Comparison

Hard Refresh vs Shell Keyboard

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

Head to head
About

Hard Refresh

Features
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Hard Refresh gives you full control over your browsing data with one tap. A regular reload doesn't always cut it. Cached files, stale cookies, and lingering service workers can cause websites to behave incorrectly. Hard Refresh lets you clear it all and force a clean reload — no need to dig through settings. FEATURES • Full Refresh — Clear all site data (cache, cookies, storage, service workers) and reload the page in one tap • Service Workers — Unregister and clear service workers for the current site • Local Storage — Clear localStorage and sessionStorage data • Cookies — Delete all cookies for the current site PERFECT FOR • Web developers testing changes on real devices • Troubleshooting broken or outdated websites • Clearing stuck login sessions • Fixing sites that won't show the latest content PRIVACY FIRST Hard Refresh works entirely on-device. No data is collected, stored, or transmitted. No analytics, no tracking, no third-party services.

About

Shell Keyboard

This custom keyboard provides essential keys like Ctrl, Esc, and arrow keys that are missing from the standard iOS keyboard. It's designed for terminal applications, sending precise control codes and escape sequences for seamless command-line interaction on iOS and iPadOS devices.

Highlights
  • Dedicated terminal layer with Ctrl, Esc, Tab, arrow keys
  • Ctrl and Alt as proper modifiers with lock functionality
  • Full function-key layer (F1-F12)
  • Configurable arrow key behavior for different apps
  • Multiple keyboard layouts for iPad (60% and 75%)
  • Seven customizable themes (light and dark)
  • Privacy-focused, no Full Access required
Features
Read full description

Shell Keyboard adds the keys a terminal actually needs — 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 — 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, F1–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 • A dedicated terminal layer: Ctrl, Alt, Esc, Tab, arrow keys, Home/End/PgUp/PgDn, and the punctuation a shell prompt uses constantly • Ctrl and Alt as proper modifiers — latch one for a single keypress, or double-tap to lock it on, like a hardware keyboard • A full function-key layer: tap fn and the top row becomes F1 through F12, while every other row stays exactly where it was • Arrow keys that match the app you're in — Normal for shells, Application for vim, tmux, less and htop, or Move the Cursor for ordinary text fields • Return or Enter: long-press the Return key to switch between a carriage return and a line feed • A plain QWERTY layer and a complete symbols layer, for ordinary text — hostnames, paths, commit messages — without leaving the keyboard • Seven themes — Shell, Ember, Glacier, Dusk, Moss, Void (pure black) and High Contrast — each in light and dark, and an Appearance option to keep the keyboard light or dark everywhere • On iPad, 60% and 75% layouts (75% by default), described above • A searchable reference inside the app, listing every key alongside the exact escape sequence and hex bytes it sends • 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 — 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 — code-server, Jupyter and the like — 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 — sysadmins, developers, and anyone tired of missing Ctrl+C.

Screenshots

Hard Refresh4 screens
Shell Keyboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is chart position: Shell Keyboard at #9 against Hard Refresh's #189. On price, 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

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

Scorecard1 real difference · 10 level
Hard Refresh versus Shell Keyboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHard RefreshShell Keyboard
Price$1.99$1.99
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequency—Fortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Paid
Best chart rank#189#9 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.016.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAlbuquerque de Matos, Unipessoal, LDANguyen Nguyen

In-app purchases

None

Hard Refresh

No in-app purchases

None

Shell Keyboard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hard Refresh free?
Hard Refresh costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shell Keyboard free?
Shell Keyboard costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Hard Refresh or Shell Keyboard have ads?
Neither Hard Refresh nor Shell Keyboard shows ads.
Which is more popular, Hard Refresh or Shell Keyboard?
Hard Refresh currently peaks at #189 in the App Store charts, and Shell Keyboard at #9. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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