SSH Client - Secure ShellFish Ratings and Reviews

just an excellent tool, continuously extended and cared for

I'd written a five-star more than a year ago, and find much appreciation often enough, for the thought forward and care of abilities this developer steadily provides.

It does 'just work' -- and with many of those features making it very smooth, quick, and nice to use. I monitor and upgrade my droplets from it regularly, very nice to be able to do that on the iPad. And the multi-window full-screen support into Linux means complex matters can be handled as easily -- think more than one vi, a shell window, a monitoring one too...

If I had anything to wish for, it would just be a password ing option, for the one-button signin that's so effective, handling my certificate etc. so that getting in is very rapid indeed -- which is why it could happily have some smooth protection, no? Thanks again, for a very thoughtfully provided and very enjoyable tool!

Indispensable, best ssh and remote files app for iPadOS

Secure ShellFish is truly amazing. I use it for hours per day. The ssh experience is second to none, with outstanding tmux support and a super well thought out user interface and user experience. To make things even better, Secure ShellFish also allows remote server access as folders in the Files app. This has a knock on effect of making other development tools like Working Copy and Textastic even more useful than they already were. The developer is *extremely* responsive to feedback and goes way out of his way to track down bugs and incorporate features based on user input. I’m sure he’s heard enough from me to last him a lifetime, but he’s always super friendly and very accommodating. Top notch customer support, to say the least. I love you, Secure ShellFish. Never leave me, because I’m never leaving you.

Developer Response ,

Thank you ☺️

Awesome app

UPDATE: Turning off “Recognise Files” solved my issue and all is well now - thank you!!

Just started using this app. When it works, it’s great and it has nice features. Unfortunately it seems to break more than it works however. The UI constantly locks, whether when I’m about to type a new command in the terminal, trying to run a command within vi, or simply pressing the return key in any circumstance - the UI for the app completely locks up (on-screen keyboard included) for 5-10 seconds. At that point, it will either start working again, or the app will crash and I’m back at my iPad Home Screen.

I’d love to see these kinks worked out! Just starting to look for a shell for SSHing into my home server from my iPad and this app seems to have much more potential over the competition in terms of features and usability (I’ve purchased the Pro unlock too).

Developer Response ,

That sounds awful and I would really like to get to the bottom of this.
Can you tell me if disabling “Recognise files” in terminal settings makes a difference?

Very happy to hear that you are now able to use the terminal without it locking. I will investigate why this “Recognise files” option sometimes causes problems and I hope you will be able to enable it soon.

SSH Sync with a Fun Twist!

Secure ShellFish has been a game-changer for me. At the top of the list for me is the seamless sync of SSH keys between my iOS and macOS devices; this makes server access effortless, no matter where I am. I love starting tasks at home and finishing them on my iPhone when I'm out and about.

All of the premium features are worth it—more useful than I anticipated when I first downloaded the app for free. The terminal is smooth, supports all the essential gestures, and file transfers are a breeze with drag-and-drop functionality. An unexpected delight (for an old soul like me) was the CRT Emulator: a surprisingly fun setting to toggle when the mood strikes.

Bottom line, I highly recommend Secure ShellFish for anyone working remotely with SSH servers. I have other apps that do similar things, but this is the one I default to 90% of the time.

Great cross-platform ssh program!

ShellFish is a great program if you use SSH on multiple devices, such as Mac and iOS, since config (including keys!) is sync'ed between devices. Support for tmux and jump servers is really nice, and I like the ability to specify multiple possible hosts, so you can set up an optimized local access as well as access via a gateway server. Native support for tmux is great too, since it removes the need to support "persistent" ssh connections — instead, reconnecting rejoins a session.

Making files available (via SFTP) is really nice too, since it removes the need for editors (like Sublime) to support SFTP directly. Instead, they can just open and edit files normally, with ShellFish handling the details.

Overall, a really nice terminal program that I'm increasingly using in place of (free!) iTerm. It's that good.

It is just a great app, period.

This a just a really great app. I am a programmer, and I probably spend about 50% of my time on my iPad in this app. It is just that good. The developer is talented, not to mention both friendly and responsive if you reach out to them. I bought this app many years ago now, myself and I have never once regretted my purchase. I only wish all the software that I used on a daily basis was developed with the same level of attention to detail and quality.

If you want to encourage quality software development, the kind which comes from an artisan and not some megacorp, you are going to want to show that is how you feel by purchasing this app. I really do not see how you could possibly go wrong by doing so.

I'm just being honest; facts. 👍🏻🫡

Magical, irreplaceable.

As developer Anders Borum originated professional-grade git integration on iOS with Working Copy, which remains unmatched, Secure Shellfish remains the reference standard for remote filesystem access across the board on this platform, despite how many competitors have arisen since its introduction. I must admit: I overlooked Secure Shellfish for years and I'm not entirely sure why. I'm glad that ended last year, though, as I've actually since acquired a fair amount of remote file management in my day-to-day working life. Shellfish's magic isn't necessarily obvious, but I promise you it is worth finding out, and what may at first glance look like a somewhat disjointed series of functions actually comes together to form an absolutely irreplaceable application.

The best SSH experience on iOS

This is such a great app. Before Shellfish I’d find myself reaching for my Mac if I wanted to shell into a server. Now I just grab my iPad because this makes it so easy.

The developer is very responsive to feedback and bug reports and the updates keep coming. Sometimes in a niche app like this I’m afraid to get excited for it because so many other apps like it have been abandoned. That doesn’t seem to be the case here, the developer keeps cranking out these great little quality improvements that make the app better and better.

For example: if you exited a shell with “logout”, the window would dim but stay there. I always wondered why but it wasn’t a big deal to hit cmd+w to close it. Now the latest update automatically closes the window on exit. Is that amazing? No it’s not, but it’s just another little touch that makes the app better today than it was yesterday.

I haven’t even touched on the integration with Files app which is super handy too.

If you need to shell into servers and/or copy files to them, you have to check out this app.

How did I live without this?

This app is indespensable, period. Even if your not interested in an SSH client, the files app integration is the most stable I have seen yet.

As far as the SSH side of things goes the only real improvment I'd like to see is with "Snippits". I'd really like to have the ability to "Favorite" certain ones and have them directly in the right click menu.

The files integration is second to none! Literally more reliable than iCloud Drive lol. I'm really hoping the developer might spend some time putting in some "quality of life" improvments into the files aspect. I'd love to see things such as:

-Showing/generating thumbnails for all image/video formats even if they dont already have one in exif.

-Show thumbnail/preview for any file types that support it. (Docx, PSD, PDF, etc...)

-Set a default app for certain file types on iOS/iPadOS.

Other than that I just wish there was a community page, something like a user forum, or a Subreddit. Somewhere users can share tips and get advice with some of the more advanced features.

Best Option for SFTP File Access

This app is the best I’ve found by far for accessing files via sftp. It allows you to view these remote folders easily from the iOS file browser, as well as have specific remote subdirectories sync with your device locally so a constant network connection is not even needed.

Also I had a problem using the offline folder access initially since it caused the app to crash, but I contacted the developer and they quickly redirected me to the TestFlight version of the app which fixed the bug. So very great support from the developer!