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Who else would be very excited about Pythonista for Mac?

Sure, you can just "install" Python on a Mac. But you're stuck modifying system files and juggling built-in 2.7 with a downloaded copy. I think there's an untapped need for a sandboxed, completely GUI-driven Python IDE on Mac, and syncing with iOS Pythonista would be the icing on the cake. Would instantly be a key tool for teaching programming in education spaces with Mac deployments. Who's with me? 😁

Not me... CPython, Pypy, Jython, IPython, Anaconda all run fine on Mac OS X... If you are not using homebrew to install on the Mac it might be difficult but with homebrew, there is no fiddling with config files. Just brew install python python3 pypy pypy3 jython ipython ; brew cask install anaconda. Also there are tons of editors and IDEs that have great Python support: brew cask install atom pycharm-ce sublime-text visual-studio-code... It would be difficult to compete against all of that.

https://forum.omz-software.com/topic/92/pythonista-for-osx

I don't have any trouble with "normal" Python on OS X either, and I don't even use Anaconda or MacPorts or Homebrew for Python. I use the normal installers from python.org, which provide an option to automatically add Python to the PATH, so it can be used from the shell. (You can of course also edit your ~/.profile by hand if you prefer.)

If you use that option, the manually installed Python should take precedence over the OS X system Python. By the way, you should NEVER touch the system Python, because some parts of OS X depend on it. If you want to use a Python version that's already installed on OS X, you should install the same version yourself (doesn't matter how) and then use your own installation instead of the system one. That way you can freely update and modify Python and any libraries you need, without worrying about breaking your system.

As for IDEs, I use IPython for interactive use, a plain text editor or IDLE for small scripts, and PyCharm for larger projects. That said, for Python development it doesn't make that big of a difference if you use a full-fledged IDE or a normal text editor. In Python there are not as many pitfalls and manual tasks as in other languages (such as Java) that an IDE can help with.

I think a very substantial portion of the Python users use the language because you do not need a 'completely GUI-driven [...] IDE'. So while a market might be there it stands to question if it is that big.

I think most users are quite happy with a text editor with some IDE-ish features like the Pythonista editor. The sucess stories of modern editors like sublime text or Atom could be viewed as a proof for such a theory. Especially sublime text is incredibly successful (there are several studies/list on IDE usage).

Personally, I think it would be so nice to have Pythonista on Mac OS. But I could image a lot would not like the idea of it because of cross platform issues. I see a day when we can run iOS apps under MacOS. This is the most likely way we will see Pythonista on MacOs in my opinion

I would be very surprised if Apple never tried to make a 'UWP for Apple products'. Maybe it'll happen one day?

I would like pythonista compatibility libraries for mac for location ui etal

I think it would be wasted time for Ole to do this. There are many superior tools on macOS for Python and it would be hard, really hard, to provide something that can compete with them.

Its an interesting thought. Mostly because Ole mentioned he positions pythonista value as not just running scripts, but creating games and UI. From that perspective, would be good to be able to run the UI/games on OS X.

From a pure running scripts perspective, I agree - we shouldnt need a new python environmnent since it doesnt align with cross platform compatability. I make most of scripts pythonista and regular linux env compatable by checking if imports exist.

That said, i do understand. Even while we have aws s3 sync cli on mac, i wrote https://github.com/khilnani/s3sync.py for pythonista that works on desktop in the same way to share files between ios and desktop

In short, because of the UI apps you can build with Pythonista, would be nice to ruin the same UI apps on OX X

Interesting news stories out today about unified mac apps, one version for iOS and MacOS. This will be interesting if its real....

Not really looking forward. I might find some difficulty with it.

Why do you need it, when you can install a FULL python installation not to mention every package under the sun, on your Mac?

For me there are 2 reasons why I would like to see iOS run on MacOS.
1. I love the apps I have on my iPad. I now find it frustrating using software on my Desktop/Laptop.
2. If I had Pythonista on my Desktop, I would be more inclined to do some programming on my MacOS devices.

I understand many will not agree with my comments. I am a hobby programmer. Not doing any serious at all. I am retired and drink too much. This at least keeps my brain turning over. So depending on your age/profession/goals etc. I am sure these will mean different things to different people.

Even if the iOS apps run from the widget screen (I think thats what its called), would be super cool for me. Anyway, it may never happen. Who knows

@Phuket2 Hi, I agree with you for some ideas...
I love my iPad and all its apps, I drink, too much for my wife, not enough for me 😂
I love Pythonista, sincerely. So much that I'm almost full time busy to develop big scripts for all my needs (maintain my budget, my electricity/water/gaz/batteries consumptions, my books, my movies, my photos,...) and I've decided that, when my iMac will be dead, I'll not replace it...
It was still used for big downloads (movies,...) but I've installed a Raspberry 3 connected via wifi and VNC on iPad as keyboard and screen, and this little and not expensive computer is sufficient for this job.
Thus, as you see, I don't need IOS on Mac, but I really can understand your hope.

@cvp , well i am in agreement with you also about do i even need a desktop/laptop. The answer is getting very close to a no. I also used to need my desktop for the movie/music stuff. That's never an issue anymore. I just stream what I need. I use Apple TV I think its called Gen 4, the latest. Now in Thailand I can use my Australian Netflix account. So between Netfix iTunes store, I have all the media I need. I also have spotify and apple music subsciption as well as TuneIn Sub of also Tidal. Also haved Chomecast, Sonos , google home , alexa :) Also have a decent internet connection, the optical cable comes into the house, they are not running copper from the street into the house, that seems to happen a lot. One thing I do know, I would never spend the big bucks on a MacPro again. But i might keep my laptop updated connected to a large monitor...
Again, depends on what you do. Photoshop/FinalCut Pro/AutoCad users etc, are still going to need high end desktops, for others not so much I think

Personally- I'd like to see it just to make my development life easier.

Even with an iPad - development is easier for me than on my mac.

Also, I use Mobile devices as well as larger laptop, and having a somewhat agnostic platform to develop on would be really nice.

I started toying with the idea of writing an API compatible ui module using wxPython + PyOBJC for a better mac experience.

The vast amount of work it would take has been nothing short of discouraging, and we need to keep one thing in mind: Is there enough of a market for omz to stretch his valuable time even thinner?

And this is ONE module.

If he were to focus on a new product, time would need to be removed from Pythonista and Editorial.

Lastly; I use Pycharm as my IDE and am not likely to change anytime soon.

That being said, I vote no. I am however willing to help a team put together compatibility libraries, so long as its open source.

Side note: wx was my thought so Windows users could benefit as well;

One reason I can think of for a Mac version of Pythonista would be to automatically sync your files & projects via iCloud, similar to the Handoff function. I would definitely consider paying for that.

A lot of articles appearing today talking about ios12 and the relevant MacOS in terms of being able to run iOS apps on Mac. Not sure if these are unfounded rumours or not. This is not the first time this has been in the news, but it appears the speculation is growing. For me, I will keep my fingers crossed that they do it. Its not just being able to run Pythonista the editor on the Mac, but also the programs you write. I know the last sentence sounds strange, but thats the real point in my view. Its not just to have a larger screen with a external keyboard, its the ability to run your Pythonista apps/scripts on a Mac.
Just my personal view for my circumstance.

yes please !

Maybe it's time to evaluate this question once again with the release of Catalyst which allows iPad apps to be ported to Mac using the same code-base. I'd love to use Pythonista on Mac.

@lipschitz I think you are right. While I agree with others that native MacOS Python development is great, there are two cases where I'd like to see Pythonista for IOS run under Catalyst.

First, when I'm developing a Pythonista app to run on IOS, and I happen to be at home in front of my big screen, I like to use @code and let iCloud sync the changes to my iPad or iPhone. Then I run and test there. The sync time is normally about 2 seconds for changes. Some times much longer depending on the vagaries of iCloud. With Pythonista running on the Mac, maybe it would be faster? Certainly cmd-tabbing to Pythonista without having to pick up the phone would be convenient.

Second, Pythonista nicely solves the "throw a UI together" problem. Certainly better than tkinter. If it ran under Catalyst, then I get access to my apps everywhere. Would also be nice for the folks who use apps I write for them.

I wish Apple had embraced Pythonista as a first-class language for app development. This could be the next best thing.

Thanks for the help with this site! I really appreciate it!

The idea of running Pythonista in https://developer.apple.com/mac-catalyst has been growing on me since my comments above three years ago. Being able to run at least the GUI Editor on Mac OS might accelerate UI creation. How difficult is it to move apps to Catalyst?

@ccc @omz I’m also curious how that’s going with this week’s Mac catalyst updates etc...?

@dgelessus said:

That way you can freely update and modify Python and any libraries you need, without worrying about breaking your system.

That way you can freely update and modify Python and any libraries you need, without worrying about breaking your system.

Pythonista works just fine on an M1 Mac.