Love2D Studio: A free tool to code and test fantastic games on iPad/iPhone

[marknote]

April 14, 2024

V1.450 is available today with improvement to the editor.


March 15, 2024
Introducing V1.4 – featuring a revamped UI and new code search functionality for a streamlined experience. Your feedback is welcome.

Best regards,



Dec 21, 2023

Hey there!
As a developer, I've been absolutely blown away by the incredible potential of love2d and lua. It got me thinking about all the amazing things I could create with it!

I decided to start small and built a simple prototype. When I showed it to my son, he became really interested in coding on his own iPad. This inspired me to take it a step further and turn it into a complete app.

I'm thrilled to announce that the app is now available on the Apple Store for everyone to enjoy! You can find it here: https://love2d-studio.marknoteapp.com/

I would love to hear your feedback on it. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Thank you so much!

[milon]

I would love to test that, but I don't own any Apple products. I use Linux & Android myself.

Any chance you'd release a .love or .apk too?

[SugarRayLua]

Thanks, and awesome job bring Love2D Studio to the App Store! I now don't have to rely on my side-loaded Love2D app to run Love2D apps! I also very much appreciate that you added a mini IDE and text editor with it (and that you released it as a free app!) Your file system GUI is also very easy to use.

So far, Love2D studio has been running all of the apps I've copied over from my side-loaded Love2D app. I posted a review on the App Store and highly recommended it. I gave the initial release a 4/5 rating just due to some suggested improvements:

1. Instructions: perhaps a mini-tutorial of how to use may be helpful-- especially to those who download it who have never used Love2D before
2. TextEditor/IDE panel- might be helpful if could make a bit bigger (perhaps half or full screen with an option to hide it like you currently have it set-up)? Would suggest taking a look at Codea's IDEA; they've been working on it for years and seem to have struck a very good balance between the IDE portion/text editor and how it integrates with the rest of the app

The only possible bug or feature request I've found is that it was difficult for me to figure out how to stop the program execution. There is a right handed arrow which seems to run main.lua but no stop/exit button. When I tapped on the arrow again it did stop the execution but then froze the whole app. Might be something to flush out in future releases.

Happy to provide any further feedback that you would like and will let you know as I use it more if I come up with any further suggestions.

A programming colleague of mine and I are hoping to release his project, Lua-Carousel, in the future on the App Store. I think it would be complementary to Love2D Studio; I think it focuses more on early code testing and development and allows one to test out multiple small modules at once and see the results.

[SugarRayLua]

@marknote,
I also just noticed that Love2D Studio runs project in folder form fine (by then opening the folder in the Love2d studio menu and finding main.lua and clicking the right arrow to run) but can't seem to run zipped ".love" files. Was that your intention? If so, I would recommend noting that somewhere on App Store information and in the "about" information on the app as would suspect that many Love2D users would assume that they could just load in their zipped .love files and that Love2D would run them (not too hard to rename the .love files back to .zip files and unzip then and then import them in Love2D studio but helpful to let the user know to do that).

[marknote]

I would love to test that, but I don't own any Apple products. I use Linux & Android myself.

Any chance you'd release a .love or .apk too?

Thanks, and it is a pity this can only run on iOS yet.
I will start to learn Android programming

[marknote]

Thank you so much for your helpful suggestions! I really appreciate it.
- yes, instructions will be helpful for users
- I totally agree that a "stop" feature would be extremely useful and I'll make sure to add it soon.
- I've been thinking about increasing the editor size too, and I'm considering adding a full-screen option in the future. I'll definitely take a look at the app you mentioned.

A programming colleague of mine and I are hoping to release his project, Lua-Carousel, in the future on the App Store. I think it would be complementary to Love2D Studio; I think it focuses more on early code testing and development and allows one to test out multiple small modules at once and see the results.

Both MiniIDE and Lua-Carousel are amazing tools with great ideas and I believe that Love2D Studio can collaborate with them to make developing Love2D apps even easier. While my programming experience is mainly on the iOS native side, my mission to providing the best possible development experience on the iOS platform!

Thanks, and awesome job bring Love2D Studio to the App Store! I now don't have to rely on my side-loaded Love2D app to run Love2D apps! I also very much appreciate that you added a mini IDE and text editor with it (and that you released it as a free app!) Your file system GUI is also very easy to use.

So far, Love2D studio has been running all of the apps I've copied over from my side-loaded Love2D app. I posted a review on the App Store and highly recommended it. I gave the initial release a 4/5 rating just due to some suggested improvements:

[marknote]

Thank you for bringing this up! The ability to import and export .love file formats will be added to the app very soon.

@marknote,
I also just noticed that Love2D Studio runs project in folder form fine (by then opening the folder in the Love2d studio menu and finding main.lua and clicking the right arrow to run) but can't seem to run zipped ".love" files. Was that your intention? If so, I would recommend noting that somewhere on App Store information and in the "about" information on the app as would suspect that many Love2D users would assume that they could just load in their zipped .love files and that Love2D would run them (not too hard to rename the .love files back to .zip files and unzip then and then import them in Love2D studio but helpful to let the user know to do that).

[SugarRayLua]

That all sounds great, @marknote, thanks!

I keep wondering if there should be a "mobile" channel on the Love2D discord?

[SugarRayLua]

Great update, @marknote!

The option to expand the editor window is perfect! The additional button to "stop" a running app and information section reached from the home section are also very helpful.

Thanks also fo adding the ability to import .love files! I'm not though seeing a way to get the imported .love files to run once imported. Any suggestions?

One minor stylist suggestion for future release:
Would change what type of files each icon is associated with. Traditionally the "heart" icons would be associated with actual .love files (instead of folders in your current version which contain main.lua files). I see that you do have a "folder" icon-- would associate that with all folders and then keep the "file" type icon associated with actual .lua or non- .love files as you currently do. The heart icon being associated with folders that have a main.lua file (thus indicating their ability to be opened and ran by Love2D studio) is helpful but it maybe more helpful for clarity to just associate the heart symbol with actual .love files.

Fyi
Happy Holiday Season

[marknote]

Hi @SugarRayLua

Great to know you like the update!

I'm not though seeing a way to get the imported .love files to run once imported. Any suggestions?

once imported, it should be uncompressed as a folder with the same name, right? then you can click the three dot button of the folder, and there is a "run" there. Select the main.lua file then open to run it should also work ...
For the usage of heart icon, originally, my thought was, "folder" is only for normal folder, but "heart" is for a love app folder which contains a "main.lua" file. But I see your point.Let me think how to resolve.
Wish you a Happy Holiday Season as well!