Blink Shell, Build & Code

Name: Blink Shell, Build & Code
Rating: 3.1 (417 reviews)
Author: Blink Shell, Inc

The Pro tool for developers

Free · In‑App Purchases

417 Ratings
Age Rating

16+
Years
Chart

#52
Developer Tools
Developer

Blink Shell, Inc
Language

EN
English
Size

221.5
MB

Do Blink! Transform your iOS device into a pro-grade terminal. Blink is the first professional, desktop-grade terminal for iOS that leverages the support of Mosh and SSH. Thus, we can guarantee stable connections, crazy-fast speeds, and full configurations. It can and should be your all-day-long tool. **Start your 14-day free trial now!** But, Blink is much more. Now with Blink Code and Blink Build**, your entire development workflow fits in your pocket. What the Blink community is saying: “In some ways, I prefer my iPad / Blink / Digital Ocean setup to coding on my Mac“ - TheVerge "I have tried a number of terminals on iOS and this is really The One." - Twit.tv “Connections still come up when I get back to a client project after a weekend off.“ - The Sweet Setup “The way to use VS Code on the iPad” - programminglife.io What our users love the most from Blink Shell: - Mosh connections that even survive a device reboot. - Most complete SSH implementation on iOS. - Code command for VS Code integration. - Blazingly fast terminal and SFTP transfers. - Includes Pragmata Pro with ligatures. Blink Shell has a fully loaded SSH toolset: - SSH with PKI support: DSA, RSA, ECDSA & ED25519 keys. - Support for Secure Enclave Keys and Certificates. - Port forwarding with local, remote & dynamic tunnel support. - SOCKS5 proxy for a private VPN. - Agent Forwarding. - Complete SSH Config file support. - ControlMaster and pooled connections. - Files.app integration for SFTP remote hosts. - SFTP with copy-on-change. Blink has been the leading developer tool in the AppStore for +5 years, so there is a lot more: - External Display support. - Legendary Hardware Keyboard support, even remap shortcuts and keyboard codes. - Local & iCloud Blink Shell folders for Files.app access across devices. - Host sync over iCloud. - Link-files from other applications and work with them in Blink. - Cool themes and fonts, and install your own! - Smart Keys on SW Keyboard to navigate with touch. - FaceCam command to create tutorials and streams. - Bell notifications. - Supports multiple windows and multiple tabs. - Network & UNIX CLI tools, check our docs for more information. Blink Code integrates with VS Code: - Code on local projects, or seamlessly on remote machines. - Fully-loaded code editor. - A coding experience fitted to your device, that connects to VS Code for web, GitHub Codespaces, GitPod or your own VS Code server. Blink Build (Requires a $7.99/month subscription) Creates remote runtimes that can be accessed on all your devices. You can use Build in your day-to-day workflows whether you need to do development, DevOps or just play around with new tooling. Participate in our community, and don’t forget to leave us your feedback and your feature(s) requests. Enjoy! http://blink.sh http://twitter.com/blinkshell http://GitHub.com/blinksh Terms of Use: https://blink.sh/blink-gpl Privacy Policy: https://blink.sh/pp * Blink Code is not affiliated nor endorsed by Microsoft. ** Blink Build requires a separate subscription to make use of our Virtual Machines.

Ratings & Reviews

3.1

out of 5

417 Ratings

Most visually appealing, minimal SSH/Mosh client (minus the subscription model)
01/24/2024
heywoodlh
This app is my favorite SSH and Mosh client. I appreciate the local Unix utilities it provides and the fact that it looks and behaves like a terminal emulator. The visual minimalism by default is excellent.My one issue is with the recurring subscription model. I would rate it five stars if there was a one-time purchase option (even if it was per device — I’d happily pay $5-10 per device I needed Blink on). It makes it hard to recommend to interested friends or colleagues when there isn’t a free option or a one-time purchase option. Thankfully, I was grandfathered into the Blink Legacy pricing (which offered a one-time purchase). Please bring one-time purchases back!
Most visually appealing, minimal SSH/Mosh client (minus the subscription model)
01/24/2024
heywoodlh

This app is my favorite SSH and Mosh client. I appreciate the local Unix utilities it provides and the fact that it looks and behaves like a terminal emulator. The visual minimalism by default is excellent.My one issue is with the recurring subscription model. I would rate it five stars if there was a one-time purchase option (even if it was per device — I’d happily pay $5-10 per device I needed Blink on). It makes it hard to recommend to interested friends or colleagues when there isn’t a free option or a one-time purchase option. Thankfully, I was grandfathered into the Blink Legacy pricing (which offered a one-time purchase). Please bring one-time purchases back!
Free version nag-screens are a real thing
11/14/2022
Throwaway112022
I like the app and what it does. And I don’t really have a problem with a yearly subscription of $20 for the full version, I am not against subscriptions per se. I am also ok with the free version being limited in some way (including by a nag-screen) - that is after all how you evaluate before purchasing. But I have to say, the way that the developers have implemented the nag-screen to upgrade is a first for me. So much so that this is the first review I have ever made in the AppStore and this nag-screen implementation has turned me off the app so much that I will not be subscribing.This may not be a problem for everyone. But saying “there is a nag-screen, no big deal” does not give the full picture. They are transparent that the nag-screen will come up “up to a max of 3x per day”. What they don’t say is that there is a timer on the nag-screen that interrupts what you are doing for a significant time: 20seconds perhaps? Worse, if you “shake your device to fill this up quicker” the timer is supposed to be shorter but there really is not way to tell if that is so. As long as it counts down clearly, 5 seconds I could live with. Maybe even 10. But the timer as it is is just too random and long - and being asked to “shake to fill” is just juvenile…If the developers do not want to limit the app in other ways (only offer a subset of features?) my suggestion is to change that timeout to allow a limited “give me 5min” holds before it is forced (I would not be happy if I had a time critical situation and being forced to pause for 20sec). And rather than a “shake” prompt, my $0.02 is to just change it into a “take a break, it is better for you anyway” count down the seconds message…
Free version nag-screens are a real thing
11/14/2022
Throwaway112022

I like the app and what it does. And I don’t really have a problem with a yearly subscription of $20 for the full version, I am not against subscriptions per se. I am also ok with the free version being limited in some way (including by a nag-screen) - that is after all how you evaluate before purchasing. But I have to say, the way that the developers have implemented the nag-screen to upgrade is a first for me. So much so that this is the first review I have ever made in the AppStore and this nag-screen implementation has turned me off the app so much that I will not be subscribing.This may not be a problem for everyone. But saying “there is a nag-screen, no big deal” does not give the full picture. They are transparent that the nag-screen will come up “up to a max of 3x per day”. What they don’t say is that there is a timer on the nag-screen that interrupts what you are doing for a significant time: 20seconds perhaps? Worse, if you “shake your device to fill this up quicker” the timer is supposed to be shorter but there really is not way to tell if that is so. As long as it counts down clearly, 5 seconds I could live with. Maybe even 10. But the timer as it is is just too random and long - and being asked to “shake to fill” is just juvenile…If the developers do not want to limit the app in other ways (only offer a subset of features?) my suggestion is to change that timeout to allow a limited “give me 5min” holds before it is forced (I would not be happy if I had a time critical situation and being forced to pause for 20sec). And rather than a “shake” prompt, my $0.02 is to just change it into a “take a break, it is better for you anyway” count down the seconds message…
I hate that this app is good.
12/26/2025
AOANLA
I have been on a months-long quest to find an acceptable terminal app that I can actually own instead of rent. Unfortunately, every other option I tried (Termius was second-best) has dealbreaking flaws of one kind or another.Blink does not. It has flaws, but no dealbreakers. It also has several excellent and very useful day-to-day features that no other terminal app I have tried manages to implement all at once, and a few really good UI ideas I've never seen in a mobile terminal before. It's *relatively* stable for a mobile terminal app, the screen drawing issues aren't *usually* bad enough to force me to close the app and start over—a low bar, but no other app consistently meets it. And it feels and works remarkably like a NORMAL TERMINAL instead of somebody's fever dream of what the Terminal of the Future should be.The business model disgusts me. The *instant* I hear of an acceptable mobile terminal with an ethical business model, I will switch. I really hope I can do that before I need to pay next year's terminal rent. Two stars.
I hate that this app is good.
12/26/2025
AOANLA

I have been on a months-long quest to find an acceptable terminal app that I can actually own instead of rent. Unfortunately, every other option I tried (Termius was second-best) has dealbreaking flaws of one kind or another.Blink does not. It has flaws, but no dealbreakers. It also has several excellent and very useful day-to-day features that no other terminal app I have tried manages to implement all at once, and a few really good UI ideas I've never seen in a mobile terminal before. It's *relatively* stable for a mobile terminal app, the screen drawing issues aren't *usually* bad enough to force me to close the app and start over—a low bar, but no other app consistently meets it. And it feels and works remarkably like a NORMAL TERMINAL instead of somebody's fever dream of what the Terminal of the Future should be.The business model disgusts me. The *instant* I hear of an acceptable mobile terminal with an ethical business model, I will switch. I really hope I can do that before I need to pay next year's terminal rent. Two stars.
Either love it or hate it? I loved it.
Aug 16
IndioMaya
Based on the ratings, it seems that users either love or hate it. I am pleased with it, as it allows me to remotely open a terminal that is connected to my remote MacBook Pro. A terminal is not an interface for the faint-of-heart, but for more technically oriented users. It required some work on my MacBook Pro, though it was a breeze as ClaudeCode held my hand throughout the process. With this app now I can open a ClaudeCode terminal in my iPhone, or iPad, via SSH or MOSH, and work on it as if I was directly sitting in front my Mac. Worth $20/year in my opinion. Again: it requires some work on the Mac side. Based on the few reviews I read, seems to me, that those complaining either did not know how to set up the Mac side correctly, and/or do not want to pay for it. I have TailScale on my Mac, which made it easier though.
Either love it or hate it? I loved it.
Aug 16
IndioMaya

Based on the ratings, it seems that users either love or hate it. I am pleased with it, as it allows me to remotely open a terminal that is connected to my remote MacBook Pro. A terminal is not an interface for the faint-of-heart, but for more technically oriented users. It required some work on my MacBook Pro, though it was a breeze as ClaudeCode held my hand throughout the process. With this app now I can open a ClaudeCode terminal in my iPhone, or iPad, via SSH or MOSH, and work on it as if I was directly sitting in front my Mac. Worth $20/year in my opinion. Again: it requires some work on the Mac side. Based on the few reviews I read, seems to me, that those complaining either did not know how to set up the Mac side correctly, and/or do not want to pay for it. I have TailScale on my Mac, which made it easier though.

Blink 18.7.0 Three of Blink's core systems — the session engine, the layout manager and the appearance system — were rebuilt from the ground up. Everything should feel faster and far more predictable, and it lays the groundwork for what's coming next. BEFORE YOU UPDATE - Your running sessions will not be restored, for the first time in ten years— the session format changed. Please terminate any mosh-server processes on your remotes before updating, or you will leave them orphaned. NEW - Post-quantum SSH. Updated to LibSSH 0.12 and OpenSSL 3.0, adding support for post-quantum key exchange. SetEnv is now supported in SSH config and on the command line. - Fonts and themes. A new Appearance section: import fonts and themes from your device or straight from a URL, pick any monospaced font installed on your system, and assign an alternative theme that kicks in automatically in dark mode — or flip it live with the switchTheme shortcut. - A new Display section to separate features that pertain to layout. - A new session engine. Your workspace is now owned by a single engine that decides when sessions suspend, restore and stop. Day to day you may not notice a thing, and that is the point. - Smarter layouts. Cover, Fit and Fill were rebuilt with better math for every screen. Cover now properly covers the bottom of the terminal, Fit always respects the Status Bar, and the layout locks in place instead of being pulled around by the keyboard. - Pragmata updated to 903 with better symbols. FIXED - Blank terminal that needed an Enter to redraw - Mosh sessions occasionally needing a tab switch to resume - Software keyboard placement - Blink stealing focus back from apps running side by side - Paste landing on the previous terminal after opening a new window - Terminal font, theme and zoom silently resetting to defaults - Copying a selection containing wide characters returned the wrong text - Bookmarked folders not being reachable from the command line right after launch - Missing glyphs now fall back to Pragmata Pro. - IME colors, cursor blink saving, secondary click and drag, and an updated hterm - Several crashes when returning to the app AFTER YOU UPDATE Check your connections. We have been testing for months, but moving to LibSSH 0.12 and OpenSSL 3.0 touches every connection Blink makes. We will be prioritizing any Issues related to connections. mosh1, ssh2 and x-callback-url have been removed. The first two depended on libssh2 — use mosh and ssh instead. A new Commands system is on the way to replace x-callback-url; if that breaks a workflow you depend on, please get in touch. External displays. On A-series devices, projecting a terminal to an external display is now opt-in: turn it on in Settings > External Display. Apple Silicon devices drive external displays natively and no longer can use projection. Full notes on https://github.com/blinksh/blink/discussions/2247

Version 18.7.0 5d ago

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Accessibility

Information

Seller: Blink Shell, Inc
Size: 221.5 MB
Category: Developer Tools
Compatibility: Requires iOS 17.6 or later.

iPhone
Requires iOS 17.6 or later.

iPad
Requires iPadOS 17.6 or later.

Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.3 or later.
Location: This app may use your location even when it isn’t open, which can decrease device battery life.
Languages: English
Age Rating: 16+

16+

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Contains
Unrestricted Web Access
In-App Purchases: Yes

Blink+ $19.99

Blink+Build Basic $9.99

Blink Plus $19.99

Blink Shell Classic $0.00

Build Basic - 50 credits/month $7.99

Learn More