Comparison

a vs CV Mec

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full 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.

About

CV Mec

Features
Read full description

The CV-MEC application is designed to demonstrate how a mobile phone can integrate with existing connected vehicle technologies using the Verizon ETX platform. The CV-MEC app serves two main purposes, the first is to act as a debugging utility for analyzing latency and message traffic on the verizon ETX. The second is to graphically show received message data such as vehicle positions and traffic light states from Connected intersections. The application is capable of receiving multiple connected vehicle data types from the Verizon ETX such as Intersection Geometry Messages (MAP), Signal Phase and Timing information (SPaT), Traveller Information Messages (TIM) and Basic Safety Messages (BSM). Based upon the messages received the APP can then show the received Messages graphically on a map allowing users to quickly debug message data. Additionally, by integrating the users GPS position. The app can allow users to interact with connected intersections in real time and simulate what the interaction between users and connected intersections may look like. The target audience of this application is developers and implementers of Connected Vehicle Technologies .

Screenshots

a4 screens
CV Mec3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is chart position: a at #18 against CV Mec's unranked. CV Mec's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 9 level
a versus CV Mec: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteraCV Mec
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (553 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings553 — better—
Update frequencyMonthly—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#18 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.9 GB36 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperNicolas HolzschuchNeaera Consulting Group, LLC.

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

CV Mec

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

a

No in-app purchases

None

CV Mec

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is a free?
a is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CV Mec free?
CV Mec is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do a or CV Mec have ads?
Neither a nor CV Mec shows ads.

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