Card Barcodes vs Ash
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Card Barcodes
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Card Barcodes keeps your loyalty, membership and gym cards on your iPhone, ready to scan at the checkout. SCAN A CARD IN SECONDS Point the camera at a card's barcode and Card Barcodes reads it. It supports QR codes, EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-E, Code 128, Code 39, Code 93, Aztec and PDF417. If a card has no barcode, type its number in. READY AT THE CHECKOUT Open a card and the screen brightens, so the scanner reads it first time. The number sits under the barcode for when it needs typing in. YOUR NEAREST CARD ON THE HOME SCREEN Add the widget and it shows the barcode of the card for where you are, or a card you choose. Tap it to open the card. A REMINDER WHEN YOU ARRIVE Add the places you use a card, from the map or by ZIP code. When you get there, a notification reminds you, and tapping it opens the card. The list shows how far away each card's places are, and you can add where you are straight from a card. EVERY CARD IN ITS OWN COLOR Choose from 23 colors or pick any color you like. Text stays readable on all of them. ON YOUR IPHONE AND IPAD Your cards sync through your own iCloud account, so they are on your iPhone, iPad and iPhone Duo. There is no account to create. PRIVATE There are no ads or analytics, and nothing tracks you. Your current location is only used on your device. Export your cards to a file whenever you want. FOR EVERYONE Card Barcodes works with VoiceOver, larger text sizes and dark mode.
Ash
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Native SSH client for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Open a shell, push files over SFTP, forward a port, monitor a server. Terminal โ multiple sessions, configurable shell, fonts, theme. Hold-and-drag cursor scrub, two-finger paste, pinch zoom. โT / โW / โ1-9 on iPad and Mac. SFTP โ browse, upload, download, edit text files inline. Save with sudo when needed. Drag-and-drop from Files or Finder. Server Dashboard โ live CPU, RAM, disk, latency. OS, kernel, uptime. Port Forwarding โ local (-L) and remote (-R) tunnels, multiple per host. SSH Keys โ generate Ed25519 or RSA on-device. Import from Files or clipboard. Stored in iOS Keychain. Face ID / Touch ID lock. Connections survive the lock screen. Keepalive defeats NAT timeouts. Auto-reconnect on Wi-Fi / cellular handoff. No telemetry. No analytics. No ads. Host configs sync only via your private iCloud, opt-in.
Screenshots
Verdict
Card Barcodes and Ash are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters โ price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them โ neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Card Barcodes ships an update every 5 months, Ash every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Card Barcodes | Ash |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 3 months โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad โ better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Paul Serby | Artem Sharifullin |
In-app purchases
Card Barcodes
No in-app purchases
Ash
No in-app purchases









