BBEdit for PC and Mac

Software Reviews and Criticism

• By LexisLuther

  Bare Bones trying to pull a fast one?

  I purchased a version of BBEdit from the app store at the begining of 2018 for a good chunk of change. I've previously enjoyed the features of the application and find no reason to ask for change. Expecting, given I paid full purchase price, that this software would remain functional until they developed features warranting my repeat business. However, in October of this year, Bare Bones used the app store to "upgrade" me to an unlicensed version (v13) of the software that now requires a monthly subscription to continue to function. Luckily I retained a copy in my timemachine backup from the day prior to it's release and have reclaimed what I rightfully paid for and should be allowed to continue using under that purchase agreement. I'm writing this review as a warning that this company has no qualms about sneaking you into an unagreeable subscription without warning. Everyone wants recurring revenue... but I don't care for having additional bills for every bit of software that I occasionally use. They should give their previously loyal customer's (as was I) the option (subscription with software updates) or flat pricing without updates. These should be separate items in the App Store. They never should have replaced a fully paid App Store application with a manditory subscription based one. :(

  
  
• By orangekay

  Lost touch with reality decades ago

  BBEdit was incredible back in the days when WebSTAR and Dreamweaver were still a thing and for many, many years I could not imagine living without it. These days, it's a far cry from adequacy as a web development tool. From its anemic syntax highlighting options to its flat out lack of support for any language newer than Markdown, this application is a dinosaur that appeals primarily to nostalgic sorts who don't actually build websites for a living. I mean, if you look at BareBones' site for BBEdit right now you'll find most of the links 404, even the one that says it'll tell you "What's new in 12." They're probably the only people in the world still cowboy coding right on an SFTP server anymore and it shows. The sole reason I continue to keep it on my hard drive is the "Zap Gremlins" feature. It's wonderful and no modern editor has anything quite as simple or effective. Thank goodness I can have that for free.

  
  
• By daboyter

  Favorite Text Editor

  BBEdit is my absolute favorite text editor. I use it for taking notes, managing bash scripts that I'm working on, writing fiction, todo lists, writing quick items for the Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes guild I'm in, writing documentation for work, editing mobileconfig files, and a host of other things. It's rock solid, fast, easy to use and has tons of great features to manage the text I'm writing and manipulating. I'm really excited that Microsoft and BareBones were able to work together to get BBEdit back in the Windows App Store. If you're looking for a multi-tool for text, this one is best-in-class.

  
  
• By WWW Jim

  Long time user of BB Edit

  I'm a longtime user of BB edit and am thrilled to see it in the app store. I'm a telecommunications engineer, and my duties include systems and DB administration, programming, and config script editing. Like most engineers, I have multiple tools in my arsenal, and depending on the task I use simple vi, Coda, or BB Edit. BB Edit is especially useful for me in script building, removing hidden characters (I love the Zap Grelings tools), and reg ex changes. It will handles extremely large files very efficiently. Your use cases may of course vary, but I highly encourage you to give it a try. Would love to see an iOS version at some point - I have yet to find a truly serviceable Reg Ex tool for my iPad. Thanks, Bare Bones, and keep up the great work.

  
  

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