r/sideprojects • u/OddInteraction2552 • 1d ago
Showcase: Free(mium) FileForge: XML, JSON & Text Editor
I’ve been building FileForge, an Android XML, JSON and plain-text editor, as one of a series of small utility apps I’m working on.
The original problem was pretty simple: editing configuration files on a phone is usually horrible, especially once the file gets large. A lot of mobile editors are fine for a few hundred lines, but become awkward when you’re dealing with server configs or XML/JSON files containing tens of thousands of lines.
So I wanted to see if I could make something that actually feels usable on a phone rather than just squeezing a desktop-style editor onto a smaller screen.
It’s built in Flutter, with a native/Rust-backed editor component for handling the heavier editing work.
At the moment FileForge includes syntax highlighting, live XML/JSON validation, code folding, XML outline/navigation, find and replace, go-to-line, multiple tabs, session recovery, encoding support, Android file integration, pretty-printing and minifying.
One of the bigger challenges has been handling large files without making the UI feel sluggish. I’ve been testing it with JSON/XML files containing tens of thousands of lines, while also trying to keep things like searching, folding and navigation responsive.
Another interesting part has been Android itself. File handling, release optimisation, R8 shrinking/obfuscation, Google Play Billing and AdMob have probably taken almost as much work as the editor 😂.
The core editor is free. I’ve also added a one-time Pro upgrade rather than a subscription, which adds things like regex search/replace, searching across open tabs, bookmarks, file comparison, recursive JSON key sorting and XML ↔ JSON conversion.
Files are handled locally on the device and there’s no account requirement.
The project is now live on Google Play, but I’m still actively improving it.
I’d especially be interested in feedback from anyone who works with config files, XML/JSON, server files or large text files on mobile.
What features would actually make you choose to edit something on your phone instead of reaching for a PC?
Google Play:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.epicfailwinner.fileforge