a vs ShotLinq
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
a
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.
- 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
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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.
ShotLinq
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Still burying screenshots in your camera roll? ShotLinq automatically saves your latest screenshot to the cloud with just a double tap on the back of your iPhone — or a press of the Action Button. ■ How it works 1. Install the iOS Shortcut (one-tap setup in-app) 2. Assign it to Back Tap or Action Button 3. Take a screenshot, tap once — saved to cloud! ■ Key Features • Instant upload via Back Tap or Action Button • View your cloud screenshots anytime, anywhere • Pinch-to-zoom image viewer & share sheet • Upload photos directly from your library • Save clipboard text to cloud (Plus) ■ Plans • Free: 100MB storage, auto-compressed • Plus: 1GB storage, original quality PNG, text storage No complicated setup. Just tap and go.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: a at none against ShotLinq's 1. a also leads on chart position (#24 vs unranked) and device support (3 vs 1). ShotLinq's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 78%) and update cadence (every 11 days vs monthly). On price, ads and iOS requirement 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. ShotLinq sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. a asks for nothing beyond the download.
a ships an update monthly, ShotLinq every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | a | ShotLinq |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (568 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 78.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 568 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 11 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Best chart rank | #24 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2.1 GB | 42 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nicolas Holzschuch | KukChul Park |
Customer experience
a
ShotLinq
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
ShotLinq
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
a
No in-app purchases
ShotLinq
- ShotLinq Plus$3.99









