a vs SeeLess
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
SeeLess
This app provides a C Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for iOS devices. It allows users to write and compile C code using the clang compiler, generating LLVM IR for execution. Manage your coding projects with an integrated file browser.
- C IDE for iOS
- Clang compiler
- LLVM IR generation
- File browser for project management
- Link multiple objects into one executable
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SeeLess is a C IDE for iOS. SeeLess allows you to code commands with C and install them in LibTerm. The compiler used to compile programs is clang. Clang generates bitcode with -S -emit-llvm flags that can be executed with lli command. Also contains llvm-link so multiple objects can be linked into one "executable". This app consists in a file browser for managing projects. Projects are packages with C sources and configuration files.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: a at Free against SeeLess's $2.99. a also leads on ratings volume (553 vs 10) and update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). On rating, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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
a is free to download; SeeLess costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for a against 4.5 for SeeLess. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: a has 553 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of a's written reviews are positive against 80% of SeeLess's.
a ships an update monthly, SeeLess every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | a | SeeLess |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (553 ratings) — better | 4.5 (10 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 553 — better | 10 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #20 — better | #100 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.9 GB | 371 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nicolas Holzschuch | Develobile S.p.A. |
Customer experience
a
SeeLess
Bugs and 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
SeeLess
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
a
No in-app purchases
SeeLess
No in-app purchases
