use a lot of mac at all, Apple is pretty opaque about what they're selling you. Its just shiny. And expensive.
- skyPurpleCloud
  Copper Contributor
  Sep 19, 2020
  I thought similar thing, why would a dev not know the OS they are developing on?
- A.J. Kandy
  Copper Contributor
  Feb 10, 2018
  Aren't you the guitarist from Danger Danger? :)
  
  TBH I know lots of people who are starting out learning to code, but don't know much about computers, operating systems and the like. Even many code bootcamps don't go over this in detail. If you didn't know better you might well assume that an iPad and a Mac ran the same software.
A.J. Kandy
Copper Contributor
Jan 18, 2018
Unfortunately no, because iOS - the operating system on iPads and iPhones - is not the same as macOS (formerly known as Mac OS X), the operating system for MacBooks, iMacs and Mac Pro computers.

While they share substantial amounts of code under the hood, iOS is tailored for Apple’s phones and tablets. It does not have a traditional file system like a desktop computer, so you cannot download .zip files, .pkg, .dmg files etc. All software on iOS devices is distributed by the App Store exclusively. iOS has no support for mice or other traditional pointing devices, etc. so all software must be designed for touch interaction only. (Some apps support keyboard shortcuts with external keyboards, but not all.)

Microsoft Surface computers are different - they may have a tablet form factor, but they have Intel processors and run a full version of Windows; in essence they are thin, light laptops without a built-in keyboard. You can install most Windows apps on them (like Visual Studio), use a keyboard and mouse, or use touch and the Surface Pen, Dial, etc.
Tobiasz Cudnik
Copper Contributor
Jul 04, 2017
Theres 2 projects:
- https://github.com/spiffcode/ghedit
An outdated version of vscode integrated with github
- https://github.com/alm-tools/alm
Monaco editor with some basic IDE features added

Both work via the browser, but the latter one requires a self hosting to try out. To debug JS on the ipad you can proxy safari's debugging protocol via remotedebug-ios-webkit-adapter and debug in mozilla's debugger.html. Same should work for node with the --inspector flag.

For the backend use a VPS, rpi or the intel compute stick.
Darren Parkinson
Brass Contributor
Jun 19, 2017
You can't as far as I'm aware. The iPad is just a tablet. Despite what Apple tells you, it isn't yet a full laptop replacement. So unless it's in the App Store, you won't be able to install it. There was a proposal last year which doesn't look like it went anywhere: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/10928
- Jiří Štolba
  Copper Contributor
  Oct 04, 2017
  Hello, I think its not about "tablet / full PC / laptop". I used the Visual Studio (latest one was VS 2015 Standard) on my Toshiba Encore W8 tablet and its worked without any bigger problems (yes it was slower but still usable)
  
  I think Nigel could have a problem with operating system because Microsoft accepts just two of them:
  macOS Sierra 10.12: Community, Professional, and Enterprise.
  Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11: Community, Professional, and Enterprise*.
  
  BUT here:
  Nigel download the zip file and now he is not able unpack the ZIP then ... I will be nice :) https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25411?locale=en_US
- Nigel Price
  Iron Contributor
  Jun 19, 2017
  Hi Darren Parkinson
  
  I have an iPad Pro with a keyboard I would have thought that would be as powerful as some of the apple macs.
  
  So I cannot use VSCode on the train then without getting my rather large Laptop out.
  
  But hang-on does VSCode not run on a Windows Surface - is that not a tablet - so why not on an iPad ?
  
  Regards
  
  Nigel
  - skyPurpleCloud
    Copper Contributor
    Sep 19, 2020
    Nigel Price
    
    Hey Nigel,
    
    Mac laptops run MacOS (previously OS X) which is a Unix based OS.
    
    iPads and iPhones run iPadOS and iOS respectively (some older iPads still run iOS).
    
    I use iPad for a lot of stuff and just usually get a terminal into target systems or utilise a VDS of some sort (like Amazon Workspaces running Windows 10).
    
    For traveling to conferences etc. so I still have access to all my tools, like VS Code, I have a light(er) weight MacBook Pro with all I need.
    
    The better option for your needs maybe a MacBook Air or the MacBook, which are only slightly heavier than an iPad (just no touch screen, which is frustrating).
    
    p.s. I cam here looking for a version of VS Code for my iPad too ... hopefully, MS will bring something official out soon.
    
    Are there any alternatives (iPad apps not web apps) which people have suggested?
    
    Many thanks,
    Roy.

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Can I install Visual Studio Code on an iPad ?

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