a vs Web Inspector
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.
Web Inspector
This app provides a suite of web development tools for Safari on mobile devices. Inspect and edit the DOM, view element styles, execute JavaScript commands, monitor network requests, and examine stored resources like cookies.
- DOM inspection and editing
- Element style viewer
- JavaScript console
- Network request monitoring
- Resource storage details
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Web Inspector expands Safari on iPhone and iPad with a set of web development tools: Elements: Browse the DOM tree and tap elements on the page to inspect them. View node details, styles, and computed values. Search the DOM, edit an element's HTML, and copy or delete nodes. Console: Type JavaScript commands to debug, modify, and get information about your webpage. Sources: Read the webpage's source with syntax highlighting. Network: See a list of network requests made by the webpage, with headers and responses. Filter requests, or copy one as a cURL command. Resources: Find details about the data stored by a webpage, such as cookies, local storage, and session storage. Tip: If you tap the Web Inspector button and nothing happens, reload the page once..
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: a at 4.6 against Web Inspector's 3.9. a also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 65%). Web Inspector's advantage is monetization model (free vs paid) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). On price, ratings volume, 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.
a holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 119 and 152 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of a's written reviews are positive against 65% of Web Inspector's.
a ships an update every 2 weeks, Web Inspector weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | a | Web Inspector |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (119 ratings) — better | 3.9 (152 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews — better | 65.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 119 | 152 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #60 | #42 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 373 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nicolas Holzschuch | And a Dinosaur |
Customer experience
a
Web Inspector
User reviews
a
From 119 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
Web Inspector
From 152 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Efficient web inspector
- 👍 Useful debugging tools
- 🔍 Helpful for web development
- 💡 Brings desktop-like functionality to mobile
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Limited functionality compared to desktop tools
- 🔍 Inconsistent performance
- 🔍 Difficult to use or navigate
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
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- 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
Web Inspector
Reported bugs
4 issues- Disappears when reloading webpage
- Doesn't work on newer iOS versions
- Doesn't load on crashed tabs
- Permissions issues
Requested features
4 requests- CSS editing capabilities
- Resizable panel
- Improved console functionality
- Better integration with Safari
In-app purchases
a
No in-app purchases
Web Inspector
No in-app purchases







