a vs Device Info Tool
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.
Device Info Tool
Gain in-depth knowledge of your mobile device's hardware and software. Explore detailed specifications including storage, battery health, network details, sensors, and OS version through an intuitive interface. Ideal for users seeking to understand their device's capabilities.
- Detailed hardware information
- Comprehensive software specifications
- Storage capacity details
- Battery health monitoring
- Network and Wi-Fi insights
- Sensor availability
- User-friendly interface
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Device Info is a powerful and comprehensive application that provides users with detailed insights into the hardware and software specifications of their mobile devices. Designed for iOS, obtain accurate information about their devices' capabilities. Key Features: Hardware and Software Information: Device Info provides users with detailed insights into their device's hardware and software specifications. Explore information about storage capacity, battery health, network and Wi-Fi details, available sensors, CPU architecture, operating system version, and much more. User-Friendly Interface: The intuitive and user-friendly interface of Device Info makes it accessible for users of all levels of technical expertise. Device Info is a valuable tool for developers and anyone who wants to gain deeper insights into their mobile devices. Whether you need to assess network performance, or simply explore the hardware and software specifications of your device, Device Info has you covered. Download Device Info today and unlock the power to understand and optimize your mobile device like never before.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: a at 4.6 against Device Info Tool's 4.2. a also leads on ratings volume (120 vs 5) and review sentiment (78% vs 67%). Device Info Tool's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs paid). 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
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 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: a has 120 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of a's written reviews are positive against 67% of Device Info Tool's.
a ships an update every 2 weeks, Device Info Tool monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | a | Device Info Tool |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (120 ratings) — better | 4.2 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 77.8% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 120 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Ad-supported — better |
| Best chart rank | #47 — better | #172 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 16.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 373 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nicolas Holzschuch | IDB LLC |
Customer experience
a
Device Info Tool
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
Device Info Tool
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
a
No in-app purchases
Device Info Tool
No in-app purchases
