Make Sidekick 2 Work Like Sidekick 1 Should

[EdJones]

Please, provide the details below:

Did you verify whether this issue has already been reported here?

_Yes/

Tell us about the problem

Sidekick 2 planning is underway, and seems to be envisioned as much larger; something of a merger with the web-based Playground.

However, SideKick 1 has not lived up to its expectations.

So, make Sidekick 2 do what Sidekick 1 promises. Punt on the other stuff, or do a parallel development.

Which platform(s) does the issue occur on?

_iOS

_Windows

Provide the following version numbers that the issue occurs with:

• **NativeScript Sidekick: 1.19.2-v.2019.11.18.2
• **NativeScript CLI: 6.3.2
• **CLI extension nativescript-cloud: 1.19.3
• **CLI extension nativescript-starter-kits: 0.3.5

How to obtain this information is explained in the Gather information about your development environment section.

Tell us how to recreate the issue in as much detail as possible

1. Start the application ..
2. Try to test/deploy an app through a brand new beginner's eyes.

OK, I love Sidekick. But!

I started with Nativescript this time last year. For 2/3 the year, I largely ignored Sidekick because, beautiful as it's UI is, it's not really very friendly if you've not previously deployed an app to Apple.

To repeat that: Beautiful as Sidekick's UI is, it's not really very friendly if you've not previously deployed an app to Apple. Nothing is really quite what you think it is. And the errors you get back don't really help. (Issue 441)

And, frankly, even after I'd set it up once, when it came time to change the app name (Apple made me) or track builds, it still wasn't very friendly. (Issue 445)

Also, once you have it set up and are on a consistent build/test rhythm, it fails to deliver A LOT. In different ways. (Issues 446, 449, 451, 452, 453, etc.)

As I said, I love Sidekick. Let's not break it. Let's fix it.

Does this issue happen every time?

_Yes

Send the client logs

How to obtain the Sidekick logs is explained in the Access the NativeScript Sidekick logs section. To share them with us, you can create a gist with the app logs and send the produced link.

[nmandyam]

The user experience leaves a LOT to be desired. I agree that it's very good - after all, I couldn't build for iOS without a Mac if there was no Sidekick. But here are some very specific problems that I hope will be fixed:

• There's no way to STOP a build once it starts. Since builds for iOS take long, long times, this is very frustrating when you're in the last stages of a dev cycle, where you're working on multiple small issues at the same time.
• The log display is TERRIBLE. You can't copy logs easily, since the Output display area behaves strangely when you select the text and scroll. You need to select smaller sections, copy-paste elsewhere, come back where you left off - generally a mess. The copy-to-clipboard works, yes, but why do I need the WHOLE thing when I'm trying to sort out one particular issue?
• There's no Search on the logs. This is a critical issue, since (like @EdJones says above), the errors reported are useless and mindlessly confusing (thank you, Apple).
• Failures tell us nothing about why. "Failed to ...", then the blinking blue button for long minutes after. Compounding the frustration of not knowing with that of not being able to do anything yet.
• There's no reference anywhere about having to read on Github that we need to "clean the workspace" to get past frustrating infrastructure issues. So we learn that only after a search and clicking through multiple posts by others, finally to stumble on that little nugget.

But regardless all these things, it DOES give us options that do not exist elsewhere, specifically in terms of iOS development. Thank you for that!

[EdJones]

@nmandyam, thank you so much for chiming in. I was beginning to think I'm the only one having all these issues!

[EdJones]

@NickIliev, thanks. I guess I chafe at the "Enhancement" label here. Yes, I'm calling for some UI redesign. But also for the damn thing to just work.

I've been struggling all of January just to run a few very simple code changes on my iPhone.