Arduino's Cloud Overhaul Brings a New Unified Cloud Editor, with the "Classic Arduino IDE" Feel
New editor available now, with a mandatory switchover at the end of March — and includes support for all Arduino-compatible devices.
Arduino has announced a unification of its cloud-based integrated development environment (IDE), introducing a new Cloud Editor that combines its simplified user interface and full editors into a single offering — designed to match the offline editor in features and functionality.
"Imagine that you can start your project without having to deal with any annoying setups or maintenance headaches. Imagine that you’re free to work from wherever you want. Well, that’s the vibe of our new Cloud Editor," the Arduino team claims of its latest release. "We've made the whole development experience way smoother, so you can forget about the boring techy stuff and just focus on bringing your ideas to life."
The new Cloud Editor is set to take over from the previous two distinct editors, one of which aimed for a simpler user interface. The new unified editor, by contrast, takes its inspiration from the offline editor — providing what the Arduino team calls a "classic Arduino IDE experience" in the browser.
Just like the offline version the new Cloud Editor offers a Library Manager for automatic discovery and installation of libraries, a better serial monitor with support for downloading complete session logs and per-line timestamping, and includes support for any Arduino-compatible device — whether said device can be used in the wider Arduino Cloud ecosystem or not. Sketches are saved to the same cloud storage as previous editors, and all existing sketches will be immediately available — while folder creation makes it easier to organize multiple sketches.
The release comes as the latest in what the Arduino team has positioned as a major refresh of the company's cloud services, which started with a new user interface and revamped sketchbook for the Arduino Cloud in November and the release of a new mobile app with push notification support in December.
It's also a mandatory upgrade, though one users can choose to put off temporarily: anyone accessing the existing cloud editors will be prompted to make the switch immediately, the Arduino team has confirmed, but can choose to delay doing so until the end of March — after which the existing editors will be retired.
The Arduino Cloud Editor is now available across all platforms, bar Google's Chromebook range. "We will announce Chromebook support as soon as it is ready," the Arduino team says.