a vs Apps Connect
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.
Apps Connect
This app provides a one-click connection to various proxy protocols like Shadowsocks, Vmess, and Trojan. It offers a lighter, simpler interface with custom themes and aims for faster, more secure connections.
- One-click connection
- Supports multiple proxy protocols
- Lighter and simpler interface
- Customizable themes
- Faster connection speeds
- Secure kernel
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One Click Connection v2board / SSPANEL / Xboard Support Shadowsocks ShadowsocksR Vmess Vless Trojan Hysteria Socks Hysteria2 AnyTLS Multiple protocols - Lighter to use - Simpler interface - A brand new Glassmorphism / GradientCard style - Custom theme Colors - Faster connection speeds - Better Interaction - A more secure kernel - TUN protocol stack switching - chained proxy - rule/rule set settings - rule resource management - proxy sharing - Based on mihomo
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Apps Connect at free against a's paid. Apps Connect also leads on chart position (#14 vs #60). a's advantage is review sentiment (78% vs 61%). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 119 and 130 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of a's written reviews are positive against 61% of Apps Connect's.
a ships an update every 2 weeks, Apps Connect monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | a | Apps Connect |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (119 ratings) — better | 4.4 (130 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews — better | 60.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 119 | 130 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #60 | #14 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — better |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 373 MB | 148 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nicolas Holzschuch | CITY OF THE SKY NETWORK |
Customer experience
a
Apps Connect
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
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- Make Ubuntu default
- Add expansion of keys (e.g., echo {a..z})
- Adjustable font size
Apps Connect
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
a
No in-app purchases
Apps Connect
No in-app purchases
