Comparison

Ash vs Beacon

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

Head to head
About

Ash

Features
Read full description

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. โŒ˜T / โŒ˜W / โŒ˜1-9 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.

About

Beacon

Features
Read full description

Beacon is a fast, opinionated Wi-Fi analyzer for iPhone, Apple Watch, and Lock Screen. It scans your local network, lists every device, runs the tools network people actually use, and translates the jargon for you in plain English using AI. It is built around three rules: 1. Stay on the phone. Scans, ports, latencies, MAC addresses โ€” none of it ever leaves your device. There are no analytics, no telemetry, no accounts. 2. Show, don't gate. Every tool, every screen, every device is one tap away. No "Pro" tier. No subscription. No locked features. 3. Translate the jargon. The on-device AI explainer (Apple Foundation Models) tells you what an open port is, why a hop is slow, or whether a new device is something to worry about. In one or two sentences. No emojis. WHAT'S INSIDE โ€ข Home โ€” live speed, signal, latency, and device count, with an AI summary that reads your network the way a friend who knows networks would. โ€ข Devices โ€” every device on your LAN, grouped by role. Fingerprint chips show the device kind plus a manufacturer initial. Pull-to-rescan; new devices show up as a top group, not a badge. โ€ข Device detail โ€” identity, response-time graph, open ports with descriptions. The AI calls out which ports are normal for that device kind and which are worth a second look. โ€ข Speed test โ€” single-purpose, animated 270ยฐ gauge. Result quartet of download, upload, latency, jitter. AI verdict instead of a raw percentile. โ€ข Tools โ€” Ping, Traceroute, Port scanner, DNS lookup, Whois, DNS leak test, TLS / cert inspector, Public IP info. Each is its own screen, never a tab inside a tab. โ€ข Traceroute โ€” geo-mapped hops with ASN and country. AI summary calls out the slow link by hop number. โ€ข History โ€” a timeline of every scan, day-grouped. New and departed devices flagged inline. Compare any two scans side by side. โ€ข Apple Watch โ€” devices count is the hero. Network identity, signal, current speed. Tap to open the iPhone app. โ€ข Lock Screen widgets โ€” inline, circular, and rectangular. Add one or all three. Tap-through opens the relevant tab. โ€ข Home Screen widget โ€” the full hero stat with a coral background. โ€ข Privacy โ€” read the actual privacy statement, not a link to legalese, the first time you open Settings. WHAT'S NOT INSIDE No accounts. No subscriptions. No ads. No tracking SDKs. No "free trial". No ML model trained on your data. No background uploads. No share-with-friends nag. Pay once - use forever. REQUIREMENTS iOS 26 or later. Apple Intelligence is required for on-device AI explainers; Beacon falls back to plainspoken static text if it's off. Location permission is required by iOS to read your Wi-Fi network name (SSID); Beacon never records or shares your location.

Screenshots

Ash4 screens
Beacon4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Ash at 17.0 against Beacon's 26.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Ash versus Beacon: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAshBeacon
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS17.0 โ€” better26.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size12 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperArtem SharifullinDavid Weisz

In-app purchases

None

Ash

No in-app purchases

None

Beacon

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Ash free?
Ash is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Beacon free?
Beacon is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Ash or Beacon have ads?
Neither Ash nor Beacon shows ads.

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