Bluetooth Terminal vs a
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bluetooth Terminal
Prototype Bluetooth LE hardware by sending and receiving data in various formats. Inspect device services, characteristics, and values. Offers features like a button matrix for control and session export.
- Send data as ASCII, HEX, or Decimal
- View device services and characteristics
- Inspect device name, UUID, and RSSI
- Button matrix for sending commands
- Export session data as CSV
- Send current time as Unix timestamp
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## Version 3 is now available ## With Bluetooth LE Terminal you can easily prototype your Bluetooth Smart enabled hardware. Send individual bytes encoded as ASCII, HEX or Decimal numbers and receive data from your hardware accessory. Test your data transfers even before having your own app! # More Features: • Send bytes as ASCII, HEX or Decimal • See device's services and characteristics and their associated values • Get information about your device such as name, UUID, and RSSI readings • Setup a button matrix (game controller) to send different data with just a tap. • Apple Watch support for button matrix • Send the current time as a unix timestamp (seconds since 1970) • Export current session as CSV • Use the app in split-view or slide-over on iPad If you have any questions about the app, or requests for features you would like to see, just write a short review or use the button inside the app to contact me! * Some features may require an optional one-time in app purchase.
a
Run a full Unix-like terminal environment on your iOS device. Execute a wide range of commands, edit files, and even program using included interpreters and compilers. Supports multitasking and integration with Shortcuts.
- Local Unix terminal emulator
- SSH client
- File transfer (scp, curl)
- Text editing (vim, ed)
- Scripting languages (Python, Lua, Perl, JS)
- C/C++ compiler
- TeX distribution
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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.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: a at 4.6 against Bluetooth Terminal's 3.3. a also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 36%) and in-app purchases (none vs 7). Bluetooth Terminal's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Bluetooth Terminal sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. a asks for nothing beyond the download.
a holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: a has 553 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 36% of Bluetooth Terminal's written reviews are positive against 78% of a's.
Bluetooth Terminal ships an update weekly, a monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bluetooth Terminal | a |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (18 ratings) | 4.6 (553 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 36.0% of reviews | 78.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 18 | 553 — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #206 | #20 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 1.9 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Lukas Pistrol | Nicolas Holzschuch |
Customer experience
Bluetooth Terminal
a
Bugs and requests
Bluetooth Terminal
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
a
Reported bugs
3 issues- Toolbar buttons not accessible in portrait mode on some devices
- Pasting from clipboard can insert unexpected characters
- Sourcing certain script files causes crashes
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for package managers like Homebrew or APT
- Implement more advanced shell features like job control and better tab completion
- Integrate Git for version control
- Allow installing additional packages and libraries
- Improve clipboard and file management integration
In-app purchases
Bluetooth Terminal
- Show RSSI Values$0.99
- Time Stamp$0.99
- Buy me 1 coffee$2.99
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- Remove Ads$5.99
- Controller Buttons$5.99
- Buy me 2 coffees$5.99
- Buy me 3 coffees$11.99
a
No in-app purchases








