Shell SSH

Shell SSH is a focused SSH client for iPhone and iPad. It opens a real interactive terminal to the servers you administer — not a box that runs one command at a time.

CONNECT

• Save hosts with a name, address, port, username and notes
• Authenticate with an SSH key or a password
• Search across names, addresses, usernames and notes
• Open several sessions at once as tabs, and switch without disconnecting
• On iPad, run two terminals side by side and drag the divider where you want it
• Your tabs and your split come back the way you left them when you reopen the app

SESSIONS THAT SURVIVE A LOCKED SCREEN

• iOS suspends apps, which drops SSH connections when your device locks
• Shell SSH can run your shell inside tmux so the session keeps running on the server and picks up exactly where you left off
• It asks the first time, and remembers your answer — per host, or as a default for all of them
• Close a tab and its tmux session is closed too, so nothing is left running behind your back

A REAL TERMINAL

• xterm-256color emulation with full 256-colour support
• Alternate screen buffer, so full-screen programs behave the way they do on a desktop
• A key row above the keyboard for Esc, Ctrl, Tab, arrows and common symbols — the keys iOS doesn't give you
• Copy a selection or the whole scrollback, and paste, from the toolbar or with Command-C and Command-V
• Pick a theme: Shell, Solarized Dark and Light, Dracula, Nord, Gruvbox, One Dark or Monokai
• Adjustable font size, cursor style and scrollback
• Resizes correctly on rotation, in Split View and in Stage Manager

SNIPPETS

• Keep the commands you run often and insert or run them in a tap
• Fill-in-the-blank placeholders: write {{service}} once and be asked for it when you use it, with optional and prefilled values too
• Insert leaves the command at the prompt so you can read it before you send it
• Around a hundred common commands included as examples, from systemctl and journalctl to docker and git
• Searchable, reorderable, and yours to edit

SSH KEYS

• Generate Ed25519 keys on device
• Import existing OpenSSH keys, including passphrase-protected ones
• Copy a public key out to paste into authorized_keys
• Fingerprints shown in the same SHA-256 form as ssh-keygen

SECURITY FIRST

• Server identity is verified on first connection, and you get a clear, blocking warning if a server's host key ever changes
• Passwords and private keys are stored in the iOS Keychain, never in plain files, and never leave your device
• Optionally require Face ID or Touch ID before a saved credential can be used
• When a login is refused, Shell SSH asks the server what it would have accepted, and tells you — so a server that doesn't take passwords says so instead of looking like a typo
• Warns before pasting multiple lines, which could otherwise run several commands at once
• Review and remove trusted server fingerprints whenever you want

IPHONE AND IPAD

• On iPad, your hosts sit alongside the terminal, and the list collapses when you want the full window
• Light and dark appearance, following the system or set explicitly

Shell SSH keeps its built-in key row deliberately small — just the keys a terminal needs. If you want a fuller terminal keyboard available in every app, Shell Keyboard is a separate companion app.