CATS Input Method Pro vs Burrow Tunnel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
CATS Input Method Pro
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Writing Chinese is a breeze if you use the Chinese Alphabet Teaching System. You can also input the same way as you write Chinese. It is the fastest way of inputting Chinese, and even better, by using it, you also learn how to write Chinese characters better. It is the ideal way of implementing the EasyChinese method of learning Chinese. CATS Input Method Pro is a system-wide iOS keyboard: enable it once in Settings β General β Keyboard β Keyboards, then write Chinese by strokes in any app. Version 2.0 is an all-new keyboard, rebuilt with a native iOS look in light and dark mode, with both the learning and standard key layouts, word association, and the professional vocabulary. Your settings carry over from earlier versions.
Burrow Tunnel
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Burrow is a frp client built for developers and homelab tinkerers. It lets you securely connect from your phone to your own Mac, Linux, NAS, or GPU machine at home, and keep doing the things you would normally do in front of a computer. [Why Burrow] The local AI agent era is here. You might be running Claude Code, Cursor agents, local LLMs, Stable Diffusion, or other self-hosted services on a workstation, Mac mini, or NAS at home. When you are out, you want to use your phone to check progress, tweak configs, transfer files, run maintenance scripts. Exposing ports directly to the public internet is dangerous. Commercial remote-desktop tools route your traffic through their servers. Burrow uses frp's stcp visitor mode: - End-to-end encrypted; the key stays only between you and your devices - No public ports exposed on your home machines - All traffic flows only through your own frps server, with no third-party relay - We cannot, and never will, see any of your data [Three access modes] 1. Shell (PTY terminal) A full SSH terminal with support for vim, htop, tmux, color output, and ANSI escapes. Password and public-key authentication. Built-in favorites and runbooks: pin commands like "restart service", "tail logs", or "kick off training run", and execute them in one tap. 2. SFTP (file browser) Browse the remote filesystem by directory. Upload, download, rename, delete. Useful for pulling trained model weights, generated images, or logs back to your phone. 3. HTTP (in-app browser) A built-in WebView for accessing intranet web services: Jupyter, Open WebUI, Home Assistant, Grafana, the frps dashboard, your router admin page, self-hosted photo libraries, and so on. Self-signed certificate trust supported. [Who Burrow is for] - People running AI agents, local LLMs, or self-hosted services at home who need safe remote access - Developers who want to do server ops, check logs, or run scripts from their phone - Homelab enthusiasts and self-hosters who already run their own frps and at least one Linux or macOS machine [Who it is not for] - Users who want zero-config, install-and-go (you need to understand frp configuration) - Anyone needing graphical remote desktop (Burrow only does command line, files, and web) - Anyone expecting the app to run continuously in the background (limited by iOS foreground model) [What you need before starting] 1. A frps server you have deployed (a VPS, or another machine on your network) 2. A frpc daemon already running on the home machine you want to reach, with an stcp-type proxy configured 3. The same sk (shared key) on both sides 4. SSH enabled on the remote if you want shell, or a web service running if you want HTTP The "User Guide" section inside the app has a full getting-started walkthrough with example configs. [Privacy] Burrow does not collect any user data. All connection configurations (addresses, passwords, keys) are stored only on your device, in the iOS Keychain. No accounts. No login. No analytics. No third-party SDKs. [Feedback] This is the work of a solo developer. There is a feedback channel at the bottom of the in-app User Guide. If something does not work for you, please tell me.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CATS Input Method Pro at none against Burrow Tunnel's 1. Burrow Tunnel's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 24 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Burrow Tunnel sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. CATS Input Method Pro asks for nothing beyond the download.
CATS Input Method Pro ships an update every 24 months, Burrow Tunnel every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | CATS Input Method Pro | Burrow Tunnel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 24 months | Every 2 weeks β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No β better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | YIU LEUNG RANDY CHAN | ι« ε§ |
In-app purchases
CATS Input Method Pro
No in-app purchases
Burrow Tunnel
- Burrow Pro$14.99
Questions
Is CATS Input Method Pro free?
Is Burrow Tunnel free?
Do CATS Input Method Pro or Burrow Tunnel have ads?
Which is updated more often, CATS Input Method Pro or Burrow Tunnel?
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