Help

The Help tab is a built-in R documentation browser. Search for any function, package, or topic and read its full help page without leaving the app.

R Documentation Browser

Type a function or topic into the search bar. Search takes what you type literally, so operators such as [[ or + work too.

Help tab on iPhone showing the search bar and empty documentation browser

Help tab on iPhone in dark mode showing the search bar

Help tab on iPad showing the search bar and empty documentation browser

Help tab on iPad in dark mode showing the search bar

Viewing Help Pages

Each help page follows R’s standard documentation layout. Here is what you see when you look up a function like mean:

Help page for mean() on iPhone showing title, description, usage, and arguments sections

Help page for mean() on iPhone in dark mode

Help page for mean() on iPad showing full documentation with title, description, usage, arguments, and examples

Help page for mean() on iPad in dark mode

A typical help page includes these sections:

  • Title and package badge: the function name and which package it belongs to (e.g., mean {base}).
  • Description: a brief summary of what the function does.
  • Usage: the function signature showing all arguments and their defaults.
  • Arguments: a detailed explanation of each parameter.
  • Details: additional information about behavior, edge cases, and related functions.
  • Examples: runnable code showing the function in action. Tap Run to run them in the Console.

Pages also show Value (what the function returns), Format, Note, Author(s), Source and References where they exist. Tables, as in ?mtcars or ?Syntax, are drawn in aligned columns, and web links are tappable.

The … menu copies the topic name, the usage, the examples or the page’s raw text. Done closes the page.

Accessing Help from the Console

You can open help pages directly from the Console using R’s built-in help syntax:

  • ?mean or help(mean) opens the help page for mean().
  • ?stats::median or ?dplyr::filter opens that package’s page, loaded or not. If the package isn’t installed, R says “there is no package called” in the Console.
  • Topics with dots, such as ?read.csv, work. A topic with no help page prints an error in the Console.
  • ?dplyr shows the package index page listing all its functions.

In the iPad 4-Pane Workspace, help opens in the Help pane. On iPhone, and on iPad with Sidebar Navigation, it opens as a sheet over the Console. The Help tab keeps your page when you switch panes or layouts.

Help page for the mean function opened from the Console on iPhone

Help page for the mean function opened from the Console on iPhone in dark mode

Package index page listing a package's functions on iPhone

Package index page listing a package's functions on iPhone in dark mode

Help page for stats::median opened from the Console with ?stats::median on iPhone

Help page for stats::median opened from the Console with ?stats::median on iPhone in dark mode

Help page for the mean function opened from the Console on iPad

Help page for the mean function opened from the Console on iPad in dark mode

Package index page listing a package's functions on iPad

Package index page listing a package's functions on iPad in dark mode

Help page for stats::median opened from the Console with ?stats::median on iPad

Help page for stats::median opened from the Console with ?stats::median on iPad in dark mode

Use ?package_name to browse a package’s full function index. This is a quick way to discover what a package offers.