<![CDATA[Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell.]]>Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. It's a local terminal emulator, just with far fewer packages than Termux. No, it doesn't have Emacs, sadly.

So, a few days ago, they released a new version with some update:

Version 2.0.0, 2d ago, - new terminal rendering system (SwiftTerm), much faster than the previous one, but with incompatible changes - better integration with VoiceOver - better autocomplete - new config options, for blinking cursors - multi-arrow buttons on iPhones - better user interface for the internal browser - added Python package: curl-cffi

Did y'all catch that? It works with VoiceOver. Yeah, it's because of a library they're using, but when does some random app on the Play Store ever mention TalkBack? This is why iOS accessibility feels so good: because of the app developers who know about VoiceOver and make their apps feel good to use and sensible.

-shell

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/2fde93cb-e3e4-4069-b837-949744a759a1/okay-y-all-so-there-s-this-app-on-ios-called-a-shell.RSS for NodeThu, 14 May 2026 22:34:05 GMTMon, 04 May 2026 02:15:33 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 22:37:09 GMT]]>@simon @techsinger @Bri Wait, did I say no apps do? Okay, yeah that was too far, but I've maybe only seen one.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116518697685682723https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116518697685682723Mon, 04 May 2026 22:37:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 22:19:49 GMT]]>@techsinger @Bri I mean, false is an absolute. If *some* app developers are mentioning Talkback, it's still happening, so to say it never happens is still wrong.
Also, I've noticed that Android seems to have fewer completely invisible controls, though it could just be my experience with the apps I've used. I've seen interfaces that are essentially identical across Android and iOS, with VoiceOver completely unable to see a particular control even though Talkback can find it. Maybe the control isn't labeled, but even then, there's a built-in option to describe it.
So the more iOS continues to degrade in stupid ways, the more it starts to feel like they're on a level playing field. And I still think there's an adoption problem, where most people have to choose one or the other and they choose iOS, so there aren't as many people trying to get app developers to implement Talkback support. If there's only one mention of Talkback for every five mentions of VoiceOver, there's only one full-time Android user for every 25 blind iOS users. Not enough people are willing to be part of the change they want to see. I honestly think it's impressive that we have so many accessible apps available to us on an OS which is very much the "other" option in this community.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://procrastodon.net/users/simon/statuses/116518629537867131https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://procrastodon.net/users/simon/statuses/116518629537867131Mon, 04 May 2026 22:19:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 10:03:49 GMT]]>@pixelate Can you please send the link to the app? I'm not able to find it on Appstore.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/akash07k/statuses/116515735417407388https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/akash07k/statuses/116515735417407388Mon, 04 May 2026 10:03:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 03:30:24 GMT]]>@vick21 @ZBennoui Practical depends. But I ran some commands, and it reads.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116514188462650826https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116514188462650826Mon, 04 May 2026 03:30:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 03:24:29 GMT]]>@pixelate @ZBennoui Are you using the app by any chance? Is it practical to use it on the phone with touch gestures and such?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/vick21/statuses/116514165199869324https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/vick21/statuses/116514165199869324Mon, 04 May 2026 03:24:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 03:00:08 GMT]]>@Bri @simon <rotfl> What a life. You know, just once, I'd like to use a mainstream thing and not to think about accessibility at all, just to get it as a given.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/techsinger/statuses/116514069441406807https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/techsinger/statuses/116514069441406807Mon, 04 May 2026 03:00:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:57:59 GMT]]>@techsinger @simon nevermind forget I even commented. Lmao

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fwoof.space/users/Bri/statuses/116514061000957248https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fwoof.space/users/Bri/statuses/116514061000957248Mon, 04 May 2026 02:57:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:56:43 GMT]]>@simon @Bri Is it completely false? For every mention of TB in an app update on Android, I see maybe three or four mentions in iOS apps. I always feel like many, if not most, Apple devs treat accessibility as a nice to have so long as they don't have to do any actual work. Most Android devs, though, treat it as something they might have heard of, at some point, maybe... My point is that it's an afterthought on iOS and not a thought at all on Android. Granted that this isn't always the case, what I'm saying is that it's the common case, the usual thing. As I said, 5/10, if that, on iOS, but there is a difference between that and 3/10 on Android. Again, one of the greatest disappointments of the past twenty years. So much potential wasted.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/techsinger/statuses/116514056004915312https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/techsinger/statuses/116514056004915312Mon, 04 May 2026 02:56:43 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:41:56 GMT]]>@techsinger Yeah, I think @Bri was pointing out that this exact nuance didn't exist in the original post. To say that nobody mentions Talkback in Android app updates/descriptions is just completely false. And it's often the small obscure projects that do pay attention to accessibility, on both operating systems.
I'm certainly excited to try this out though. Maybe I can rangle it into behaving as an adequate SSH client.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://procrastodon.net/users/simon/statuses/116513997868530823https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://procrastodon.net/users/simon/statuses/116513997868530823Mon, 04 May 2026 02:41:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:39:07 GMT]]>@Bri @pixelate Isn't that the reasonable thing to do? Accessibility on Android is a disaster, but the OS itself and what people can do with it is great. iOS is far worse as an OS, and slightly better in terms of accessibility. If anyone talks about one and never complains about it, or talks about the other and never praises it, I would know he didn't really understand. To point out the good and bad bits of both is basically what you have to do as a user, isn't it? I wish I could have the accessibility of iOS with the capability of Android but,as it stands, that isn't on the list of possibilities. That, BTW, is not saying that iOS accessibility is anything wonderful. 5/10 where Android is 3/10, at least with Talkback.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/techsinger/statuses/116513986827579854https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/techsinger/statuses/116513986827579854Mon, 04 May 2026 02:39:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:30:59 GMT]]>@Willow Okay "pkg search" does give a list of packages.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116513954792088899https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116513954792088899Mon, 04 May 2026 02:30:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:30:50 GMT]]>@pixelate yeah hence the dot. i suppose a hyphen would work too]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.translunar.academy/objects/7a689e99-0d93-4b0f-8268-db9a8e0857fdhttps://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.translunar.academy/objects/7a689e99-0d93-4b0f-8268-db9a8e0857fdMon, 04 May 2026 02:30:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:29:01 GMT]]>@Willow Tried that with Emacs, nothing. Although I haven't tried with an empty search before.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116513947072180422https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116513947072180422Mon, 04 May 2026 02:29:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:27:14 GMT]]>@pixelate what if you do like , `pkg search .`?]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.translunar.academy/objects/326cc590-0ede-40ca-a421-09e8ca7ff416https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.translunar.academy/objects/326cc590-0ede-40ca-a421-09e8ca7ff416Mon, 04 May 2026 02:27:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:26:02 GMT]]>@Willow It has pkg but I've not found any packages from there yet. Like no info or rust or anything.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116513935335495128https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116513935335495128Mon, 04 May 2026 02:26:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:23:35 GMT]]>@pixelate does it have any packages at all? i see no mention of a package manager on the app store or GitHub repo]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.translunar.academy/objects/45a44624-1db3-41f8-9a08-1a0678f2cd32https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.translunar.academy/objects/45a44624-1db3-41f8-9a08-1a0678f2cd32Mon, 04 May 2026 02:23:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:20:57 GMT]]>@Bri Meh, unfortunately I'm only human, and not a particularly good one at that.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116513915343953140https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tweesecake.social/users/pixelate/statuses/116513915343953140Mon, 04 May 2026 02:20:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Okay y'all, so there's this app on iOS called A-shell. on Mon, 04 May 2026 02:17:05 GMT]]>@pixelate LOL you just go with whatever looks good at the time. Sometimes you're mad hella complaining about iOS and bragging about android, sometimes like now you're doing the complete opposite.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fwoof.space/users/Bri/statuses/116513900153210309https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://fwoof.space/users/Bri/statuses/116513900153210309Mon, 04 May 2026 02:17:05 GMT