Vimlike vs DeskPort
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Vimlike
Enhance web browsing with keyboard shortcuts, mimicking a Vim-like editor experience. Navigate pages, manage tabs, and interact with links using customizable key bindings. Offers features like dark mode and reader view for a streamlined workflow.
- Keyboard shortcuts for navigation
- Customizable key mappings
- Link interaction (open, new tab)
- Tab management (new, close, switch)
- Insert and normal modes
- Reader view and dark mode
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Vimlike puts vim's keys on every page in Safari. j and k scroll, f labels every link, o opens one bar for tabs, history, search and the AI. Version 2.0 adds an assistant that works the page, shortcuts and clean-ups the AI makes for each site, signed site packs and a keyboard editor. Free. No in-app purchases, no account, no tracking. iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision Pro. KEYBOARD h j k l, gg, G, d, u. Link hints turn every link on screen into a one- or two-letter jump: f labels them, type the label to open, ⇧F opens in a background tab. t new tab, x close, q and w previous and next, ⇧Z reopen, g1…g9 by number. ⇧H back, ⇧L forward, gu up one URL level, yy copy the URL. Normal mode to navigate, Insert to type; Esc returns, and ` or § can stand in for it on iPad keyboards. Video full screen and picture in picture, zoom, and ? for the cheat sheet. SEARCH BAR Press o and type. The bar searches your open tabs, your local history, your top sites and the web in one list. ↩ opens the highlighted row; ⌘↩ sends the text to the AI instead. ↑ on an empty bar walks back through what you ran, like a shell. : opens your saved commands; / finds a link on the page by name. AI ASSISTANT Ask about the page, or have it do the work. It clicks, types, picks from menus, pulls tables out, opens tabs and reads your other tabs, with 28 tools. It asks before anything it cannot undo. Saved commands like :sum, :table, :translate and :links, plus your own. Five kinds of tool, each Allow, Ask or Deny, and a step limit per run. A long answer opens as a page you can copy as Markdown or print. Pick Apple Intelligence as the provider and it runs free on Apple's Private Cloud Compute, nothing to sign up for, nothing kept (iOS 27, iPadOS 27 or macOS 27 with Apple Intelligence on). Or use your own key for Claude, OpenAI, Gemini or DeepSeek; the key goes in the Keychain. Or Open in browser mode, which opens ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity or DeepSeek in a new tab with your prompt and the page's text already typed in. SHORTCUTS AND CLEAN-UPS FOR EACH SITE Suggest shortcuts reads the page's places and proposes keys: gj JavaScript, gl Learn, gb the blog. The keys work while you try them; Save keeps them, Esc discards. A key is a click or an address, never a script. Clean up this page hides ads, banners, the sidebar or comments with styles you can remove later; the main text can never be hidden. By hand, gk on any page: click an element, press a key, name it. KEYBOARD EDITOR Settings › Keyboard lists every command. Pick a command, record a key, exclude it on sites where it gets in the way. Conflicts are flagged as you go. Script mode keeps the settings script for anyone who prefers to write it. SITE PACKS One signed file for one website: keys for its places, a few AI commands, CSS, and the Vimlike keys it hands back so the site's own shortcuts still work. YouTube, Gmail, Google Search and News, Reddit, Wikipedia, GitHub, Hacker News, Netflix and more. Verified on your device each time it runs, no JavaScript. Updates keep your switches and re-keyed keys. VISUAL AND CARET MODE v starts a selection, ⇧V selects by line, c places a caret you move first. Then vim's motions: hjkl, w b e, 0 $, f and t to a character, aw a word, as a sentence. y copies, / finds text, : asks the AI about the selection. PRIVACY No account and no server. Nothing about your browsing is collected. The bar's history is stored on the device and can be deleted in Settings. API keys live in the Keychain, never given to the page. Settings sync through your own iCloud, or stay on one device. With an AI provider, your prompt and the page's text go to the provider you chose and nowhere else. Languages: English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Cantonese, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese. Requires iOS and iPadOS 16.6 or later, or macOS 13 or later. Vimlike needs access to websites to take over the keyboard shortcuts; you choose which sites in Safari.
DeskPort
Access your computer's desktop and audio on your mobile devices. Control applications using touch, keyboard, or mouse. Organize and customize your remote workspace for optimal viewing and interaction.
- Stream desktop and audio
- Touch, keyboard, and mouse control
- Organize multiple computers
- Customizable workspace layout
- Portrait and landscape modes
- On-screen modifier keys
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Your computer, ready on your iPad or iPhone. DeskPort brings your own computer's desktop and audio to your mobile screen. Use desktop applications with touch, a keyboard or a mouse. INSTALL THE FREE DESKTOP COMPANION FIRST The app requires the free, open-source DeskPort desktop app. Download a host-capable package: https://github.com/keithxc/deskport/releases/latest Enable Sharing on your computer. For initial setup, use the same local network, allow Local Network access on iPad/iPhone, and approve the device request on the computer. Keep the computer awake while connected. Linux Flatpak is client-only and cannot share a desktop. YOUR COMPUTERS, ORGANIZED Discover computers or add an address, assign local nicknames, and save picture, audio, input and desktop preferences for each device. Compact cards keep your devices together. A WORKSPACE THAT FITS Use portrait or landscape. Capable hosts can adapt the workspace; mirror, extended and exclusive display options depend on the host OS and drivers. Save a full-screen preference per device. iPhone Duo layouts adapt navigation and content to the cover, inner screen and folded views. CONTROLS FOR DESKTOP WORK Choose direct touch or trackpad mode. Use a keyboard, pointer or on-screen modifier and navigation keys. The navigation bar provides access to devices, settings, help and Data Saver. Confirm before taking over an active session; disconnecting does not shut down your computer. Choose appearance and accent color, and use the interface in 22 languages. DeskPort desktop is required; standalone, unmodified Sunshine hosts are not supported. Features depend on the host and input devices. No DeskPort account, cloud computer, relay or VPN service is included. Access outside your local network requires a reachable private network or your own VPN. Setup and support: https://keithxc.github.io/deskport/support.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Vimlike at Free against DeskPort's $4.99. Vimlike also leads on ratings volume (30 vs 1). DeskPort's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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
Vimlike is free to download; DeskPort costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
DeskPort holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Vimlike has 30 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Vimlike ships an update every 2 months, DeskPort every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Vimlike | DeskPort |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (30 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 84.6% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 30 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 37 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Jasmine Studios | 尔昊 毛 |
Customer experience
Vimlike
DeskPort
Bugs and requests
Vimlike
Reported bugs
14 issues- Default mode setting does not work
- Scrolling bug on iPadOS
- Cannot use 'f' to press buttons on webpage
- Hitting F again does not cancel navigation
- Extension not working after a while, requires reinstallation
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- Scrolling no longer works on iPadOS
- Memory leak after Ventura update
- Issues with custom bindings in Gmail
- Scrolling animation feels choppy
- Scrolling stuttery on iPad Pro with ProMotion
- Cannot get out of YouTube fullscreen with control+u
- Reconfigs don't work
- Safari no longer inserts username/passwords
- Extension not working on Google Domains
Requested features
15 requests- Open search result in current tab
- Customized new tab URL
- Support for opening bookmarks/favorites
- Visual mode for highlighting text
- Custom search URL support
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- Ability to move tabs left/right
- Option to disable scrolling animation
- More subtle color scheme for link selection
- Website specific settings to exclude key bindings
- Simulate 'o' and 'O' from other Vim plugins
- Command focus the URL of the page
- Specify keys for ACTIVATE_LINK command with 'Ignore keyboard layout'
- Command for changing tab order
- Easy in-app config for exclusion list
- Dark mode option
DeskPort
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Vimlike
No in-app purchases
DeskPort
No in-app purchases









