Blog

Writeups and honest comparisons from building Shell Drop, a free iOS SSH client tuned for tmux and AI coding agents.

Writeups

Shell Drop 5.2.2: full iPhone Duo support

Folded and open. Edge to edge on the inner display, a larger terminal font from the window width, and one Tmux resize per fold.

28 October 2026

What is the best iOS terminal app in July/August 2026?

If you are looking for a terminal app on iPhone, iPad or iPhone Duo that is agent-ready, there are actually very few options available.

A Security Audit of Shell Drop with Project Glasswing

Ran a security audit on Shell Drop with Glasswing, Cloudflare's multi-agent review pipeline. The architecture strengths it confirmed.

Willow Voice vs Wispr Flow

Why I switched voice keyboards after months on Willow: the rewriting problem, accuracy, speed, and the Mac app.

Sporadic dev update: 42.8% of installs are on iPad

App Store numbers for August 2026. 42.8% of installs are on iPad, and 435 devices updated to v5.0 in six days.

Shell Drop v4.0: arrow keys, scroll indicator, voice keyboard

What shipped in v4.0. Built for the way I actually use the app: SSH'd into my Mac Mini from an iPad, agent running in tmux.

One Tap: firing a command at your coding agent from your phone

The opt-in toolbar button that fires a configured command over SSH. Built for custom memory systems like MemPalace on Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor.

Shell Drop vs other iOS terminals

Shell Drop vs Termius

An SSH client for iPhone without the subscription. Tuned for managing Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor agents on a headless Mac Mini.

Shell Drop vs Blink Shell

iOS SSH without the Mosh subscription. Free and SSH-only vs paid and Mosh-focused.

Shell Drop vs Prompt 3

A free alternative to Panic's polished paid SSH app with its mature key management.

Shell Drop vs ShellFish

SSH for AI agents vs SSH plus Files-app integration for SFTP-style browsing.

Shell Drop vs Termi

Free iOS SSH tuned for tmux vs the paid indie terminal with a clean design.

Shell Drop vs vSSH

Free iOS SSH for AI agents vs the long-running cross-platform veteran.

Shell Drop vs WebSSH

Free modern iOS SSH with Secure Enclave keys vs the long-running budget app.

Shell Drop vs Mocha SSH

Free modern iOS SSH vs the long-running classic with broad terminal-emulator support.

Shell Drop vs a-Shell

Remote SSH for coding agents vs a free on-device Unix-style iOS shell.

Shell Drop vs Cathode

Modern iOS SSH tuned for tmux vs the faithful retro CRT terminal emulator.

Shell Drop is on the App Store. Universal iPhone and iPad, iOS 17+.

Download on the App Store