

Show HN: CodeReview – An iPad app for reviewing, editing, merging pull requests - jacksonh
http://codereview.io

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drewcrawford
If this was free + IAP I would install it. Maybe the free version supports 1
repo or (following the GitHub model) unlimited public repos.

I think $20 is a great price point (honestly I think you have room to grow)
but you need to give people an opportunity to experience the benefits of the
product.

~~~
jacksonh
Yeah, I actually joked about doing a version that would randomly insert _meow_
in your comments (with increasing density the more you use it) for free.

With WWDC looming there is a chance trials might get announced. If not I'll
probably do something.

~~~
skyebook
I think randomly added 'meow' _and other animal noises_ would be pretty funny.
Might actually be a disincentive to paying for those who can laugh a little

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mful
I don't mean to be abrasive, but landing page could not be less informative.
I'm a full-time developer and a big believer in code review, but I have no
interest in downloading the app based on the website -- I don't know what it
is, really. I think you are going to convert a lot better by actually
explaining why I should download the app, rather than just providing a link.
Why is this better than current tools? Does this integrate with Github?
Bitbucket?

~~~
jacksonh
Yeah I agree. I'm going to put more effort into the site eventually. In the
short term there are details on
[http://blog.codereview.io](http://blog.codereview.io) and on the actual App
Store page ( [http://tinyurl.com/codereview-
appstore](http://tinyurl.com/codereview-appstore) ).

To directly answer your questions: it is GitHub only. I see the main benefit
vs other tools is a streamlined and focused workflow for reviewing and
collaborating on pull requests. Also the iPad form factor is a nice change of
pace vs reviewing on your computer.

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jacksonh
I've always found code review to be incredibly valuable. I remember a long
time ago reading that NASA studied a bunch of different development
methodologies and found code review to be the most effective at reducing
defects. However, we already sit in front of our computers too much, and its
hard to shift mindsets from coding to editing.

The iPad seemed like a good alternative to reviewing code on your computer.
You can get away from your desk, and change your mindset.

~~~
callahad
There's an interesting paper from a few years back looking at software defect
incidence in Windows Vista and trying to figure out what models did best at
predicting error-prone modules.

Turns out, in that case, organizational structure had better precision and
recall than any of five other models (code churn, cycolmatic complexity, test
coverage, etc.)

"The Influence of Organizational Structure on Software Quality: An Empirical
Case Study" \--
[http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/70535/tr-2008-11.pdf](http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/70535/tr-2008-11.pdf)

~~~
jacksonh
This is awesome. Thanks. Love this kind of stuff. If you are interested there
is a book "Making Software: What Really Works, and Why We Believe It" that
takes a scientific approach to evaluating software practices.

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jbevain
I've been using this since the beta. The entire code of my startup is on
GitHub so it really helps to be able to monitor and triage incoming changes
quickly.

The app itself is still missing some things for my particular workflow: I'd
like to have visibility on incoming code that's not part of pull requests.
Like simple pushes to branches.

I'd also have the possibility to unsubscribe from repos directly from the app.

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sirn
I've been playing around with it for few minutes and it looks promising. Few
things I think it would be nice for the app to have:

\- Comment preview.

\- Symbol row on top of keyboard (such as ` and Markdown symbols.)

\- Font selection for code view.

\- Some indication of which line is currently being tapped in code view.

Also, I couldn't get the app to list pull requests from a repo with Issues
disabled. A bug, maybe?

~~~
jacksonh
Thanks sirn. The top two things are on the roadmap. Especially preview.

Regarding font selection, which fonts would you like? I'll have to bundle the
fonts with the app, so I'd like to hear what people are into. Right now it
uses Meslo for source and Avenir everywhere else.

GitHub recently fixed the unable to fetch PR updates when issues are disabled
thing. You aren't using GitHub Enterprise are you?

~~~
sirn
Source Code Pro and Inconsolata-dz would be nice. :-)

I'm definitely not using GitHub Enterprise. From what I've seen in the
connection log, pull requests from repo with issues disabled are completely
missing.

Also thanks for the app! I can now finally do a code review on a toilet. Yay!

~~~
jacksonh
OK, I'll definitely look into it. They literally just enabled this a couple
weeks ago, so I didn't get to test much.

If you want, feel free to email me jacksonh@gmail.com with any other issues or
details on this one (especially if its a public repo).

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Mister_Snuggles
I'd like to suggest a little more information about what CodeReview is.

The web page doesn't give me any real hints. The App Store listing only shows
in the title that it's a GitHub-only thing.

I don't suggest overloading with unnecessary detail, but it would be nice to
know something before spending $20.

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coralreef
Perhaps double the size of the screenshot, so people can see the app features
more clearly?

~~~
jacksonh
Yeah, part of the problem is they are all retina. Lots more screenshots here:
[http://tinyurl.com/codereview-appstore](http://tinyurl.com/codereview-
appstore) and on the blog:
[http://blog.codereview.io](http://blog.codereview.io)

~~~
gisenberg
Probably more important to have that on the product page, yeah? I looked at
the landing page, couldn't see what was going and had a nagging animation to
install the app before being given sufficient information on what it was. Not
a great experience.

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Aldo_MX
> You must be at least 17 years old to download this app.

Why is a code review app rated as 17+?

~~~
jacksonh
Basically because you can access external web content. Either that or maybe I
clicked the wrong box somewhere, but I'm pretty sure all apps that let you
browse the web get the 17+

~~~
michaeljdeeb
Interesting. It looks like "Unrestricted Web Access" is what causes it. Chrome
is in the same boat, but for some reason Facebook and Twitter don't have the
same requirements even though they allow access to web content via links.

I'm not sure if this would work for your app, but maybe you could restrict
access to just github.com? I'd also second a video or something more
insightful on the landing page of the app's website.

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piratebroadcast
Add an about page, more screenshots, a bit about the team. Ya know,
salesmanship.

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AH4oFVbPT4f8
Does this only support GitHub? Any plans to add BitBucket?

~~~
jacksonh
Right now its GitHub. Definitely BitBucket is something I'll look at in the
future. Internally everything is abstracted away to support different
backends. But I want to make sure I totally nail GitHub before taking on
another provider.

