"What would you like to see in The Next Chip?" A somewhat dangerous question to ask, as most people are going to think of their own goals, and try to cram every known peripheral in and the kitchen sink in as well. Some things are better left as add on components because typically thats all they do, ...

There is a post here by rudi ;-) that talks about it: https://www.esp32.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1408&p=6568&hilit=gpio32#p6568 Specifically here in that post: you need first to clear the base bits if you want to use the GPIO32 and GPIO33 as the general GPIO REG_CLR_BIT(RTC_IO_XTAL_32K_PAD_REG, RTC_...

Are you using the Wrover or the Wroom ?
Do you plan on using JTAG ?

I dont use JTAG, and am using 12,13,14,15 for SPI. 4&5 for I2C, & GPIO2 for controlling a relay with no issues.

You pin selection for serial programming is correct. Should you need an off the shelf programmer you could use one of these. http://www.electrodragon.com/product/esp-prog-board-for-esp8266-esp32/ Or should you choose to program the modules before they are placed in your board, you can program them w...

I have a couple of those, and yes that is actually a great idea. No need to re-invent the wheel.

I was referring til JTag, which by "google" it seems to be possible, but not recommended.

Glad you have it figured out, but I wanted to clarify this for others that may see this post.
There is nothing wrong at all programming it with JTAG.

Just trying to get a vibe on if creating a ESP32 Pocket Programmer would be a good venture or not. We have used these for many years on the production floor, and for infield updates for Atmel products. http://npe-inc.com/pocket-programmer/ Basically you upload your firmware to the programmer, connec...

but I have now read several places that this is not supported/recommended with ESP32.

Where did you see that ?

How about the ESP32 Programming Tool ?

If what Kolban says does not work, and your sure you have the right com port. Try sticking a 0.1uf -0.22uf from pin 3 (EN) to gnd.

Try sticking a 0.1uf -0.22uf from pin 3 (EN) to gnd.