Comparison

Runestone Text Editor vs Desktop Browser

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Runestone Text Editor

A powerful plain text and code editor for iPhone and iPad. Offers syntax highlighting, line numbers, find and replace, and extensive customization options for developers and writers.

Highlights
  • Syntax highlighting for many languages
  • Customizable themes and fonts
  • Advanced find and replace
  • Line numbers and cursor location
  • Code formatting with Prettier.js
  • Multiple windows on iPad
Features
Read full description

A plain text editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers, search and replace, page guide, and much more. It's like TextEdit but more powerful and optimised for iPhone and iPad. Runestone is made by a single person with a love for text editors and a vision of building the most lightweight text editor for iPhone and iPad that still has the core features for editing code. Features: - Syntax highlighting of many languages including HTML, JavaScript, JSON, Markdown, Swift, Python, PHP, YAML, and many more. - Select one of the twelve standard themes including popular themes like Tomorrow, Dracula, Solarized, and One Dark Pro. - Innovative find and replace for searching and modifying text while still viewing your file. - Choose font and font size, including support for custom fonts imported using another third-party app. - Show the line and column the cursor is located on. - Uses the standard document browser for an experience similar to the Files app. - Quickly navigate to a specific line. - Automatically close opening brackets and quotes. - Multiple windows on the iPad. - Format code using Prettier.js. Supported languages include CSS,HTML, JavaScript, JSON, PHP and more. - Choose text encoding between popular encodings like UTF-8, UTF-16, ISO Latin 1, and many more. - Enable or disable autocorrection, autocapitalization, and smart punctuation. - Set default file extension of new files. - Open files in Runestone from the Share Sheet. - Print documents. Premium features: - Choose between eight app icons. - Show line numbers. - Highlight the selected line. - Increase line height and letter spacing. - Disable line wrapping to allow horizontal scrolling. - Show tabs, spaces, and line breaks using a selected symbol. - Enable page guide at a specific column to easily tell when lines are getting too long. - Add vertical and horizontal overscroll. - Remember the selected language per file. - Save file extensions and filenames that should always be treated as plain text files. - Enable soft tabs and choose the width of the tab character. - Specify whether pressing the tab key should insert a tab or indent the line. - Adjust the scaling of Markdown headings and disable highlighting of code blocks in Markdown. Runestone was built on the open-source framework with the same name. Find more information on the Runestone framework at github.com/simonbs/runestone

About

Desktop Browser

Experience a full desktop web on your mobile device. This browser simulates a large, resizable screen to display desktop versions of websites, avoiding mobile-optimized layouts. Enjoy features like zoom control, full-screen mode, and privacy-focused data collection.

Highlights
  • Desktop website rendering
  • Zoomable screen (1x-3x)
  • Full screen mode
  • Portrait/landscape transitions
  • Favorites management
  • UI customization
  • Multiple tabs (Pro)
  • Theme customization (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Zoomable is a browser that provides a full desktop web experience. It simulates a large and resizable screen and shows the desktop version of websites, so you can stay away from those bad mobile web experiences. • Zoom freely between 1x and 3x. • Seamless transitions between portrait and landscape mode. • Supports full screen mode. • Save and manage favorites. • Lightning fast and super small install size. • Supports UI customization for both portrait and landscape mode. • Respects user privacy; the app only collects anonymous diagnostic data unrelated to browsing, and you can opt out. • [Pro] Multiple tabs. • [Pro] Customize themes. The app is designed for everyone, it works great with many websites. However, it is particularly useful for developers. For example, accessing App Store Connect and Firebase Console works great in this app because of the screen scale feature.

Screenshots

Runestone Text Editor4 screens
Desktop Browser4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Runestone Text Editor at every 2 weeks against Desktop Browser's every 5 weeks. Runestone Text Editor also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (76% vs 64%). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Runestone Text Editor sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Desktop Browser sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Runestone Text Editor holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2K and 3.3K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Runestone Text Editor's written reviews are positive against 64% of Desktop Browser's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, Desktop Browser every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Runestone Text Editor versus Desktop Browser: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRunestone Text EditorDesktop Browser
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2K ratings) — better4.5 (3.3K ratings)
Positive reviews76.1% of reviews — better64.4% of reviews
Number of ratings2K3.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#43#21 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB15 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperSimon B. StøvringActowise LLC

Customer experience

Runestone Text Editor

All ratings1,962 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.3%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews351 reviews
Positive76.1%
Neutral9.7%
Negative14.2%

Desktop Browser

All ratings3,300 ratings
Positive87.5%
Neutral3.7%
Negative8.8%
Written reviews222 reviews
Positive64.4%
Neutral5.4%
Negative30.2%

User reviews

Runestone Text Editor

From 2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💎 Excellent text editor
  • 🚀 Smooth and responsive
  • 🎨 Customizable themes and appearance
  • 🔒 Secure file storage and sync
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs
  • 🔍 Difficulty navigating files/folders
  • 📝 Limited functionality without premium
  • 🔌 Performance issues on older devices
  • 🔒 Difficulty accessing files in cloud storage

Desktop Browser

From 3.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and efficient
  • 👍 Intuitive user interface
  • 🔍 Effective desktop mode
  • 💡 Useful zoom feature
  • 🔒 Secure browsing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and reloads
  • 🔍 Inconsistent desktop mode performance
  • 📱 Incompatible with some mobile apps
  • 💸 Paid version required for full functionality
  • 🔌 High battery consumption

Bugs and requests

Runestone Text Editor

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Disappearing files
  • Difficulty pasting text
  • Scroll position not saved
  • Hangs on startup
  • Trouble opening large files
Show 1 more
  • Issues after iOS updates

Requested features

6 requests
  • Markdown preview
  • Code folding
  • Syntax highlighting for more languages
  • Ability to run/execute code
  • Multiple file/window support
Show 1 more
  • Improved undo/redo functionality

Desktop Browser

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Issues connecting to local IP addresses
  • Inability to use Google account login
  • Blank pages when resizing or zooming
  • Redirects to search engine instead of desired site

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ad-blocking capabilities
  • Implement local network access
  • Allow setting as default browser
  • Introduce a virtual trackpad mode
  • Improve bookmark management

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Runestone Text Editor

One-time1
  • Premium$9.99
3 purchases

Desktop Browser

One-time3
  • 2 Extra Tabs$2.99
  • Pro Lifetime$9.99
  • Pro Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is Runestone Text Editor free?
Runestone Text Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Desktop Browser free?
Desktop Browser is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Runestone Text Editor or Desktop Browser?
Runestone Text Editor is rated higher. Runestone Text Editor averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2K ratings, while Desktop Browser averages 4.5 from 3.3K ratings.
Do Runestone Text Editor or Desktop Browser have ads?
Neither Runestone Text Editor nor Desktop Browser shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Runestone Text Editor or Desktop Browser?
Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, and Desktop Browser every 5 weeks. Most recently, Runestone Text Editor was updated on September 23, 2026 and Desktop Browser on September 22, 2026.
Which is more popular, Runestone Text Editor or Desktop Browser?
Runestone Text Editor currently peaks at #43 in the App Store charts, and Desktop Browser at #21. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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