[HN Gopher] Show HN: Selectable - mobile-friendly Postgres client
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       Show HN: Selectable - mobile-friendly Postgres client
        
       Author : yen223
       Score  : 53 points
       Date   : 2024-09-18 20:23 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (getselectable.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (getselectable.com)
        
       | yen223 wrote:
       | I've built Selectable - a freemium Postgres client for Android
       | devices. It's currently available for open testing, links below.
       | 
       | The key feature is the SQL query editor. The query editor was
       | designed to be mobile-friendly. With autocomplete and a touch-
       | friendly way to select parts of a SQL query, writing SQL
       | statements with the query editor can - in some cases - be faster
       | than typing the same query on a desktop.
       | 
       | The app supports the usual SQL client things:
       | 
       | - Browsing schemas, tables, and columns
       | 
       | - Running custom SQL statements
       | 
       | - Viewing results as a list, or as a table.
       | 
       | - Exporting results to CSV
       | 
       | - Saving queries (You can save one query in the free version)
       | 
       | The project is in very early stages, and is still missing a lot
       | of features - notably the ability to insert, update, delete, or
       | perform DDL via the query editor.
       | 
       | The app currently only supports Postgres, and is currently only
       | available on Android.
       | 
       | Please give it a spin, and let me know if you have any feedback
       | or feature requests.
       | 
       | Website: https://getselectable.com/
       | 
       | Play store:
       | https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.weiyen.sel...
        
         | jayknight wrote:
         | I'm not sure I'll ever need this, but it looks really neat.
        
         | dandigangi wrote:
         | Full honesty - I really have a hard time seeing the need for
         | things like this on mobile.
        
           | danirod wrote:
           | I suppose having quick access to a database in case of
           | emergency without having to rush to a computer, similar to
           | how some people treat having SSH clients on their phones.
        
           | yen223 wrote:
           | This is a very fair point.
           | 
           | I'm not trying to replace desktops with mobile here. I think
           | database administration is still going to be easier with a
           | big monitor and a keyboard, and that's not going to change.
           | 
           | Rather I'm trying to open up database administration to
           | people who don't have desktops, or who are more comfortable
           | working on their phones.
        
             | MrLeap wrote:
             | You might be a little ahead of the times, but I think
             | you're keyed into something with this.
        
             | nkrisc wrote:
             | Or sometimes a phone is what you have and you need access.
             | 
             | Looks like very nice UI model, it's not an easy problem to
             | solve. Also one of the few times a portrait YT video is
             | wholly appropriate.
        
         | ilrwbwrkhv wrote:
         | Really slick! Will try it out today.
        
       | d_watt wrote:
       | Interesting project, I could see a use case for emerging markets
       | where people don't have laptops. Maybe also include a local PG
       | like https://supabase.com/blog/postgres-wasm for being able to
       | play around with PG educationally with no required remote server?
       | 
       | For professional use cases, maybe if you're on call and need to
       | access the DB over your phone (though I hope I'm never in that
       | spot). Having documentation around network model - do you relay
       | queries through your own backend - and the security model for
       | data and credentials. Do you support any secure connection
       | methods, like SSH tunnel, or does the PG need to be facing the
       | public internet?
        
         | zie wrote:
         | Postgres has secure connection methods, including client and
         | server TLS cert authentication.
         | 
         | You could also hide it behind tailscale/nebula or some other
         | VPN thing.
        
         | yen223 wrote:
         | > Maybe also include a local PG like
         | https://supabase.com/blog/postgres-wasm for being able to play
         | around with PG educationally with no required remote server?
         | 
         | I did not know about wasm-postgres, thanks!
         | 
         | > Having documentation around network model - do you relay
         | queries through your own backend - and the security model for
         | data and credentials. Do you support any secure connection
         | methods, like SSH tunnel, or does the PG need to be facing the
         | public internet?
         | 
         | There's no backend, the app opens a connection directly to the
         | database. Credentials are stored on-device. No data will ever
         | be shipped to a third-party without user consent, and I will
         | never change this. (This is a large part of why I haven't put
         | in any "AI" features yet.)
         | 
         | The app currently does not support SSH tunneling. This is
         | something I will be working on soon.
         | 
         | Also fair point on the documentation. There's currently 0 docs
         | around the app, and I'm not proud of that.
        
       | neveroddoreven wrote:
       | I was just thinking about how a mobile client for an RDB would be
       | cool to try for tracking workouts. There are plenty of CRUD apps
       | for this but there is always some feature missing, whereas here
       | you could customize to your delight.
       | 
       | I wonder what other apps are just RDB wrappers that could almost
       | be substituted with something like this.
       | 
       | Thanks for sharing!
        
       | danirod wrote:
       | What connection methods does it currently support? Can it do SSH
       | tunneling?
        
         | yen223 wrote:
         | Not at the moment. SSH tunneling is on the roadmap
        
       | l5870uoo9y wrote:
       | The omnipresence of Postgres is impressive.
        
       | elorm wrote:
       | I've had to quickly access a dB from through the Termius mobile
       | app one time, and it wasn't an experience I'd like to repeat,
       | unless it's a really dire situation.
       | 
       | Fancy seeing a full-blown mobile Postgres editor. I can
       | definitely see a few use cases but I'm curious whether your
       | average Db admin or data engineer will be interested in using a
       | tool like this.
        
       | samaysharma wrote:
       | I've seen a few Postgres clients pop-up on HN recently. A recent
       | example is: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41563100
       | 
       | Also, several Postgres providers now also provide a SQL editor /
       | runner and table visualizer in their UI.
       | 
       | What do Postgres users here think is the biggest missing thing in
       | current clients? Are they too heavyweight? Too generic and don't
       | support advanced Postgres features? Don't look modern enough? Not
       | mobile friendly? Or is it something else?
        
         | yen223 wrote:
         | I think people just really like Postgres, and like building
         | tooling for it. Postgres is particularly easy to work with,
         | thanks to its extensive documentation and its code being open-
         | source.
        
       | henryzhou wrote:
       | why do you need to query this on mobile?
        
       | fellowniusmonk wrote:
       | It's always great to see new mobile apps that are text
       | first/structured text interfaces/ide's on mobile, UI
       | considerations in the space are still woefully underexplored.
        
         | yen223 wrote:
         | If there are any Lisp/Emacs people reading this, I think
         | structural editing can work really well on touch devices.
        
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