Comparison

DNS Client vs Shell Keyboard

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

Head to head
About

DNS Client

Debug Domain Name Servers with this networking tool. Create human-readable requests and interpret responses. Supports all known DNS query types and multiple protocols including DNS over UDP, HTTPs, and TLS.

Highlights
  • Debug Domain Name Servers
  • Create human-readable requests
  • Interpret DNS responses
  • Supports all DNS query types
  • DNS over UDP
  • DNS over HTTPs
  • DNS over TLS
Features
Read full description

DNS Client is a fast, native way to run DNS lookups and debug Domain Name System queries — without the Terminal. Type a domain, pick a record type, and read a clean, human-readable response. It works like dig or nslookup, but with a proper interface. QUERY ANYTHING • All standard DNS record types (A, AAAA, MX, TXT, CNAME, NS, PTR, and more) • Reverse DNS lookups • Recursive queries, with full control over the request ANY RESOLVER, ANY PROTOCOL • DNS over UDP, DNS over HTTPS (DoH), and DNS over TLS (DoT) • Query public resolvers (Google, Cloudflare, Quad9, OpenDNS…) or your own • Compare answers across resolvers to spot propagation differences Built for developers and network engineers who need answers fast.

About

Shell Keyboard

Features
Read full description

Shell Keyboard adds the keys a terminal actually needs — the ones iOS's default keyboard leaves out. Working over SSH or in a local shell needs Ctrl, Esc, Tab, arrow keys, and function keys, none of which exist on the standard iOS keyboard. Shell Keyboard is a custom keyboard built specifically for terminal apps like Blink, Termius, Prompt, a-Shell and iSH — it sends the exact ASCII control codes and ANSI/VT escape sequences your terminal expects, the same bytes a physical keyboard would send. NEW ON IPAD: A REAL KEYBOARD Choose a 60% or 75% layout, the compact keyboards terminal users already type on. The 75% layout puts Esc, F1–F12, a number row, Caps Lock, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down and inverted-T arrow keys on one screen, and Shift types the symbol printed on each key, just like a physical keyboard. The 60% layout keeps the function keys, navigation and arrows one fn press away. iPad opens in the 75% layout; the original ShellKey layout is one tap away in Settings. WHAT'S INCLUDED • A dedicated terminal layer: Ctrl, Alt, Esc, Tab, arrow keys, Home/End/PgUp/PgDn, and the punctuation a shell prompt uses constantly • Ctrl and Alt as proper modifiers — latch one for a single keypress, or double-tap to lock it on, like a hardware keyboard • A full function-key layer: tap fn and the top row becomes F1 through F12, while every other row stays exactly where it was • Arrow keys that match the app you're in — Normal for shells, Application for vim, tmux, less and htop, or Move the Cursor for ordinary text fields • Return or Enter: long-press the Return key to switch between a carriage return and a line feed • A plain QWERTY layer and a complete symbols layer, for ordinary text — hostnames, paths, commit messages — without leaving the keyboard • Seven themes — Shell, Ember, Glacier, Dusk, Moss, Void (pure black) and High Contrast — each in light and dark, and an Appearance option to keep the keyboard light or dark everywhere • On iPad, 60% and 75% layouts (75% by default), described above • A searchable reference inside the app, listing every key alongside the exact escape sequence and hex bytes it sends • Every key emits the exact byte sequence a real terminal expects SETTINGS LIVE IN THE KEYBOARD Touch and hold the key with the small gear (or tap the gear key on the iPad's 60% and 75% layouts) for Haptic feedback, Theme, Appearance and, on iPad, Layout. They live in the keyboard itself because, without Full Access, iOS keeps a keyboard and its app apart, and Shell Keyboard never asks for Full Access. BUILT FOR PRIVACY Shell Keyboard never asks for Full Access. It cannot reach the network. It never reads, stores, or transmits anything you type — every key it sends is decided from the key you tapped, and nothing else. No analytics, no crash reporting, no account. GOOD TO KNOW In a terminal or editor running inside a web browser — code-server, Jupyter and the like — the keys that send a multi-character escape sequence don't get through: the arrow keys, F1 through F12, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, Shift+Tab and Alt combinations. Everything that sends a single byte works there normally, including every Ctrl combination, Esc, Tab, Return and ordinary typing. Web pages listen for key press events and iOS only lets a keyboard extension insert text, so this is an iOS limitation that applies to every third-party keyboard, not something an app can work around. WHO IT'S FOR Anyone who SSHes from an iPhone or iPad — sysadmins, developers, and anyone tired of missing Ctrl+C.

Screenshots

DNS Client4 screens
Shell Keyboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is chart position: Shell Keyboard at #1 against DNS Client's #24. DNS Client's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

DNS Client costs $0.99 and Shell Keyboard $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

DNS Client ships an update every 3 weeks, Shell Keyboard fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
DNS Client versus Shell Keyboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDNS ClientShell Keyboard
Price$0.99$0.99
Rating4.5 (146 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews63.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings146 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
Best chart rank#24#1 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSergii KryvoblotskyiNguyen Nguyen

In-app purchases

None

DNS Client

No in-app purchases

None

Shell Keyboard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is DNS Client free?
DNS Client costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shell Keyboard free?
Shell Keyboard costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do DNS Client or Shell Keyboard have ads?
Neither DNS Client nor Shell Keyboard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, DNS Client or Shell Keyboard?
DNS Client ships an update every 3 weeks, and Shell Keyboard fortnightly. Most recently, DNS Client was updated on October 20, 2026 and Shell Keyboard on October 17, 2026.
Which is more popular, DNS Client or Shell Keyboard?
DNS Client currently peaks at #24 in the App Store charts, and Shell Keyboard at #1. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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