You may want to consider making the dash/color/fill tappable, instead of relying on the tiny disclosure button. It would definitely speed up access to those features.
I thought about this a little more Considering the amount of attention that specific software licenses get with regards to choosing software, I think it's not so uncommon to want to be philosophically in line with your app of hooves developer.
You're right, that is absolutely the most important thing. But as we've seen with TM, the way the project is run is really important too. It's a totally self-centered sentiment to say I wish my editor development to be exclusive to my platform, but it would certainly result in a better app for me to use.
Luckily my preferences have nothing to do with the outcome, much like the weather.
That we're having this discussion about a text editor that hasn't seen a real release in around six years (not counting the TM2 beta) is a testament to the enthusiasm. I'm hopeful and optimistic.
While flat files are a good thing, that doesn't preclude having a good interface in your app that lets you edit them. Furthermore, that is not an unfair expectation for an app that wants to be considered a good Mac citizen.
The last bit is in response to the parent post by frou_dh:
I feel ST2 is healthily past "good enough" as a Mac application.
> ST2 is native enough for me and cross-platform should be on the list of every programmer's requirements for a text editor.
I used to feel this way. I worked really hard to make all my configs and editors act the same across OS X and a few unix platforms. Then one day I woke up and decided I just wanted to work with the best editor on the best platform. (Both personal, subjective opinions, of course.) And that choice has worked out great for me.
When I was first looking at Sublime Text and I saw it as a disadvantage when I noticed they had Windows version. I don't mean to come across as smug, I just mean that I fundamentally feel that OS X is a lot better than Windows. (A personal opinion.) My point is that I need to be philosophically aligned with my editor's developer. And if they have chosen to support Windows, they could have spent that time pushing the OS X app forward, which doesn't align with my position. I want the best editor possible, not the best editor on every platform.
The other way I look at it is to applaud their ambition and results with creating a great cross platform editor. I think cross platform software is incredibly important, but I would paradoxically prefer my editor was not. In other words, I'm glad that ST exists, but I don't it's for me.
> I tried Textmate many times, but single-character undo was always unforgivable.
I've heard this complaint before. On the other hand, I can't forgive multi-character undo. I think it's just user preference.
Furthermore, I still use TM1 all day every day. When people call it sub-par or compare its features to other editors it often reminds me of the checklists comparing the first iPhone to other (crappy) phones at the time. You can check all the boxes you want, but if the product doesn't get the details right it doesn't matter. TM isn't for everyone, but it's certainly for me, and I shopped around. (I don't mean to imply all other editors are crap.)
edit: I'm a life long Mac user, 15 year emacs user. I think it has a lot of appeal to non-switchers. That said, it definitely rode the Rails wave.
You may want to consider making the dash/color/fill tappable, instead of relying on the tiny disclosure button. It would definitely speed up access to those features.
edit: It feels a little naked without pinch-zoom.