a-Shell

Name: a-Shell
Rating: 4.5 (533 reviews)
Author: Nicolas Holzschuch

By: Nicolas Holzschuch App

*Local* Unix terminal (& ssh)

Overview

Version:

2.1.0

Last updated: 2026-07-01

Features & Capabilities

a-Shell is a complete local terminal emulator for iOS that lets you run C, C++, Python, JavaScript, and most Unix commands directly on your device with no network needed. It’s fast, well integrated with iOS, and supports multiple windows so you can run several shells in parallel, each in its own directory.

Beyond the shell, it includes networking and text-processing tools (ssh, scp, curl, nslookup, ping, grep, awk, sed), editors like vim, and Git workflows. It ships TeX Live 2025 (TikZ and LuaTeX) for document processing, and a WebAssembly SDK (WASI-libc) to compile C/C++ to WASM. It can be controlled from Shortcuts to run commands, process files, and transfer results between apps, making it a powerful all-in-one local development environment on iOS.

User Growth & Download Statistics

App Developer Tools Programming Open Source

By:

Nicolas Holzschuch

Rating:

4.50

(533) 1 new ratings

Version:

2.1.0 Last updated: 2026-07-01

Version code:

887290086

Creation date:

2019-10-25

Compatible devices:

Size:

1.90GB

URLs:

Website ,Privacy policy

Full description:

Source:

Apple Apps Store

Data ingested on:

2026-07-20

Compare stats and ranking:

Ranking

# 78,408 ▼ 2,182

Other rankings

#6 in term keyword 13 #32 in developer tools keyword 60 ▲ 25#43 in command keyword 7 ▲

For Developers

Monetize with App Pass Boost with Extension Booster

Contact the developer

Chrome-Stats does not own this Apple app. Please use these information below to contact the Apple app developer.

Developed by:

Nicolas Holzschuch

Apple Apps Store

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/a-shell/id1473805438

Website:

https://holzschu.github.io/a-Shell_iOS/

User Reviews

a-Shell is a capable all-in-one iOS shell with built-in tools and fast terminal performance, ideal for SSH and coding on iPad. Its main drawbacks are sparse documentation and a limited package/command set compared with some rivals, though active community support and ongoing development help.

Pros

All-in-one Unix-like shell with built-in tools (Python, SSH, Vim, FFmpeg, and more)
Fast, responsive terminal rendering that feels native
Excellent for SSH and coding on iPad, enabling local development, scripting, and even running a web server
Helpful documentation and an active community (GitHub and GitBook) for learning and contributing

Cons

Documentation and manuals are lacking; there is no clear in-app help or command reference
Limited out-of-the-box packages and Linux-like commands compared with some other environments

Recent reviews

I’ve seen a tutorial on YouTube that came out like last year on how to hack the game. I copied everything but it was a little different than what he was doing and I couldn’t do anything about it. Just wondering if I could get some help. But overall I like the idea of the app