a vs Packet Sender
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.
Packet Sender
This network utility allows users to send UDP, TCP, and SSL packets with mixed ASCII or HEX input. It also supports sending HTTP GET/POST requests and receiving unsolicited packets on chosen ports. Data can be copied and pasted in various formats, and desktop packets can be transferred via cloud.
- Send UDP, TCP, SSL packets
- Mixed ASCII or HEX input
- Send HTTP GET/POST requests
- Receive unsolicited packets
- Copy/Paste data in ASCII/HEX/RAW
- Transfer desktop packets via cloud
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The core features of the award-winning Packet Sender has been rewritten from scratch to provide the best possible experience on your mobile device. - Send UDP, TCP, SSL packets using mixed ASCII notation or direct HEX input. - Send HTTP GET/POST/PUT/DELETE/QUERY requests. - Receive unsolicited UDP or TCP from the built-in servers on the port of your choosing. - Copy/Paste the incoming data in ASCII/HEX/RAW formats - Transfer your desktop packets using Packet Sender Cloud
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: a at Free against Packet Sender's $1.99. a also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 43%) and update cadence (monthly vs every 8 months). Packet Sender's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.6). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
a is free to download; Packet Sender costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Packet Sender holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: a has 561 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 78% of a's written reviews are positive against 43% of Packet Sender's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
a ships an update monthly, Packet Sender every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | a | Packet Sender |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (561 ratings) | 4.8 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.3% of reviews — better | 42.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 561 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 8 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #22 — better | #80 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.9 GB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nicolas Holzschuch | NagleCode, LLC |
Customer experience
a
Packet Sender
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
Packet Sender
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
a
No in-app purchases
Packet Sender
No in-app purchases
