Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

GitHub Desktop VS Working Copy

Compare GitHub Desktop VS Working Copy and see what are their differences

GitHub Desktop logo GitHub Desktop

GitHub Desktop is a seamless way to contribute to projects on GitHub and GitHub Enterprise.

Working Copy logo Working Copy

The powerful Git client for iOS
  • GitHub Desktop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-02
  • Working Copy Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-23

GitHub Desktop features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    GitHub Desktop offers a clean, intuitive GUI that simplifies the Git process, making it accessible for beginners and less technical users.
  • Seamless GitHub Integration
    The application is tightly integrated with GitHub, allowing users to easily clone repositories, create branches, and submit pull requests directly through the desktop interface.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    GitHub Desktop is available on both Windows and macOS, offering a consistent experience across these major operating systems.
  • Simplifies Workflow
    Features like drag-and-drop to add files, visual diff tools, and easy branching help streamline the workflow for users.
  • Collaborative Features
    The app provides useful collaborative tools such as reviewing changes, creating requests, and viewing history, enhancing team productivity.

Possible disadvantages of GitHub Desktop

  • Limited Advanced Features
    While GitHub Desktop is great for basic tasks, it lacks advanced features found in other Git clients like GitKraken or the command line.
  • Dependency on GitHub
    The app is deeply integrated with GitHub, which can be limiting for users who want to interact with repositories hosted on other platforms like GitLab or Bitbucket.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report performance issues when dealing with large repositories or a significant number of files, which can hinder productivity.
  • Customization Limitations
    GitHub Desktop offers limited customization options compared to other Git clients or the command line, which may be a drawback for power users.
  • Offline Limitations
    Certain features of GitHub Desktop require an internet connection to interact with GitHub, limiting its usability in offline scenarios.

Working Copy features and specs

  • User Interface
    Working Copy features an intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes navigating through repositories, committing changes, and pushing updates seamless even for beginners.
  • File Management
    It offers robust file management capabilities, allowing users to easily view, edit, and manage files directly within the app, a crucial feature for developers on the go.
  • Integration
    Working Copy integrates well with other iOS apps and services, enabling smooth workflow transitions between different tools and platforms.
  • Support for Multiple Repositories
    The app supports multiple repositories, which is beneficial for developers who work on various projects simultaneously.
  • Offline Capabilities
    Working Copy allows users to work offline with local repositories, syncing changes when back online, enabling productivity in environments without internet access.
  • SSH Key Management
    It includes robust SSH key management, ensuring secure and streamlined authentication for remote repository access.

Possible disadvantages of Working Copy

  • Cost
    While the basic features are free, some advanced functionalities require a paid subscription, which might be a drawback for budget-conscious users.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, the abundance of features can be overwhelming for new users, leading to a steep learning curve.
  • Limited Platform
    The app is available exclusively for iOS, which restricts accessibility for developers who use other platforms like Android or Windows.
  • Performance with Large Repositories
    Some users report performance issues when handling very large repositories, affecting the app's efficiency in such scenarios.
  • Editing Capabilities
    While it offers basic editing functionalities, Working Copy lacks some of the more advanced code editing features found in dedicated code editors.

GitHub Desktop videos

GitHub Desktop 2.0 -- Easy Mode Version Control

More videos:

  • Review - GitHub Desktop Quick Intro For Windows
  • Tutorial - Git and GitHub for Beginners: GitHub basics, and how to use GitHub Desktop

Working Copy videos

Using Git on iPad with Textastic and Working Copy

More videos:

  • Review - Obsidian: Capture on iOS with Drafts and Working Copy - Effective Remote Work

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GitHub Desktop and Working Copy)
Git
83 83%
17% 17
Code Collaboration
84 84%
16% 16
Git Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Development
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GitHub Desktop and Working Copy

GitHub Desktop Reviews

Best Git GUI Clients of 2022: All Platforms Included
Creating branches and switching to existing ones isn’t a hassle, so is merging code with the master branch. Furthermore, you can track your changes with GitHub Desktop. Check out our detailed guide on how to use GitHub for more detailed information.
Boost Development Productivity With These 14 Git Clients for Windows and Mac
GitHub Desktop is the global standard for working with Git-related tasks in a graphical user interface (GUI). It is an open-source tool and hence completely free to use for all sorts of projects. It is available for both Windows and macOS desktops and laptops.
Source: geekflare.com
Best Git GUI Clients for Windows
GitHub Desktop is, perhaps, the most famous solution for working with Git in a visual interface. It is familiar to all developers keeping their repositories on GitHub (Git repository hosting service used for version-controlling IT projects). This free Git GUI is open-source, transparent, and functional. When you consider the Git graphical interface for Windows, GitHub...
Source: blog.devart.com

Working Copy Reviews

We have no reviews of Working Copy yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GitHub Desktop should be more popular than Working Copy. It has been mentiond 135 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GitHub Desktop mentions (135)

  • How to Fix the Issue of Not Being Able to View Your GitHub Account on Other Devices
    Download the latest version from the GitHub Desktop website. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • 12 Steps to Organize and Maintain Your Python Codebase for Beginners
    I’m not going to dive into Git commands here — you can find plenty of tutorials online. If you’re not a fan of using the plain terminal CLI, you can also manage repositories with tools like GitHub Desktop or SourceTree, which provide a more visual, intuitive interface. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • File Governance and Versioning in Corticon BRMS
    Using terminal commands isn’t necessary for basic adoption of Git with Corticon Studio files, though. There are various tools that will allow us to bypass the command line when defining rules, including the built-in Eclipse plugin for Git version control. If you’ll be storing your assets on GitHub, though, an even easier solution is GitHub Desktop, a free desktop software that GitHub offers. It can be used in... - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • An Introduction to Nix for Ruby Developers
    Nix currently is akin to git's "porcelain": powerful but esoteric. However, much like git evolved into exoteric, user-friendly tools such as git-flow, GitHub Desktop, and Tower to become user-friendly, many developers are building abstractions, wrappers, and utilities to simplify Nix usage. Let's briefly look at a few of these tools now. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Make your first contribution on github easily
    1.Download the github desktop. 2.Open the first contribution repository. 3.Open the github app and clone the repository. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
View more

Working Copy mentions (18)

  • 37signals Introduces Once – One time payment software
    Even better is the licensing model where you can keep using the version as-is after the subscription ends. You just don't get any new features. It's even possible to do on iOS, as Working Copy [0] is doing it. (You also get all the bug fixes and stuff, only new features are behind a flag that requires you to purchase another year of updates. I would also argue that Working Copy specifically is too cheap, but I... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • How I set up an almost fully automatic free Sync between Win, Android, iOS using Git.
    Yeah, Working Copy is a proper Git front-end which helps do safe syncing, via features such as:. Source: over 2 years ago
  • [Newbie] How could I prevent git conflicts and make this system better?
    So I have a laptop and a iPhone. On laptop I have the Obsidian.md desktop app, on iPhone I have the app and Working Copy app too. This is all for syncing my notes. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Show HN: Jot: Rapid note management for the terminal, inspired by Obsidian
    > It uses the same format of storage as Obsidian... Can Obsidian and Jot co-mingle in the same vault? I use Obsidian and am very happy with the git plugin[0] and Working Copy(iOS)[1] for keeping things automatically synced between my phone and desktop(s). Often I find myself dumping notes into random places from the terminal; feeding markdown via pipes. But I then have to remember to collect these artifacts and... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Are there any good git viewers/browsers for iOS?
    This is the only one I've heard people use: https://workingcopyapp.com/. Source: almost 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GitHub Desktop and Working Copy, you can also consider the following products

GitKraken - The intuitive, fast, and beautiful cross-platform Git client.

CodeHub - CodeHub is the most complete, unofficial, client for GitHub on the iOS platform.

SourceTree - Mac and Windows client for Mercurial and Git.

Git2Go - The Git client for iPhone and iPad you always wanted

SmartGit - SmartGit is a front-end for the distributed version control system Git and runs on Windows, Mac OS...

Git Flow - Git Flow is a very self-explanatory free software workflow for managing Git branches.