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diff --git a/content/blog/2024-07-11-emacs-on-ipad.md b/content/blog/2024-07-11-emacs-on-ipad.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d15ed12 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2024-07-11-emacs-on-ipad.md @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ ++++ +date = 2024-07-11T20:24:02 +title = "Emacs on iPadOS" +description = "Learn how to install and use Emacs on the Apple Silicon iPad natively." +draft = true ++++ + +This post describes the process to install and use Emacs on the iPad Air 13-inch +(M2). The iPad used in this post is running iPadOS 17.6. + +## Shell Application + +In order to use Emacs on an iPad, you will need a terminal emulator application. +I recommend [iSH](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ish-shell/id1436902243), since +it runs a version of Alpine Linux within the app itself and will allow you to +install packages that you need. + + + +## Require Packages + +I started by adding the required packages directly within iSH. Emacs should +install dependencies by default, but I include a few other packages that I use +in my terminal as well. + +```sh +apk add emacs ripgrep fd findutils +``` + + + +## Emacs + +Once this is complete, you should be able to run Emacs natively on your iPad. +It's fairly effective, but can be slow at times. + +I attempted to also install Doom Emacs, which technically worked, but was so +incredibly slow and buggy that I was not even able to take screenshots. Someone +smarter than me could likely get it to work with a little tinkering. + + + +### Annoyances + +While Emacs is running at this point, it's not perfect. There is no `.emacs` +file by default, installing a framework like Doom seemed to be too much, and +some utilities and packages are missing from the bare Alpine installation. + +There also seems to be a problem getting a wider selection of packages from +MELPA, but you can see below that a handful of readily-available packages. I +likely just need to change my configuration for MELPA, but I did not explore +this area further. + +You can test this out yourself with `M-x package-install <search-termœ>`. + + |