a vs CodingKB
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.
CodingKB
This app provides a specialized keyboard designed to streamline coding on mobile devices. It eliminates the need to frequently switch between character sets, offering direct access to essential symbols and numbers.
- Simplified coding workflow
- Direct access to characters, numbers, and punctuation
- Reduced need for keyboard switching
- Enhanced mobile coding efficiency
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Tired of constantly switching between characters, numbers, and punctuation while coding on your phone? CodingKB is here to simplify your workflow and set you free!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: a at 78% against CodingKB's 0%. a also leads on price (Free vs $1.99) and update cadence (monthly vs every 6 months). CodingKB's advantage is rating (5.0 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; CodingKB costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
CodingKB holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: a has 553 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 78% of a's written reviews are positive against 0% of CodingKB's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
a ships an update monthly, CodingKB every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | a | CodingKB |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (553 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.3% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 553 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #18 — better | #140 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 18.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.9 GB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nicolas Holzschuch | 杰 瓮 |
Customer experience
a
CodingKB
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
CodingKB
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
a
No in-app purchases
CodingKB
No in-app purchases
