a vs LocalDevVPN
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.
LocalDevVPN
Create and manage secure, isolated local network tunnels on iOS. Test and debug applications without sending traffic to external servers, offering precise control over your network environment.
- Local network tunneling
- Custom network configuration
- One-touch connection
- Auto-connect option
- Connection monitoring
- Comprehensive logging
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LocalDevVPN is a developer tool for creating and managing local network tunnels directly on iOS. It gives you a secure, isolated virtual interface for testing and debugging without sending traffic to external servers. Key Features: - Local network tunneling: spin up a dedicated virtual interface for development and testing - Custom network configuration: set device IP, tunnel IP, and subnet mask - One-touch connection: quick connect/disconnect with clear status - Auto-connect: optionally start the tunnel when the app launches - Connection monitoring: track connection time and live status - Comprehensive logging: review detailed connection logs for troubleshooting Ideal for developers, network engineers, and testers who need precise control over a local network environment. All traffic stays on-device with no data collection or external connections. Requires iOS 14.0 or later.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: LocalDevVPN at every 2 days against a's monthly. LocalDevVPN also leads on review sentiment (91% vs 79%) and chart position (#4 vs #19). a's advantage is ratings volume (553 vs 87). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. 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 4.7 for LocalDevVPN. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: a has 553 ratings behind it against 87, 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 91% of LocalDevVPN's.
a ships an update monthly, LocalDevVPN every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | a | LocalDevVPN |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (553 ratings) | 4.7 (87 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews | 90.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 553 — better | 87 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #19 | #4 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.9 GB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nicolas Holzschuch | Coxson Engineering LLC |
Customer experience
a
LocalDevVPN
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
LocalDevVPN
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
a
No in-app purchases
LocalDevVPN
No in-app purchases
