a vs Desktop Browser
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
a
Run Unix commands locally on your iOS device with a powerful terminal emulator. Supports file transfer, editing, scripting with Python and Lua, and network utilities. Integrates with Shortcuts and supports multiple windows for multitasking.
- Local Unix terminal emulator
- SSH client
- File transfer (scp, curl)
- Text editing (vim, ed)
- Scripting (Python, Lua, JavaScript)
- Network utilities (nslookup, ping)
- Shortcuts integration
- Multi-window support
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a-Shell mini is a complete local terminal emulator, allowing to run most Unix commands on you iOS device. You can transfer files using scp and curl, edit them with vim and ed, process them using grep, awk and sed. Work with git repositories using lg2. Most commands are compiled for iOS native Arm64 format, making them fast and well integrated with iOS underlying BSD Unix. a-Shell mini includes Python, Lua, JavaScript and webAssembly for programming and scripting. It also includes native ffmpeg and convert for fast image and video conversion. 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 mini 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 mini uses iPadOS 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. a-Shell mini is a minimalist terminal, designed to have a very small footprint (less than 250 MB). If you need more commands, please consider a-Shell, which has more Python packages, more JavaScript modules, Perl, make, a C and C++ compiler and TeX.
Desktop Browser
Experience a full desktop web on your mobile device. This browser simulates a large, resizable screen to display desktop versions of websites, avoiding mobile-optimized layouts. Enjoy features like zoom control, full-screen mode, and privacy-focused data collection.
- Desktop website rendering
- Zoomable screen (1x-3x)
- Full screen mode
- Portrait/landscape transitions
- Favorites management
- UI customization
- Multiple tabs (Pro)
- Theme customization (Pro)
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Zoomable is a browser that provides a full desktop web experience. It simulates a large and resizable screen and shows the desktop version of websites, so you can stay away from those bad mobile web experiences. • Zoom freely between 1x and 3x. • Seamless transitions between portrait and landscape mode. • Supports full screen mode. • Save and manage favorites. • Lightning fast and super small install size. • Supports UI customization for both portrait and landscape mode. • Respects user privacy; the app only collects anonymous diagnostic data unrelated to browsing, and you can opt out. • [Pro] Multiple tabs. • [Pro] Customize themes. The app is designed for everyone, it works great with many websites. However, it is particularly useful for developers. For example, accessing App Store Connect and Firebase Console works great in this app because of the screen scale feature.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: a at none against Desktop Browser's 3. a also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 65%) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 weeks). Desktop Browser's advantage is ratings volume (3.3K vs 120). On price, rating, ads and chart position 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. Desktop Browser sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. a asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for a against 4.5 for Desktop Browser. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Desktop Browser has 3.3K ratings behind it against 120, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 78% of a's written reviews are positive against 65% of Desktop Browser's.
a ships an update every 2 weeks, Desktop Browser every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | a | Desktop Browser |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (120 ratings) — better | 4.5 (3.3K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews — better | 64.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 120 | 3.3K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #44 | #25 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 373 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Nicolas Holzschuch | Actowise LLC |
Customer experience
a
Desktop Browser
User reviews
a
From 120 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great app for shortcuts
- 🚀 Efficient and functional
- 💡 Useful for IT tasks
- ✨ Free and awesome
- 💻 Good for remote server connection
Room to improve
- 🐛 Font size not adjustable
- 🐛 Keyboard icons too large
- 🐛 App deletes itself
- 🐛 Rotating screen scrambles display
- 🐛 Pasting text shows strange characters
Desktop Browser
From 3.3K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and efficient
- 👍 Intuitive user interface
- 🔍 Effective desktop mode
- 💡 Useful zoom feature
- 🔒 Secure browsing
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and reloads
- 🔍 Inconsistent desktop mode performance
- 📱 Incompatible with some mobile apps
- 💸 Paid version required for full functionality
- 🔌 High battery consumption
Bugs and requests
a
Reported bugs
12 issues- Keyboard icons comically large
- App deletes itself
- Rotating iPhone/iPad scrambles display
- Pasting text results in strange characters
- App only uses half of the screen when editing files
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Command not found errors for all commands
- App crashes on launch after update
- Cannot get own absolute path
- Cannot execute own programs
- App messes up .txt file association
- Trouble selecting characters to copy and paste
- No module named requests in shortcuts
Requested features
8 requests- Option to use old keyboard buttons
- Add openssl support
- Add libx265 codec for ffmpeg
- Support telnet command
- Add possibility to compile from source
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Make Ubuntu default
- Add expansion of keys (e.g., echo {a..z})
- Adjustable font size
Desktop Browser
Reported bugs
4 issues- Issues connecting to local IP addresses
- Inability to use Google account login
- Blank pages when resizing or zooming
- Redirects to search engine instead of desired site
Requested features
5 requests- Add ad-blocking capabilities
- Implement local network access
- Allow setting as default browser
- Introduce a virtual trackpad mode
- Improve bookmark management
In-app purchases
a
No in-app purchases
Desktop Browser
- 2 Extra Tabs$2.99
- Pro Lifetime$9.99
- Pro Lifetime$14.99
