# Codea — user reviews > 308 indexed App Store user reviews of Codea by Two Lives Left, rated 4.50/5 from 126 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/codea/id439571171/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/codea/id439571171.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 99 · 4★ 10 · 3★ 5 · 2★ 2 · 1★ 10 ## What do users think of Codea? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Great for making games - 👍 Lets me code when I feel the itch - 💡 Powerful, Playful Development Environment - 👍 Fantastic prototyping tool - 👍 One of the best programming apps on iPad **Cons** - 🐛 Assets don't work - 🐛 Need Pencil scrolling slider. TOO MUCH ACCIDENTAL WRITING - 🐛 Crashes frequently - 🐛 Bugs with keyboard and cursor issues **Commonly reported bugs** - App crashes when switching between documents - Xcode export not working with latest version of Xcode - Keyboard and cursor issues when using Bluetooth keyboard **Most requested features** - Add ability to import sounds and 3D models - Improve documentation and provide more tutorials - Add support for more programming languages beyond Lua ## Newest reviews (15 of 308) ### 4/5 — Good for making games. *2026-01-17, version 3.15* I’ve owned Codea since at least 2017 and have made a lot of personal projects on it. Back then I spent hours searching for game development done completely on the iPad all by itself. Codea was just the strongest option back then. I’ve enjoyed scripting in lua these past 9 years. The games you can make are not as free as if it was not on an iPad but it’s still free enough for it to matter and make games. One day, the music() player stopped working and nobody what iPad I’m on I’m not able to actually play music from inside the app. ### 2/5 — Deleted *2026-01-04, version 3.15* My initial review was deleted even though it clearly expressed my opinion of this product without unsupported hostility or unrelated tangents. When this application’s publisher restores my valid and warranted review, I will submit an update reflecting my thoughts after having used it, ### 3/5 — Assets don’t work *2025-08-20, version 3.14.3* I open assets from my project menu and everything just freezes, please fix it I wanna finish my game I needed to add custom assets :/ ### 3/5 — Need Pencil scrolling slider. TOO MUCH ACCIDENTAL WRITING *2025-08-10, version 3.14.3* 8/9/25 REVIEW: Too much accidental writing, add a slider to the left of the numbered code blocks, so we can scroll through the code with our Apple Pencil. We can no longer use Apple Pencil, to highlight code, copy, paste, cut… because codea developers have now made it primarily for writing any time your Apple Pencil touches the editor. GPT 5 has just made your app *50 million years better* Please give us back our Apple Pencil selection functions back. 5 stars and updated review when fixed —————————- I’ve owned this app for well over 10 years. I always disliked the developers because they made it a tough environment for *no code background* to use this app. My goal was and still is, to prototype my game mechanics for our VR game we are developing on Unity engine. Regarding Codea, at first I was determined and even supported by buying their shader app. Then.. I started noticing, the more I dug the more chaotic it became to learn, the community was good to ask questions and you can get solutions (but you rarely now what questions to ask, when you’re new) The community didn’t have have guides or tutorials at the time. The ones they did offer were highly defragmented and not noob friendly. And the ones you did find that were noob friendly.. were always outdated by 5+ years, and worse.. the developers and community did not provide YouTube resources. (things maybe different now) who knows. I stopped going to the forums and stopped using Codea altogether for many years. I eventually learned how to use pre visualization apps like shot pro so I can animate my character models to visualize my game mechanics I was designing for our VR game. Fast forward to the future 2024: Now thanks to Chat GPT, I’ll prompt gpt to code my designs of a specific game mechanic on codea. I then test its game feel. If it passes the game feel test, I then update my design document with any tweaks I may have done during codea stage, pass on the design doc to our (hourly wage) game developer and have them add those mechanics onto our VR prototype for our Quest 3 Headset. If you are a game designer, because of Chat GPT, you now have the capability to rapidly test your game mechanics. Otherwise if you are new to coding, want to learn coding - going off my horrible past experiences, I would avoid codea as your learning base. ### 3/5 — Use w/ GPT *2025-06-18, version 3.14.2* I’ve owned this app for well over 10 years. I always disliked the developers because they made it a tough environment for *no code background* to use this app. My goal was and still is, to prototype my game mechanics for our VR game we are developing on Unity engine. Regarding Codea, at first I was determined and even supported by buying their shader app. Then.. I started noticing, the more I dug the more chaotic it became to learn, the community was good to ask questions and you can get solutions (but you rarely now what questions to ask, when you’re new) The community didn’t have have guides or tutorials at the time. The ones they did offer were highly defragmented and not noob friendly. And the ones you did find that were noob friendly.. were always outdated by 5+ years, and worse.. the developers and community did not provide YouTube resources. (things maybe different now) who knows. I stopped going to the forums and stopped using Codea altogether for many years. I eventually learned how to use pre visualization apps like shot pro so I can animate my character models to visualize my game mechanics I was designing for our VR game. Fast forward to the future 2024: Now thanks to Chat GPT, I’ll prompt gpt to code my designs of a specific game mechanic on codea. I then test its game feel. If it passes the game feel test, I then update my design document with any tweaks I may have done during codea stage, pass on the design doc to our (hourly wage) game developer and have them add those mechanics onto our VR prototype for our Quest 3 Headset. If you are a game designer, because of Chat GPT, you now have the capability to rapidly test your game mechanics. Otherwise if you are new to coding, want to learn coding - going off my horrible past experiences, I would avoid codea as your learning base. ### 3/5 — When....? *2025-06-05, version 3.14.1* When Codea code compiles into native apple executables, then I'll buy the lifetime contract which is what I did when I originally purchased it as an interpreter, what's going on with your brains up there in the north. Has Donald Trump psychosis infected you. ### 3/5 — Great in theory, but frequently hangs *2024-12-15, version 3.12.3* A lot of examples don't seem to work on M4 iPad and iOS 18. 3D asset viewer just displays a blank screen, while pressing "Run" in the "Learn Craft" examples makes the whole app hang. ### 4/5 — please fix *2024-07-18, version 3.11.2* hello, can you fix the fact that when air code is used and we change something in visual studio, codea crashes and so does the connection ### 4/5 — Best IDE on the AppStore *2024-04-13, version 3.10* I'm a long time user of Pythonista on iOS, I was sad to see it become mostly abandonware over the last few years. However, the eventual death of Pythonista led to the discovery of Codea. Now Python and LUA are vastly different languages with very different audiences but if you love to code you to learn to adapt. That is the only place Codea falls short compared to Pythonista. Documentation and the organization of that documentation. I understand Two Lives Left is an independent studio with a small team and I have nothing but praises for them. But, a LOT of users are going to need good, easy to follow docs with examples of how this engine works to properly get the hang of it.... Myself included.... Honestly calling Codea an engine makes a LOT more sense than calling it an IDE. Sure it's an IDE but it is also a renderer, handles all animation, shaders and so on. This is defold for iOS with some platform specific handcuffs thanks to iOS. The community is strong, responsive, extremely friendly and helpful and only a click away from within the app. Well done there. This helps fill the void from confusing docs. Best money I've ever spent in the AppStore, without a doubt. ### 5/5 — One of the best purchases I’ve made *2023-07-12, version 3.8* I have A lot of coding apps on my IPad but I never use any of them except this one because they cannot match it in its ease of use and versatility. I bought and used this on a roadtrip to Texas and the lessons Ive learned then still help me code in many different programming languages. This is probably the most fully featured development suite I’ve ever worked with, You have almost full access to the iPad and can make whatever you want. It is a Steep price but I cannot believe how well made this app is ### 5/5 — Long time user: Please let us pay you MORE! *2023-06-25, version 3.8* 1) I've been using Codea for years... and years... and *years*. Started on the original iPad (yes: iPad generation 1). Now I'm on an M1 iPad Pro. That's a long time, my friends. / 2) I paid once and have benefitted from all the updates. Where's the benefit for *you*? / 3) Developer: I rarely say this, but you should charge more. Or add optional subscriptions for those of us who want to keep supporting the app. Give us the option to pay $100/year, and I'll be the first to sign up. (Provide options for $20/year, $50/year, $75/year, $100/year... and more?) / 4) I've never felt so NOT ripped off in all my App Store life. Codea hasn't just been fun; it's helped me through periods of horrible depression. Lua plus game development on a tablet? Beautiful. / 5) Couldn't ask for more. Every one of these five stars was earned. ### 5/5 — CODEA!!! *2023-06-03* A This is the best app! (For programming) if you have the money, then it's the bet you can do with it. I'm bad at Codea, but I understand the simple things e.g. like buttons and the rest. **Developer response:** Hi! Thank you for leaving your review The language Codea uses is called Lua. Hope this helps! ### 2/5 — Doesn’t work on 5th gen iPad Pro *2022-06-06, version 3.5.3* App doesn’t open on 5th gen iPad Pro 2021. Shame I was looking forward to trying it out. Refund requested…. ### 5/5 — It could be great if it worked with Blender *2022-04-20* I would love an app like Shade which would allow you to export your shaders to blender. Would allow me to toy around when I am away from my computer to make progress around shaders and then reuse them easily in Blender ### 5/5 — I Love These Guys *2022-03-10, version 3.5.2* These guys made a usable LUA IDE for an iPad and, get this, maintained it! As a professor who teaches this stuff, this is one of the most useful teaching apps as well as a legitimate development app. So there. Just get it. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — No, I won’t review you positively if that’s the first thing you ask *2026-02-13* Annoying **Developer response:** Hi, thanks for reviewing our app. We hear you that it can be annoying to see a review button for an app you have not yet used. What you saw was the "What's New" page, which shows up once every new version and lists all the features that are new (see https://codea.io/new — this is the page you saw). It shows up once, each time you update Codea. At the top of that page there is a link where you can submit a review, reviews help people find our app. Our mistake is that we show this page to new users (like you), as well as existing users. We thought the list of features might be informative, but will definitely listen to your feedback that the review button at the top felt out-of-place to you. We'll address it. Thanks again for your honest feedback. ### 1/5 — Broken *2024-09-09, version 3.12.1* Can’t do anything it just crashes ### 1/5 — Fake app 🤮 Dont buy: 🛑😡 *2023-07-29, version 3.8* money theft, not useful for devs 🤮 I’ll contact apple to get my money back, It does not support any programming languages It's just a pixel game development. 😭 ‌”Robot Mania: Physics Sandbox” is Much better and free. waste of money. ### 1/5 — Waste of money and completely useless *2023-02-28, version 3.7.1* So I really wanted to create a game, my mum bought me this app but my first time was terrible, I was very confused on what to do to create a game, I thought this was a waste, it’s also way too expert-ish. This is a complete waste of £15 and game making, goodbye losers I’m never using this lame app again 😡 ### 1/5 — crashed *2022-04-12, version 3.5.3* Running on iOS 14.8.1 with iPhone XR ### 1/5 — 闪退 *2021-07-26* iPad2021 pro 只要编辑shader就闪退 It always crash when I edit shader **Developer response:** Thank you for your review. Version 3.4.2 now fixes this bug ### 1/5 — Riesiges Potential - aber Zeitfressend u. Frustrierend, weil... *2021-03-07* schlechte Dokumentation dauert ändert sich was im Forum viele Beispiele aber oft veraltet nichtmal die eigenen Beispiele innerhalb der App funktionieren teilweise Für Profis und Menschen mit Geduld und Lust auf Detektivarbeit, Gut. Für Anfänger eher nicht. Python konnte ich nach 2 Wochen, an dem hier beisse ich mir immer noch die Zähne aus. Unprofessionell. Liegt nicht an den armen 2 Jungs die das ausbaden müssen sondern an der Firma die ihnen 1 Tag in der Woche zum pflegen der App gibt. **Developer response:** Thank you for your review! Sorry the app didn't work out for you ### 1/5 — great app *2019-10-21* but really needs an update that it will work with xcode 11 & swift 5.1 ### 1/5 — Editor crashes every 5 to 10 minutes *2019-08-16, version 2.8.1* Latest release has introduced a crash bug that has never existed before. I have been using this tool for about 2 years and I like it very much! It now randomly crashes out of editor, not while running program. Usually in response to my typing or moving cursor Please fix. ### 1/5 — Worse coding language *2017-12-18, version 2.5.1* If you have even the worst computer in the world, use python over this pathetic language that calls itself easy to use. Very impractical, not logical and weird, do not buy this app. Use python. Please. ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — This is amazing. *2026-05-23, version 3.17* I have learned lua from this app and my skills are better from this app. 10/10 ### 5/5 — Doesn’t work *2026-05-13, version 3.17* Doesn’t work on my new iPhone. Just a black screen. ### 5/5 — Amazing! *2026-03-18, version 3.15* Good, just don't want to pay for more than 500 lines of code. I am making a Roblox like game and I need rounded corners, modified squares take up LOTS of code and might need to use thousands of lines of code. Still, Amazing if you are looking to build your own games for friends, family, or yourself! Also add a built in rounded corner please! ### 5/5 — Great app! *2026-02-23, version 3.15* This is great app ### 5/5 — Lets me code when I fell the itch *2025-12-20, version 3.15* I mostly use Codea on my iPhone because I use it when I might be scrolling social media. It’s simple and the documentation and references in the app are really nice, makes it possible to learn even though Codea isn’t that popular on YouTube, etc. Would love to see more polish on iPhone, but works 99% fine for me. Only bug I have is when I use the space bar cursor move on my keyboard, the cursor in Codea disappears, so I have to use the old hold in the text feature instead, which is fine, just less convenient ### 5/5 — 좋은 앱같습니다. *2025-11-22* 좋은 앱으로 보이나, 영어도 모르고, 개발도 모르는 사람에게 진입장벽이 높네요. 물론 한글이 지원하지 않는다는 것도 알고 앱을 설치하고 구독도 했습니다만 역시 힘드네요. 혹시 한글지원도 기대할수있을까요??? **Developer response:** 다음 버전에서 한국어 지원을 추가할 예정입니다. ### 5/5 — It’s Still Great In 2025 *2025-06-28, version 3.14.3* I don’t really know what I’m doing but I fumble around with it using the tutorials and playing around with stuff and I’ve managed to create a few games and programs. Great app. With a bit of time and effort, I can see that you could create anything you imagine. ### 5/5 — Only Review I’ve Written *2024-12-31, version 3.12.3* This app is one-of-a-kind phenomenal. I used to use this as a teen before I had a computer, and I was just brought back here after purchasing a new iPad. I’d recommend this to anyone, personally. ### 5/5 — 5 stars *2024-12-11, version 3.12.3* Because… of the reviews and it’s my first time using it but I just tried it out and I think I’m gonna love it! Yay! ### 5/5 — Can make games *2024-01-15, version 3.9.1* Like this app. I am making a game with it. It support controller, keyboard/mouse, and touch. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-07.*