# a vs daily.dev

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: a at none against daily.dev's 10. a also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.6 vs 4.3). daily.dev's advantage is update cadence (every 11 days vs monthly). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. daily.dev sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. a asks for nothing beyond the download.

a holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: a has 575 ratings behind it against 41, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of a's written reviews are positive against 68% of daily.dev's.

a ships an update monthly, daily.dev every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | a | daily.dev |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (575 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/a-shell/id1473805438/reviews)** | [4.3 (41 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dailydev-ai-and-tech-news-feed/id6740634400/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **575** | 41 |
| Positive reviews | **78.4% of reviews** | 68.4% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 11 days** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#26** | #179 |
| Size | 2.1 GB | 21 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 16.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Nicolas Holzschuch](https://appshunter.io/developer/1450994948) | [Daily Dev Ltd](https://appshunter.io/developer/1790892594) |

## What reviewers say

### a

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/a-shell/id1473805438)

**Currently charting:** #26 Top Free · Developer Tools (US App Store)

This app provides a local Unix terminal emulator for iOS devices, enabling users to run various Unix commands, edit files, and process data. It includes support for multiple programming languages and network utilities, with integration for iOS Shortcuts and multi-window functionality.

**Highlights:** Local Unix terminal emulator, Run Unix commands, File transfer (scp, curl), Text editing (vim, ed), Programming languages (Python, Lua, C), Network utilities (ping, nslookup), iOS Shortcuts integration

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Powerful terminal with Linux commands
- 👍 Useful for programming and development
- 🔒 Secure and reliable
- 💡 Impressive capabilities for an iOS app
- 👍 Helpful documentation and developer support

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Limited customization options
- 🔍 Missing some basic terminal features
- 🔍 Compatibility issues with certain packages

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


### daily.dev

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dailydev-ai-and-tech-news-feed/id6740634400)

**Currently charting:** #179 Top Free · Developer Tools (US App Store)

Stay updated with the latest in tech and AI through a personalized feed of articles, newsletters, and videos from over 2,000 sources. Discover trending topics, engage with a developer community, and save content for later.

**Highlights:** Personalized feed from 2,000+ sources, AI-powered content curation, TLDR summaries for quick skimming, Community discussions and upvotes, Save articles and bookmarks, Cross-platform sync with web and extensions, Developer API for agents

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly | $9.99 | per month |
| Annual | $89.99 | per year |
| 100 Cores | $1.49 | one-time |
| 300 Cores | $4.49 | one-time |
| 600 Cores | $8.99 | one-time |
| 1,200 Cores | $17.99 | one-time |
| 8,000 Cores | $114.99 | one-time |
| 25,000 Cores | $364.99 | one-time |
| 50,000 Cores | $549.00 | one-time |
| 100,000 Cores | $999.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Best dev platform
- 👍 Awesome App
- 👍 Fantastic collection of great articles
- 👍 Highly Recommended
- 👍 Must have for software developers

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Bit Buggy
- 🐛 Passkey flow not working
- 🔒 Suspicious sign-up process

**Reported bugs**

- Buttons not working
- Unable to sign up

**Requested features**

- Web app option


## Frequently asked questions

### Is a free?

a is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is daily.dev free?

daily.dev is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, a or daily.dev?

a is rated higher. a averages 4.6 out of 5 from 575 ratings, while daily.dev averages 4.3 from 41 ratings.

### Do a or daily.dev have ads?

daily.dev shows ads; a does not.

### Which is updated more often, a or daily.dev?

a ships an update monthly, and daily.dev every 11 days. Most recently, a was updated on November 11, 2026 and daily.dev on November 8, 2026.

### Which is more popular, a or daily.dev?

a currently peaks at #26 in the App Store charts, and daily.dev at #179. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*