Comparison

Runestone Text Editor vs hexJapality

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

hexJapality

Features
Read full description

hexJapality is a mobile hex viewer and binary inspection toolbox for developers, students, and technical users who need to explore files at the byte level. Open local files on your device, move through offsets, and view bytes in HEX, DEC, OCT, or BIN with printable ASCII alongside the raw data. Select any byte to inspect common interpretations including unsigned integers, signed integers, floats, binary, hex, and ASCII. Built-in tools help you understand file structure faster: • Edit individual bytes with undo and redo before saving • Search for text or exact hex byte patterns • View file size, MD5, and SHA-256 • Detect common formats such as PNG, JPEG, PDF, ZIP, ELF, and GIF • Explore entropy and byte distribution maps • Scan for readable strings and jump to offsets • Add bookmarks for important locations • Compare two files with Binary Diff • Export bytes as a C array, Rust array, hex string, or Base64 Privacy: Files you open are processed on your device. We do not upload your file contents to our servers. Free version: The app is free to download and may display ads. You can subscribe to Remove Ads (monthly or yearly) in Settings to enjoy an ad-free experience while your subscription is active. Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple ID subscription settings. Restore purchases is available in the app. Use responsibly: You are responsible for files you open, edit, or export. Always back up important data before editing. Terms of Use (EULA): https://app.japality.com/hexjapality/i/terms_of_use/ Privacy Policy: https://app.japality.com/hexjapality/i/privacy_policy/ Support: https://app.japality.com/hexjapality/i/support/ hexJapality is provided by Japality Limited (Hong Kong). Designed for quick checks and byte-level inspection on mobile.

Screenshots

Runestone Text Editor4 screens
hexJapality4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Runestone Text Editor at none against hexJapality's shown. Runestone Text Editor also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and chart position (#37 vs unranked). hexJapality's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, in-app purchases and device support 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 hexJapality sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, hexJapality every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Runestone Text Editor versus hexJapality: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRunestone Text EditorhexJapality
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews76.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#37 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB44 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSimon B. StøvringJapality Limited

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

hexJapality

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Runestone Text Editor

One-time1
  • Premium$9.99
2 purchases

hexJapality

Subscriptions2
  • Remove Ads (Monthly)$1.991 Month
  • Remove Ads (Yearly)$9.991 Year

Questions

Is Runestone Text Editor free?
Runestone Text Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is hexJapality free?
hexJapality is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Runestone Text Editor or hexJapality have ads?
hexJapality shows ads; Runestone Text Editor does not.
Which is updated more often, Runestone Text Editor or hexJapality?
Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, and hexJapality every 2 months. Most recently, Runestone Text Editor was updated on October 16, 2026 and hexJapality on October 3, 2026.

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