2026-03-09
Typing blanks
Typing in my ssh session makes blank characters. Same with mini. Hasn’t been fixed for ages now.
Updating
+2
#20 in Top Free Apps > Developer Tools
+3
#25 in Top Free iPad Apps > Developer Tools
iPhone Screenshots
iPad Screenshots
Description
a-Shell is a complete local terminal emulator, allowing to run most Unix commands on your iOS device. You can transfer files using scp and curl, edit them with vim and ed, process them using grep, awk and sed. You can work with git repositories using lg2.
Most commands are compiled for iOS native Arm64 format, making them fast and well integrated with the BSD Unix that powers iOS/iPadOS.
a-Shell includes Python, Lua, Perl, JavaScript, C, C++ for programming and TeX (texlive 2025, with Tikz and LuaTeX) for text processing.
There are also multiple network utilities: nslookup, ping, whois, ifconfig... Type help for help, help -l to get the full list of commands.
a-Shell can be controlled from Shortcuts: run commands in order, process files in a-Shell, get the results as text or files, transfer files to other apps...
a-shell uses iOS 13+ “multiple windows” ability, so you can run multiple shells at the same time, with different commands, in different directories. You can edit a file in one window with vim and process it in the other with python.
Compile your C or C++ programs to webAssembly using clang or clang++, and execute the resulting binary. A complete webAssembly SDK is included (WASI-libc).
a-Shell is the complete version. If you need a smaller app, and you don't need a C compiler, a TeX engine, or numpy and matplotlib, there is a-Shell mini.
What's New in Version 1.17.5
Fixes multiple issues with libgit2. This should fix the case where lg2 crashes randomly.
Seller
Name
Nicolas Holzschuch
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
1.17.5
Size
1,992.3 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated 17+ for the following:
Unrestricted Web Access
Compatibility
iOS 14.0 or later
Devices
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16e, iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, iPhone 17e, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro, iPad Pro (Cellular), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch) (Cellular), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air (Cellular), iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 (Cellular), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini Retina, iPad mini Retina (Cellular), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 (Cellular), iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 (Cellular), iPad mini (5th Generation), iPad mini (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (7th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (9th Generation), iPad (9th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (6th Generation), iPad mini (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (5th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (10th generation), iPad (10th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M5) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M5) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air11M4, iPad Air11M4Cellular, iPad Air13M4, iPad Air13M4Cellular, iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation)
Languages
English, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish
App Store: Customer Ratings
Ratings & Reviews
4.7 of 5 (58 Ratings)
App Store: Customer Reviews
2025-09-24
Great app responsive developer!
I purchased this app for quick commands on the phone on the go. I was looking for the CTRL key and developer promptly supported. Thank you and love the app!!
2025-07-01
Clean
I love the no-nonsense approach of giving us a cli, and it seems fast. I just wish git were available.
2024-10-07
nothing works for me
i tried to run a kivy program in python. installing kivy package with pip is ok. but running the program gives Permission error. the program runs ok with pycharm/vc code on macbook pro. the problem occurred when handling the following
from kivy.app import App
a-shell also does not have a easy way to copy/paste between in ipad dir and a-shell dir
2024-06-17
No rick roll
Amazing app but I can’t use “curl ascii.live/rick” without internet
2023-08-02
Excellent Tool Only One Issue
This app is so useful and a good shell for iOS.
The only issue I have is sometimes when using the directional arrows and paste button it inserts weird characters like OA and OC OB or it inserts like [ and ~ when pressing paste which looks familiar to what happens when you use Ctrl V for paste instead of Ctrl Shift V in Linux which inserts weird sets of characters.
2023-05-08
Great terminal app
Very versatile and powerful app
2023-04-23
Amazing shell for iPad
Very happy with this shell. Some hiccups are unavoidable but overall quite happy. I am trying to learn more command line stuff and my laptop recently gave up on me. This has been a lifesaver!!
2023-04-21
Definitely A best shell for iOS
This app is amazing.
Best Python compiler among free apps.
2023-01-24
Great for Python
This is a great tool to run Python directly on your iPad. As long as the programs are text based and us standard libraries (sans tk) you can do a lot of stuff. Really very handy. Thanks for such a great tool.
2022-01-03
Omg!!! REALLY???
This app is truely amazing. The ios Shortcut support opens up a world of possibilities for me. Thank you so much!
2021-02-17
Great!
Good work. Gives the IPad another layer of productivity.
2020-11-09
Decent Shell experience
At last, a decent Shell for iOS!