Comparison

a vs TextNova

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

TextNova

A powerful text transformation tool for developers, offering over 107 built-in transformers for encoding, decoding, formatting, and hashing text. It features on-device AI for text manipulation and a developer-friendly editor with advanced functionalities.

Highlights
  • 107+ text transformers
  • On-device AI for text manipulation
  • Developer-friendly editor
  • Bidirectional transforms
  • Command palette for quick access
  • Universal app for Mac, iPhone, iPad
Features
Read full description

TextNova is a fast, native text toolbox for developers. Convert, encode, decode, hash, and format text with 151 built-in transformers, all in one clean interface on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. HIGHLIGHTS • 151 transformers in 7 categories: JSON/YAML/TOML/XML conversion, Base64/Hex/URL encoding, MD5/SHA hashing, case conversion, text and data utils, and date/time tools • Markdown preview: see your document rendered, with tables, task lists, images, and syntax highlighted code. Select blocks and copy them with their formatting intact • Change history: every transform, paste, and file load is recorded, per tab. Compare any point against your current text, or revert to it • On-device AI: summarize, fix grammar, translate, or rewrite with Apple Intelligence. Your text never leaves your device • Developer-grade editor: monospace type, line numbers, syntax highlighting, search and replace, and a built-in diff view • Command Palette: find and run any transformer without leaving the keyboard • Favorites and Recents: your most-used transformers always within reach • Private by design: works fully offline. No accounts, no servers, no tracking Whether you're decoding a JWT, pretty-printing JSON, or turning CSV into a Markdown table, TextNova gets it done in seconds. Available in English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Spanish, French, and German.

Screenshots

a4 screens
TextNova4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: a at Free against TextNova's $1.99. a also leads on chart position (#53 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). TextNova's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 78%) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 weeks). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

a is free to download; TextNova costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

a ships an update every 2 weeks, TextNova every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
a versus TextNova: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteraTextNova
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.6 (120 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews77.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings120 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#53 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size373 MB7 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperNicolas HolzschuchHWAN LEE

Customer experience

a

All ratings120 ratings
Positive90.0%
Neutral2.5%
Negative7.5%
Written reviews90 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral5.6%
Negative16.7%

TextNova

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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 more
  • 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 more
  • Make Ubuntu default
  • Add expansion of keys (e.g., echo {a..z})
  • Adjustable font size

TextNova

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

a

No in-app purchases

None

TextNova

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is a free?
a is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is TextNova free?
TextNova costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do a or TextNova have ads?
Neither a nor TextNova shows ads.
Which is updated more often, a or TextNova?
a ships an update every 2 weeks, and TextNova every 6 days. Most recently, a was updated on September 29, 2026 and TextNova on September 21, 2026.

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