#4in Terminal Emulation

a-Shell mini

C Tier

Situational · provisional

4.3666 ratings

11dsince update

Freeto download

Developer Tools
category

Education
category

17+age rating

7languages

Made for iPhone

Made for iPad

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What is a-Shell mini?

Local terminal emulator for iOS that runs most Unix commands, including vim, Python, git and ffmpeg.

A-Shell mini is a local terminal emulator for iOS devices that runs most Unix commands. It includes tools such as scp, curl, vim, grep, awk, sed and lg2 for git, plus Python, Lua, JavaScript, WebAssembly, ffmpeg and convert. It is described as a minimalist terminal with a footprint under 250 MB that can be controlled from Shortcuts.

Pricing. A-Shell mini is free, with no in-app purchases on the App Store.

Good for

Editing and processing text files with vim, sed, awk and grep on iOS
Working with git repositories on an iOS device using lg2
Converting images and video with ffmpeg or convert on iOS

Screenshots

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Why this app is in C tier

62/100The average of 4 parts, with no weights

Rating78

Ratings68

App Store search rank0

Update recency100

C tier follows from that score within this list. The full explanation, as data.

Description

a-Shell mini is a complete local terminal emulator, allowing to run most Unix commands on you iOS device. You can transfer files using scp and curl, edit them with vim and ed, process them using grep, awk and sed. Work with git repositories using lg2.
Most commands are compiled for iOS native Arm64 format, making them fast and well integrated with iOS underlying BSD Unix.

a-Shell mini includes Python, Lua, JavaScript and webAssembly for programming and scripting. It also includes native ffmpeg and convert for fast image and video conversion.

There are also multiple network utilities: nslookup, ping, whois, ifconfig... Type help for help, help -l to get the full list of commands.

a-Shell mini can be controlled from Shortcuts: run commands in order, process files in a-Shell, get the results as text or files, transfer files to other apps...

a-Shell mini uses iPadOS 13+ “multiple windows” ability, so you can run multiple shells at the same time, with different commands, in different directories. You can edit a file in one window with vim and process it in the other with python.

a-Shell mini is a minimalist terminal, designed to have a very small footprint (less than 250 MB). If you need more commands, please consider a-Shell, which has more Python packages, more JavaScript modules, Perl, make, a C and C++ compiler and TeX.

Compare

a-Shell mini

C tier

iSH Shell

C tier

ViSH

F tier

Termiux

A tier

Terminal Emulator app

F tier

Top Terminal Emulation

a-ShellS tier4.6 ★View 2

TermiuxA tier4.4 ★View 3

iSH ShellC tier4.7 ★View 4

a-Shell miniC tier4.3 ★View 5

ViSHF tier3.0 ★View 6

Terminal Emulator appF tier1.9 ★View

Questions about a-Shell mini

Is a-Shell mini free?

It is free to download and lists no in-app purchases. The full a-Shell app is described as having more Python packages, JavaScript modules, Perl, make, a C and C++ compiler and TeX.

Can I run multiple shells at once?

Yes. It uses the iPadOS 13+ multiple windows ability, so you can run several shells with different commands and directories, such as editing a file with vim in one window and processing it with Python in another.

Can it be automated?

The listing says a-Shell mini can be controlled from Shortcuts. You can run commands in order, process files in a-Shell, get results as text or files, and transfer files to other apps.

Is a-Shell mini right for me?

a-Shell mini is built for editing and processing text files with vim, sed, awk and grep on iOS, working with git repositories on an iOS device using lg2, converting images and video with ffmpeg or convert on iOS. It sits in the terminal emulation list on AppTierList.

Is a-Shell mini worth it?

a-Shell mini is C tier, ranked #4 of 7 terminal emulation apps with a score of 62 out of 100, from a 4.3 App Store rating across 666 ratings. 3 apps rank above it in the same list.

How does a-Shell mini compare to iSH Shell?

a-Shell mini is C tier at 62; iSH Shell is C tier at 68. iSH Shell ranks higher. a-Shell mini is free, with no in-app purchases, iSH Shell is free, with no in-app purchases.