Comparison

Developer Laboratory vs Blink Shell, Build & Code

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

Head to head
About

Developer Laboratory

This app provides a collection of example code and UI components for iOS developers. It demonstrates various functionalities like app icon creation, image viewing, web page loading, and custom controls. Access the source code to learn implementation details.

Highlights
  • APP icon creation
  • Imitation of WeChat Moments
  • Web page loading
  • Custom UI components
  • QR code scanning
  • Facial tracking
  • Database operations
Features
Read full description

iOS Technical Sharing (APP icon creation, imitation of WeChat Moments, imitation of WeChat image viewer, preventing @mentions on Sina Weibo, imitation of Alipay password prompt, imitation of Post Circle, tags, JS interaction + WK, loading web pages, adaptive cell height, embedding video player in TableView to prevent lag, custom beautiful popups, address selection, time selection, color selection, custom navigation control, carousel, QR code scanning, facial tracking, custom camera, ID card photo capture, iOS media player, AVPlayer encapsulation, dropdown selection popup, Snake game, marquee, adaptive height for TableView, native image download caching, folder operations, database operations, third-party login, sharing, payment, Apple installation agreement, data transfer between apps, acknowledgments for support) https://github.com/HansenCCC/YPLaboratory YPLaboratory is the source code for this project. If you want to see how it's implemented, you can click to view the source code. https://github.com/HansenCCC/YPUIKit-ObjC YPUIKit-ObjC is the framework for this project, providing many out-of-the-box functionalities. It includes in-app purchases, subscriptions, prompt dialogs, app info, user agent retrieval, device info, unique identifiers (persistent even after deletion), badges, useful buttons, common categories, MD5, hooks, regular expressions, hashed colors, image matrices, black-and-white images, base64 images, navigation settings, handy input fields, file management, floating draggable buttons, single-line input, multi-line input, loading dialogs, custom dialogs, local logs, marquee, waterfall flow, carousel, image preview, and more.

About

Blink Shell, Build & Code

Transform your iOS device into a powerful terminal for coding and development. Leverage Mosh and SSH for stable, fast connections. Integrate with VS Code and manage your entire development workflow from your pocket.

Highlights
  • Mosh and SSH connections
  • VS Code integration (Blink Code)
  • Remote runtime creation (Blink Build)
  • Full SSH toolset
  • Hardware keyboard support
  • External display support
  • SFTP transfers
Features
Read full description

Do Blink! Transform your iOS device into a pro-grade terminal. Blink is the first professional, desktop-grade terminal for iOS that leverages the support of Mosh and SSH. Thus, we can guarantee stable connections, crazy-fast speeds, and full configurations. It can and should be your all-day-long tool.  **Start your 14-day free trial now!** But, Blink is much more. Now with Blink Code and Blink Build**, your entire development workflow fits in your pocket. What the Blink community is saying: “In some ways, I prefer my iPad / Blink / Digital Ocean setup to coding on my Mac“ - TheVerge "I have tried a number of terminals on iOS and this is really The One." - Twit.tv “Connections still come up when I get back to a client project after a weekend off.“ - The Sweet Setup “The way to use VS Code on the iPad” - programminglife.io What our users love the most from Blink Shell: - Mosh connections that even survive a device reboot. - Most complete SSH implementation on iOS. - Code command for VS Code integration. - Blazingly fast terminal and SFTP transfers. - Includes Pragmata Pro with ligatures. Blink Shell has a fully loaded SSH toolset: - SSH with PKI support: DSA, RSA, ECDSA & ED25519 keys. - Support for Secure Enclave Keys and Certificates. - Port forwarding with local, remote & dynamic tunnel support. - SOCKS5 proxy for a private VPN. - Agent Forwarding. - Complete SSH Config file support. - ControlMaster and pooled connections. - Files.app integration for SFTP remote hosts. - SFTP with copy-on-change. Blink has been the leading developer tool in the AppStore for +5 years, so there is a lot more: - External Display support. - Legendary Hardware Keyboard support, even remap shortcuts and keyboard codes. - Local & iCloud Blink Shell folders for Files.app access across devices. - Host sync over iCloud. - Link-files from other applications and work with them in Blink. - Cool themes and fonts, and install your own! - Smart Keys on SW Keyboard to navigate with touch. - FaceCam command to create tutorials and streams. - Bell notifications. - Supports multiple windows and multiple tabs. - Network & UNIX CLI tools, check our docs for more information. Blink Code integrates with VS Code: - Code on local projects, or seamlessly on remote machines. - Fully-loaded code editor. - A coding experience fitted to your device, that connects to VS Code for web, GitHub Codespaces, GitPod or your own VS Code server. Blink Build (Requires a $7.99/month subscription) Creates remote runtimes that can be accessed on all your devices. You can use Build in your day-to-day workflows whether you need to do development, DevOps or just play around with new tooling. Participate in our community, and don’t forget to leave us your feedback and your feature(s) requests. Enjoy! http://blink.sh http://twitter.com/blinkshell http://GitHub.com/blinksh Terms of Use: https://blink.sh/blink-gpl Privacy Policy: https://blink.sh/pp * Blink Code is not affiliated nor endorsed by Microsoft. ** Blink Build requires a separate subscription to make use of our Virtual Machines.

Screenshots

Developer Laboratory3 screens
Blink Shell, Build & Code4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Blink Shell, Build & Code at Free against Developer Laboratory's $0.99. Blink Shell, Build & Code also leads on ratings volume (418 vs 6) and chart position (#10 vs unranked). Developer Laboratory's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 3.1) and review sentiment (60% vs 37%). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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

Blink Shell, Build & Code is free to download; Developer Laboratory costs $0.99 up front. Developer Laboratory sells 8 one-off in-app purchases and Blink Shell, Build & Code sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Developer Laboratory holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Blink Shell, Build & Code has 418 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Developer Laboratory's written reviews are positive against 37% of Blink Shell, Build & Code's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Developer Laboratory ships an update monthly, Blink Shell, Build & Code every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Developer Laboratory versus Blink Shell, Build & Code: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDeveloper LaboratoryBlink Shell, Build & Code
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (6 ratings) — better3.1 (418 ratings)
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews — better36.9% of reviews
Number of ratings6418 — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#10 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB211 MB
Age rating4+17+
Developer恒盛 程Blink Shell, Inc

Customer experience

Developer Laboratory

All ratings6 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral40.0%
Negative0.0%

Blink Shell, Build & Code

All ratings418 ratings
Positive51.7%
Neutral2.6%
Negative45.7%
Written reviews344 reviews
Positive36.9%
Neutral2.3%
Negative60.8%

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Developer Laboratory

One-time8
  • 0 ice cola$0.99
  • 1 ice cola$0.99
  • A sip of iced cola$0.99
Show 5 more
  • 一元商品$0.99
  • 2 ice cola$1.99
  • 3 ice cola$2.99
  • 4.16 ice cola$3.99
  • 16.5 ice cola$14.99
5 purchases

Blink Shell, Build & Code

Subscriptions4
  • Build Basic - 50 credits/month1 Month trial$7.991 Month
  • Blink+Build Basic7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Blink Plus$19.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Blink+14 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Blink Shell ClassicFree

Questions

Is Developer Laboratory free?
Developer Laboratory costs $0.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Blink Shell, Build & Code free?
Blink Shell, Build & Code is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Developer Laboratory or Blink Shell, Build & Code?
Developer Laboratory is rated higher. Developer Laboratory averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while Blink Shell, Build & Code averages 3.1 from 418 ratings.
Do Developer Laboratory or Blink Shell, Build & Code have ads?
Neither Developer Laboratory nor Blink Shell, Build & Code shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Developer Laboratory or Blink Shell, Build & Code?
Developer Laboratory ships an update monthly, and Blink Shell, Build & Code every 3 weeks. Most recently, Developer Laboratory was updated on September 10, 2026 and Blink Shell, Build & Code on September 24, 2026.

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