Secure Terminal vs Hexer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Secure Terminal
This application provides secure remote access to servers via SSH and Telnet. It supports various authentication methods, terminal emulations, and file transfer protocols. Advanced features like SFTP and port forwarding are available through an in-app purchase.
- SSH & Telnet connection
- Password & key authentication
- SFTP file transfer
- xterm-256color emulation
- Key generation
- Port forwarding
- Customizable terminal
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SSH Terminal to access multiple SSH server, with full support of "xterm-256color" emulation. Base Features: • SSH connection with password or key authentication: DSA, RSA, ECDSA, Ed25519 (OpenSSH format & Putty PPK) • SSH Agent • Key generation (RSA, ECDSA, Ed25519) • Support for FIDO key (iPhone NFC only) • Secure Enclave Key • Support for Sixel, iTerm2 image, ZModem and Trzsz protocols • Connection params are safely stored on Keychain • Connection history & localization • Connection through SSH proxy • Connection with Telnet protocol • External keyboard support • Terminal colors customization • Multiple font size • Image background • User font choice (fixed width only) • Pointer/Mouse support PRO Features (require in-app purchase): • Upload/Download files through SFTP • Port forwarding • Local text editor • Store unlimited connections • Files plugin support • Shortcuts support • Commands snippet • Hosts Status Dashboard • SFTP Commander • XWindow (iPad only)
Hexer
Inspect any file with a powerful hex viewer designed for iOS and iPadOS. Features include customizable color highlighting, advanced search and analysis tools, and seamless integration with the Files app for easy access to your documents.
- Customizable byte highlighting
- Advanced search with regex
- File signature detection
- Integer decoding
- Keyboard navigation
- Integration with Files app
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Hexer is a desktop level hex viewer packed with features. It was developed from the ground up for iOS and iPadOS. It is natural and intuitive to use for everyone. It is integrated with the Files app. So you can browse Dropbox, Google Drive, your git repositories, your downloads, your documents in iCloud Drive or your desktop. Or you can just share any file to it. Bytes are highlighted in different colors: Printable characters are cyan, spaces blue, null bytes grey, control characters pink and so on. The colors appear across the binary, hexadecimal, and ascii column — or can just be turned off completely. ▶ Many advanced options • Many popular themes from text editors and terminals • Line numbers (offsets) • Overscroll • Complete control over the formatting of what you copy or share • Column counts in powers of two (8 bytes, 16, 32, ...) or in any number that fits • Interpret bytes as ASCII, ISO Latin 1 or EBCDIC • The UI is navigable by keyboard and there are keyboard shortcuts to toggle almost everything • Further features for you to discover ▶ Search • Search for content in the hexadecimal, ASCII or binary column • Preview results with context and jump to and highlight them in the document • Filter results with Regular Expression and based on case sensitivity • Jump between results with arrow keys ▶ Analysis • Get information about the selection or the entire document • Decode to integers • See byte frequencies • See detected file signatures (magic numbers) • Read metadata like creation date and Unix permissions ▶ The App is made by a real person out of love When you buy the app (no hidden in app purchases) the money goes straight to me to support development. If you have any questions or feature requests you can just write me an email and let me know. I will continue development with many more planned features like editing. ▶ The App is friendly There are no in app purchases, ads, tracking, nor is there any data collected. You buy it once and then use it. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Secure Terminal at Free against Hexer's $3.99. Secure Terminal also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 10 months) and rating (4.5 vs 4.1). Hexer's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#70 vs unranked). On ratings volume, ads and device support 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
Secure Terminal is free to download; Hexer costs $3.99 up front. Secure Terminal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Hexer asks for nothing beyond the download.
Secure Terminal holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 62 and 26 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Secure Terminal's written reviews are positive against 63% of Hexer's.
Secure Terminal ships an update every 3 weeks, Hexer every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Secure Terminal | Hexer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (62 ratings) — better | 4.1 (26 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.9% of reviews — better | 62.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 62 — better | 26 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 10 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #70 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 195 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Filippo Maguolo | Hans Schulein |
Customer experience
Secure Terminal
Hexer
Bugs and requests
Secure Terminal
Reported bugs
14 issues- SFTP cannot be opened when using a proxy server to connect to SSH
- Backspace clears the entire line, hiding the current working directory
- App crashes during docker compose pull with ZSH and ohmyzsh
- FaceID authenticates only once per app execution
- File transfer adds single quotes to the beginning and end of filenames
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- Password input is case-insensitive, causing login failures
- Background mode loses connections within ~30 seconds
- Slide-up toolbar covers the bottom line of text when using an external keyboard
- Pro features not working after app was offloaded/reloaded
- App crashes frequently
- Cannot log in to remote servers without a password
- External keyboard shortcuts sometimes stop working
- Background color change not working
- Cannot insert copied password into Linux terminal
Requested features
19 requests- Allow adding more than one connection in free version
- Improve UI/UX for better intuitiveness
- Provide clear documentation for Port Forwarding
- Add ability to format/prettify command snippets in clipboard/saved commands
- Keep theme full dark and add plain simple b&w icon
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- Make password input case-sensitive
- Fix FaceID authentication to be more robust
- Allow login to servers without passwords
- Add option to place connection shortcuts on the main screen
- Support background mode for persistent connections
- Improve handling of symbolic links
- Add Agent SSH functionality
- Allow storage of multiple named keys
- Make app protected by FaceID/TouchID on launch
- Access iOS password manager for SSH keys
- Remove bottom keyboard bar
- Improve handling of external keyboard shortcuts
- Add a way to cancel connections more clearly
- Make the main screen less blank and improve 'connect' button placement for single-handed use
Hexer
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Secure Terminal
- PRO FEATURE$4.99
Hexer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Secure Terminal free?
Is Hexer free?
Which has better reviews, Secure Terminal or Hexer?
Do Secure Terminal or Hexer have ads?
Which is updated more often, Secure Terminal or Hexer?
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