Comparison

Preview App vs Shell Keyboard

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

Head to head
About

Preview App

Features
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Do you want to preview what your app looks like on the app store in advance? Let me help you. First download this app and then edit your app information. You can see the 6.5-inch and 6.9-inch app preview.

About

Shell Keyboard

Features
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Shell Keyboard adds the keys a terminal actually needs โ€” the ones iOS's default keyboard leaves out. Working over SSH or in a local shell needs Ctrl, Esc, Tab, arrow keys, and function keys, none of which exist on the standard iOS keyboard. Shell Keyboard is a custom keyboard built specifically for terminal apps like Blink, Termius, Prompt, a-Shell and iSH โ€” it sends the exact ASCII control codes and ANSI/VT escape sequences your terminal expects, the same bytes a physical keyboard would send. NEW ON IPAD: A REAL KEYBOARD Choose a 60% or 75% layout, the compact keyboards terminal users already type on. The 75% layout puts Esc, F1โ€“F12, a number row, Caps Lock, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down and inverted-T arrow keys on one screen, and Shift types the symbol printed on each key, just like a physical keyboard. The 60% layout keeps the function keys, navigation and arrows one fn press away. iPad opens in the 75% layout; the original ShellKey layout is one tap away in Settings. WHAT'S INCLUDED โ€ข A dedicated terminal layer: Ctrl, Alt, Esc, Tab, arrow keys, Home/End/PgUp/PgDn, and the punctuation a shell prompt uses constantly โ€ข Ctrl and Alt as proper modifiers โ€” latch one for a single keypress, or double-tap to lock it on, like a hardware keyboard โ€ข A full function-key layer: tap fn and the top row becomes F1 through F12, while every other row stays exactly where it was โ€ข Arrow keys that match the app you're in โ€” Normal for shells, Application for vim, tmux, less and htop, or Move the Cursor for ordinary text fields โ€ข Return or Enter: long-press the Return key to switch between a carriage return and a line feed โ€ข A plain QWERTY layer and a complete symbols layer, for ordinary text โ€” hostnames, paths, commit messages โ€” without leaving the keyboard โ€ข Seven themes โ€” Shell, Ember, Glacier, Dusk, Moss, Void (pure black) and High Contrast โ€” each in light and dark, and an Appearance option to keep the keyboard light or dark everywhere โ€ข On iPad, 60% and 75% layouts (75% by default), described above โ€ข A searchable reference inside the app, listing every key alongside the exact escape sequence and hex bytes it sends โ€ข Every key emits the exact byte sequence a real terminal expects SETTINGS LIVE IN THE KEYBOARD Touch and hold the key with the small gear (or tap the gear key on the iPad's 60% and 75% layouts) for Haptic feedback, Theme, Appearance and, on iPad, Layout. They live in the keyboard itself because, without Full Access, iOS keeps a keyboard and its app apart, and Shell Keyboard never asks for Full Access. BUILT FOR PRIVACY Shell Keyboard never asks for Full Access. It cannot reach the network. It never reads, stores, or transmits anything you type โ€” every key it sends is decided from the key you tapped, and nothing else. No analytics, no crash reporting, no account. GOOD TO KNOW In a terminal or editor running inside a web browser โ€” code-server, Jupyter and the like โ€” the keys that send a multi-character escape sequence don't get through: the arrow keys, F1 through F12, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, Shift+Tab and Alt combinations. Everything that sends a single byte works there normally, including every Ctrl combination, Esc, Tab, Return and ordinary typing. Web pages listen for key press events and iOS only lets a keyboard extension insert text, so this is an iOS limitation that applies to every third-party keyboard, not something an app can work around. WHO IT'S FOR Anyone who SSHes from an iPhone or iPad โ€” sysadmins, developers, and anyone tired of missing Ctrl+C.

Screenshots

Preview App4 screens
Shell Keyboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Shell Keyboard at fortnightly against Preview App's every 13 months. Shell Keyboard also leads on chart position (#1 vs unranked) and price ($0.99 vs $1.99). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Preview App costs $1.99 and Shell Keyboard $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Preview App ships an update every 13 months, Shell Keyboard fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences ยท 4 level
Preview App versus Shell Keyboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPreview AppShell Keyboard
Price$1.99$0.99 โ€” better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsFortnightly โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Best chart rankโ€”#1 โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 โ€” better16.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size8 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCangmu Technology Co., LtdNguyen Nguyen

In-app purchases

None

Preview App

No in-app purchases

None

Shell Keyboard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Preview App free?
Preview App costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shell Keyboard free?
Shell Keyboard costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Preview App or Shell Keyboard have ads?
Neither Preview App nor Shell Keyboard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Preview App or Shell Keyboard?
Preview App ships an update every 13 months, and Shell Keyboard fortnightly. Most recently, Preview App was updated on October 8, 2026 and Shell Keyboard on October 17, 2026.

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