Comparison

OSCope 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

OSCope

Features
Read full description

OSCope is a simple field-debugging tool for checking OSC (Open Sound Control) over UDP, right on the spot. Ideal for verifying connections with TouchDesigner, Max, Unity, openFrameworks and more. No server, no account, no data collection โ€” just open and go. FEATURES - Real-time OSC receive log (time, address, type tag, arguments) - Per-address scope charts (int / float / bool) - Per-address value meters (0..1 values shown as a bar) - Log filter (by address / value) - Pause and Clear for the display - Record incoming messages and export (Data tab / CSV / JSON) - Manually send any OSC message (int / float / string / bool) - Signal-generator send (fixed / sine / noise / Perlin noise / toggle, auto-repeat) - Save and recall named presets of your send modules - Quick Send buttons (e.g. /test/ping) - Saved settings: receive port, target IP and port - Always-on analog clock for timing during shows - Portrait & landscape layouts, dark instrument-style UI GREAT FOR - Quickly confirming OSC connectivity in installations and live shows - Seeing whether OSC sent from a desktop tool reaches your phone - Watching incoming values as waveforms and recording them to review later - Sending OSC triggers and test signals (GO / RESET, etc.) from your phone CONNECTING WITH TOUCHDESIGNER - Receive: send from TouchDesigner's OSC Out to OSCope's shown IP and receive port (e.g. 8000) - Send: set OSCope's target to TouchDesigner's receive IP and port NOTE Uses UDP on your local network; iOS will ask for Local Network permission on first use. Communicates with devices on the same network/subnet. Receiving supports OSC Bundles; supported types are int / float / string / bool.

About

Shell Keyboard

Features
Read full description

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. 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 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 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

OSCope4 screens
Shell Keyboard4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is chart position: Shell Keyboard at #2 against OSCope's unranked. Shell Keyboard also leads on price ($0.99 vs $1.99). OSCope's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On 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

OSCope 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

OSCope ships an update every 5 days, Shell Keyboard every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences ยท 3 level
OSCope versus Shell Keyboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOSCopeShell Keyboard
Price$1.99$0.99 โ€” better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days โ€” betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Best chart rankโ€”#2 โ€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 โ€” better16.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size18 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEvenrain Inc.Nguyen Nguyen

In-app purchases

None

OSCope

No in-app purchases

None

Shell Keyboard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is OSCope free?
OSCope costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shell Keyboard free?
Shell Keyboard costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do OSCope or Shell Keyboard have ads?
Neither OSCope nor Shell Keyboard shows ads.
Which is updated more often, OSCope or Shell Keyboard?
OSCope ships an update every 5 days, and Shell Keyboard every 2 weeks. Most recently, OSCope was updated on September 29, 2026 and Shell Keyboard on October 14, 2026.

Other comparisons