Questions And Answers

An SSH app for iPhone and iPad. Connect to your Macs, Linux servers and Raspberry Pis, run commands and use a full terminal, signing in with Face ID instead of passwords.

No. Add a server with its password, connect once, and tap Sign In With Face ID Next Time. The free Mac app just makes setup faster when you have several servers.

Your iPhone or iPad makes its own SSH key inside its security chip, the Secure Enclave. The key never leaves the chip, and the chip only uses it after Face ID or Touch ID. Your servers only ever see the public half, which is safe to share.

Yes. Tap Try The Demo at the bottom of the server list for a pretend server that runs on your phone. Nothing connects anywhere.

No, it's optional. Servers with a public address work from anywhere. Tailscale (or a VPN) only helps you reach a computer on your home or office network while you're away.

An iPhone or iPad on iOS or iPadOS 17 or later, and a computer or server you can reach over SSH.

DuoShell is in beta on TestFlight. Request access and we'll send you the link.

Yes. Tap Save As Snippet under any result, or add one in Settings → Snippets. More about snippets.

It's free during the beta. We'll announce any pricing before the App Store release.

Yes. There's nothing to type, phish or reuse, the key can't be copied off your device, and you can remove one device's access without changing anything else.

The key is useless without your face or passcode. To be sure, take it off your servers: on the device that set it up, Settings → Devices Added → Remove From Servers, or click Remove From Servers next to that phone in DuoShell Pair.

No. No account, no analytics, no tracking. See the privacy policy.

Only if you save one: in this device's Keychain. Passwords never sync, and DuoShell offers to forget one once Face ID works.

DuoShell remembers each server's identity and refuses to connect if it ever changes. Pairing with your Mac records it for you.

Yes for your keys and servers: the code works once and expires in 10 minutes, and every message is signed with it, so nothing else on the network can join in or change what's sent. The messages aren't encrypted, though, so someone watching that network could see your servers' names, addresses and usernames. Pair on a network you trust when you can. When one device sets up another, both also show a matching code: only approve when they're the same.

Yes, one hop. Edit the server and set Connect Through to the server you reach it from; that server must sign in with Face ID or a key. See Connect Through Another Server.

Yes. Open the server and switch to the Files tab to browse, preview, share, upload, rename and delete files over SFTP. See Browse, Share And Upload Files.

Yes. After sudo -i or su in the Terminal, open the Files tab and it offers to browse as that user, asking for your sudo password if needed. See Browse, Share And Upload Files.

Yes. In the Terminal, tap the microphone and say the command, using words like "dash" and "slash" for symbols. You check the words before anything is sent. Speech is recognized on your device and never recorded.

Anything that runs SSH: Macs, Linux servers and VPSs, Raspberry Pis and most NAS boxes.

System Settings → General → Sharing → turn on Remote Login. Then connect to the Mac's name ending in .local.

For a computer on your home or office network, install Tailscale on it and on your phone, then add its 100. address under Edit Server → Advanced → More Addresses. See the guide.

Use Add Another Device on an iPhone or iPad that already signs in, pair with your Mac if it can, or copy your device's public key from Settings and add it to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server.

Yes. Touch and hold the Terminal for Copy, Paste, Select Text and Select All, or use the ⋯ menu. See Use The Terminal.

The connection ended before the server replied. The command may still have finished, so reconnect and check.

It keeps your Terminal session running on the server if your phone disconnects. Turn on Keep My Terminal Session Alive and DuoShell picks up where you left off.

Yes, if it's an unencrypted Ed25519 or ECDSA P-256 key: import it in Settings. RSA and passphrase-protected keys aren't supported yet.

Yes. Set any port in Edit Server.

It's a small menu-bar app. Scan its code with your phone and it adds your phone's key to the servers your Mac can already reach.

Yes. It's signed with our Developer ID and notarized by Apple. It isn't in the Mac App Store because the App Store doesn't allow apps to run ssh. Download it here.

The phone would sign in as a different account than your Mac uses, so DuoShell Pair can't add the key itself. Add the key line it shows to that account by hand.

Connect once from Terminal on the Mac (ssh you@server), accept the fingerprint, then pair again.

Yes. Approve the 1Password prompt on the Mac while pairing.

Yes, with the same features.

DuoShell is made for iPhone Duo's big inner screen, and its Laptop Keyboard puts Esc, Control, Tab and arrows in the bottom half of the Terminal. How it works.

Your server list and snippets, through your own iCloud. Keys and passwords never sync: set up a new device from one that's already set up with Add Another Device, or sign in once on it and turn on Face ID there too.

Yes, with no Mac. On an iPhone or iPad that already signs in with Face ID, open Settings → Add Another Device, then scan its code with the new one and check both show the same matching code. See Set Up Another iPhone Or iPad.

No. Deletions sync too, so a server you delete stays deleted everywhere.

Not yet; it's on the roadmap. tmux covers most of what people use Mosh for: turn on Keep My Terminal Session Alive and a dropped connection picks up where you left off.

Servers that ask extra sign-in questions aren't supported yet. They still work with a key.

Email [email protected], or use Send Beta Feedback in the TestFlight app.