GitHub launches its Android and iOS apps

• GitHub has released its mobile apps for Android and iOS platforms.
• The company unveiled that GitHub Actions and GitHub Packages is out of beta.
• It also released improved notification system and many other features.

GitHub, the most popular software development platform, is finally rolling out its native mobile apps.

Founded back in 2008 and acquired by Microsoft for $7.5B last year, the company was operating via browsers so far. It was availing ample of features and functionalities to developers, and in fact, they released around 150 new features and enhancements last year to make it easier for developers to code and interact with its supporting community.

But, this time, GitHub – the one used by more than 40M developers across the globe – has taken a significant turn. 

The company has announced its entry  in the mobile domain. 

They unveiled that their iOS application is available in beta version, while Android app will join the league soon. This implies the Android and iPhone app development services providers will now be able to manage their codes, see when people mention them in any discussion, accept the suggestions regarding updating their code, and more.

Microsoft-owned GitHub has also introduced an improved notification system that scans and sort all the messages. This cut down the efforts of software developers to know which message has to be replied on higher priority and thus, relish better outcomes.

The team also revealed that developers will now easily be able to get funds for their open-source software such as Curl, Python, TensorFlow, or the GitHub desktop client under their GitHub Sponsors. 

“With GitHub Sponsors, developers can sponsor each other directly from their everyday workflows,” said Devon Zuegal, GitHub senior product manager.

Also, the company made GitHub Actions accessible to developers. Integrated with GitHub’s own CI/CD service, this tool will aid developers in automating their workflow and building more sophisticated applications.

In addition to this, the team also declared the advent of Code Navigation and Code search features. Here, the former will let mobility experts jump from a specific symbol to its definition and all the associated references and is available for all repos written in Python, Ruby, or Go. And the later is meant to improve searching process; especially in the case of special characters and tokens.

“There’s a lot you can do on GitHub that doesn’t require a complex development environment, like sharing feedback on a design discussion and reviewing a few lines of code,” wrote Shanku Niyogi, GitHub’s senior vice president of product,in a blog post.

While this is what developers will be able to do, the users will also get an opportunity to report bugs and request for features directly from their devices in real-time. This, as a whole, is expected to streamline and accelerate the feedback process and improve the app quality and ROI.

This new slew of features and updates, alongwith the earlier announcement that Windows 10 mobile users can easily switch to an Android/iPhone device, is expected to bring Microsoft closer to Apple and other longtime rivals. This again indicates that mobile app developers will now have one more platform to step into the mobile industry and enjoy the limelight.