If you work with text files daily perhaps you'd like to take a look at Helium - which stands for Highlight Editor with LIght-weight rUntime environMent. So, basically it is a text editor with support for many file types. It has gone through many tweaks and changes in the time I've been preparing for this article, so it's an app that has very good support.

You can create files right from within the app, and you can also open existing files. Just navigate to the file from within File Manager, tap it and it opens up in Helium. From there you can start editing straight away. When in edit mode, it uses different colored text to highlight different parts of code, as you would get with many desktop text editors, so that's always handy at a glance. You can then Run the file to see a preview of it.

The app is simple to use and most recently a tab feature was added so that you could work with project folders, making it easier to access files.

Helium Menu

Helium supports a whole host of text files such as HTML, Markdown, PHP, Javascript, SQL, XML, Ruby, SML, Perl, CSS, C Sharp, CPP and lots, lots more. Other features include:

  • Work in tabs - Open multiple files at once and easily switch between them. Or open the same file in different tabs and refer to its different parts.
  • Syntax highlight based on file type - Helium supports syntax highlight in real time for over 50 filetypes: ada, applescript, asm, awk, bat, bib, bison, c, caml, changelog, clipper, cobol, coffeescript, conf, cpp, csharp, css, d, desktop, diff, erlang, flex, fortran, glsl, haskell, haskell_literate, haxe, html, java, javascript, latex, ldap, lilypond, lisp, log, logtalk, lua, m4, makefile, manifest, markdown, pascal, perl, php, postscript, prolog, python, ruby, scala, scheme, sh, slang, sml, sql, tcl, texinfo, vbscript, xml
  • Mod-key shortcuts while editing - Miss Ctrl-S for saving a file quickly on your PC? Well, in Helium, you can do that by pressing Enter-S (hit S while holding Enter). Likewise, Enter+T lets you insert a tab, whereas Enter+D deletes the current line. Almost everything in Helium has a keyboard shortcut, and most of them can be used as key-chords when you are busily typing away in the editor.
  • Undo and redo - So no more worrying about losing changes.
  • Regex find and replace - Full Perl-style regular expressions in find. Capturing groups in replace. Hooray.
  • Executing scripts or previewing markdown/html - Run Python and shell scripts directly from the editor, or preview html, javascript or markdown in a web page. Best of all, Helium knows which of these to run based on file types, so all you have to do is pressing a button.
  • 4 color schemes and 20+ fonts - Helium includes popular color schemes such as summer fruit and Tomorrow. It also ships with some of the best fonts, such as Dejavu Mono and Times New Roman.
  • Zero interruption - Never wait for a file to be saved into your Dropbox again. Helium is good at multi-threading - that means saving files in background, highlighting each document in a different routine, and not getting into your way so that you can keep on with your work for as long as possible.
Helium Overflow Menu

Helium is available for all BlackBerry 10 smartphones and will cost you $8.99. It might be a bit pricey for some but you can check out the video above for a quick hands-on with the app before deciding to drop some cash. With the amount of file types it supports as well as how smooth everything works, I'd say it's worth it, especially if you work with such files regularly. This allows you to work on the go. And as I've said, the developer has been has been very active with updates and responding to feedback.

Learn more / Download Helium from BlackBerry World

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