Well, it's great to have such detailed feedback as yours. It's always good to know how other people are using the software. Thanks for that!

Swiping left and right on the text currently moves the cursor, but just one character/word at a time: http://www.textasticapp.com/iphone/manual/lessons/How_can_I_move_the_cursor_using_swipe_gestures.html

But changing that behavior could work.

Can you tell me what the issue was?

I can't implement this the same way that Pythonista does it in Textastic since Textastic has swipeable keys. The swipe gesture of the buttons wouldn't work together with another swipe gesture over the whole bar.

I already implemented and tested alternative solutions (like swiping over the entire keyboard) but removed them from the app because in practice it didn't work out. For example, it caused problems with German umlauts.

The only way would be to add a dedicated cursor movement key in the middle of the bar like Code does. But that would mean I would have to remove one of the exisiting keys. I don't want to do that.

Are you aware of the cursor navigation wheel? http://www.textasticapp.com/v4/manual/lessons/How_can_I_bring_up_the_cursor_navigation_wheel.html

The iPad version also supports the gestures of the iPhone version: http://www.textasticapp.com/iphone/manual/lessons/How_can_I_move_the_cursor_using_swipe_gestures.html

You can also move to the beginning and end of the current line using the first button in the additional row of keys above the standard keyboard:

http://www.textasticapp.com/v4/manual/lessons/How_does_the_additional_row_of_keys_above_the_standard_keyboard_work.html

When the keyboard is not up, the editor is in read-only mode so you only get options that don't change the text. Tap on the editor to bring up the keyboard, then select text. Now you should get "Cut" and "Paste" options. This is the same behavior as in Apple's Notes app.

I'll consider changing this behavior in an update as it seems to be confusing.

Thanks for sharing this, Dave!

Textastic offers syntax highlighting for many languages, but it doesn't include compilers or interpreters due to restrictions of iOS.

There are apps on the App Store that can execute code: Python for iOS, Codea, Kodiak come to mind. But due to the same iOS restrictions they can't offer code sharing features like FTP, Dropbox or "Open In".

Also have a look at Kodiak's FAQ section at http://www.becomekodiak.com/faq.html

CAN I IMPORT MY PROJECT INTO KODIAK PHP? WHAT ABOUT FTP AND DROPBOX SUPPORT?
In the current version we don't have FTP or Dropbox because of Apple's restrictions. They don't allow code-executing apps to also import the code. We are currently working on a solution to allow importing files.