Conchshell
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Conchshell for iPhone and iPad

A free app in the App Store for iPhone and iPad on iOS and iPadOS 15.0 and newer. The same client as on the desktop — a terminal, files, a monitor and a remote desktop — on screens built for a finger rather than a window shrunk to fit a phone.

Get it on the App Store

iPhone and iPad

iOS and iPadOS 15.0 and newer
Download on the App Store

Free, with nothing sold in the app

Free in the App Store, with no in-app purchases. Conchshell has one paid feature, Sync at $19 once; it is bought on a computer, and the licence stays there.

Where it is available

In the App Store of most countries, the EU included, but not in France or mainland China.

What it needs

iOS and iPadOS
15.0 and newer
Devices
iPhone and iPad
Size
About 24 MB in the App Store
Protocols
SSH, SFTP, FTP and FTPS, RDP, Telnet and raw TCP
Interface languages
English, Russian, Simplified Chinese
Account
Not required — there is nothing to register
Price
Free. No in-app purchases
Updates
Through the App Store

What you get on iPhone and iPad

A terminal with the keys the keyboard lacks
A key bar for what the on-screen keyboard lacks: Esc, Tab, a sticky Ctrl, the arrows, ^C, ^D, ^Z, ^L, ^R and the symbols a shell cannot do without. Several sessions at once, switched from the host list; font, size, line spacing, colour theme, cursor and scrollback are yours to set.
Files, an editor, a monitor
Browse a server over SFTP or FTPS and filter a folder by name. A text file opens in the built-in editor and saves straight back to the server. SSH connections also get a monitor: CPU, memory, swap, disks, network traffic and latency, running processes.
A remote desktop you drive like a trackpad
Over RDP the finger moves a pointer: tap to click, long-press for a right-click, pinch to zoom, drag with two fingers to scroll. The key bar has sticky Ctrl, Alt, Shift and Win, Ctrl+Alt+Del, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, F1–F12 and a Paste button that types out the clipboard. The desktop fits the screen or keeps a size you choose; 16-bit colour spares a slow link.
A vault on the device, servers checked
XChaCha20-Poly1305 with Argon2id, the key in the iOS Keychain and kept out of iCloud Keychain. The host key is checked on every connection: the first time, you see the fingerprint and decide; if it changes, the connection stops before sign-in and shows the old and new fingerprints. If the system does not trust an RDP or FTPS certificate, you see it and decide.

Questions people actually ask

Is it really free?

Yes. The app is free, and nothing is sold inside it. Conchshell Sync, the one paid feature, is bought on a computer; when the phone links to that computer, the licence stays there — nothing is bought or entered on the phone.

Do I have to type my connections in again?

No, if a computer of yours already has them and Conchshell Sync — the one paid feature, $19 once — is active on it. Point the camera at the code that computer shows, and the encrypted vault copies directly over your own network; nothing passes through us. The licence stays on the computer. Without such a computer, the connections are added on the phone by hand.

Is there a local terminal?

No. On iPhone and iPad the terminal connects to servers only — directly, through an SSH jump host or through a SOCKS4, SOCKS4a, SOCKS5 or HTTP proxy.

Does it collect statistics?

Only if you agree. Usage statistics are off until you do: the app asks once, at first launch, and they can be switched on or off in Settings at any time. What exactly is sent is on the privacy page.

Why is it missing from my country’s App Store?

It is not offered in France or mainland China. Everywhere else, the rest of the EU included, the link on this page opens the App Store of your own country.

Does RDP work on a phone?

Yes. The finger drives a pointer as on a trackpad, the key bar has sticky modifiers, Ctrl+Alt+Del and F1–F12, and the desktop either fits the screen or keeps a size you choose. On a slow link, 16-bit colour helps.

The same application, elsewhere

One codebase. The phones are where the feature set differs: on Android, iPhone and iPad there is no local terminal, no ssh-agent, no key files and no split panes — a key reaches a phone inside the vault, linked from a computer with Sync. On iPhone and iPad the app also holds no Sync licence; it links to a computer that has one.

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