Helmrig Shell
The terminal that never drops
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
iPad
The iPad terminal that doesn't drop you. Sleep it, lose Wi-Fi — your sessions come back exactly as you left them. Now faster over mobile too.
The terminal from your desk, now on iPad.
Helmrig Shell is a native terminal — btop, tmux, vim, true color, ligatures, full escape-sequence support, rendered natively. Not a web view, not a cut-down mobile shell. A real desktop terminal that feels like the one you already use.
Your sessions run on your own Mac or server. The iPad is just the window — so they never drop. Lock the screen, lose signal, switch to another app, come back hours later: every tab, every running process, your full scrollback, exactly where you left it. No reconnect dance, no lost output.
Drop a file onto the terminal and it uploads to your machine, with the full path dropped straight into your command line. Hand a screenshot to a CLI tool, attach a file to a running command — it just works, as if the file were already there.
Built on libghostty for the rendering you'd expect from a desktop terminal. Hardware keyboard shortcuts, split panes, tabs that name themselves after what's running. Designed for iPad first, not ported from somewhere else.
Works anywhere over an end-to-end encrypted connection — at your desk, on the couch, or across the world. Not limited to your local network.
Helmrig Shell requires a subscription to use. A free trial is available, after which continued access requires Helmrig Shell Pro at $8.99/month. Payment is charged to your Apple Account. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings.
WHAT IT IS
A window into your own machine. Your shell, your tools, your environment — running where they always have, now reachable from your iPad.
WHAT IT NEEDS
A Mac or Linux machine you control, running the Helmrig server. Setup takes one command.
PRIVACY
No third-party SDKs. No analytics. No crash reporting. Helmrig Shell servers never see terminal output. Full policy at helmrig.app/shell-privacy.html
CONTACT
hi@helmrig.app
Support Link: https://helmrig.app/support
Privacy Policy: https://helmrig.app/shell-privacy.html
Terms of Use (EULA): https://helmrig.app/shell-terms.html
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
- Terminal sessions are now compressed on the wire — noticeably less data over the connection and a snappier feel on slow or mobile networks
- Reconnecting no longer wipes your terminals — drop Wi-Fi or sleep the iPad and your open tabs come back exactly as you left them, with no flicker
- New Top offset slider in Settings nudges the bar and tabs clear of the notch
Also:
- Full VoiceOver and accessibility pass — sliders, the sidebar, selected rows, and keyboard-shortcut chords are all spoken and labeled now
- Sidebar restyled to match iPadOS Settings: lighter, clearer rows
- Fixed a crash when scanning certain pairing QR codes
The developer, Nikita Kislitsin, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Diagnostics
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Nikita Kislitsin
- Size
- 40.3 MB
- Category
- Developer Tools
- Compatibility
Requires iPadOS 26.0 or later.
- iPad
Requires iPadOS 26.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 26.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 26.0 or later.
- iPad
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Helmrig Shell Pro $8.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Nikita Kislitsin