Cathode is the iconic retro terminal on iOS, phosphor glow, scanlines, optional barrel distortion, the lot. It was built by Secret Geometry around the aesthetic, and that aesthetic is the point. ShellDrop is the opposite: a modern flat terminal aimed at people who want to keep a tmux session attached to Claude Code on a headless Mac Mini and not think about how the type looks.
Comparing them feels almost unfair. They're in the same App Store category and that's about where the overlap ends. Side-by-side anyway.
| ShellDrop | Cathode | |
|---|---|---|
| Is this iOS terminal app a piece of art? | yes | no |
| Pricing model | Free. No in-app purchases. | Paid one-time purchase (when available) |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad (iOS 17+) | iPhone, iPad (historic; check App Store) |
| Aesthetic | Modern flat dark | CRT phosphor, scanlines, distortion |
| Account required | No | No |
| Telemetry | None | Limited (see App Store privacy) |
| SSH | Yes | Yes |
| Public-key auth (SSH keys) | Yes (v4.1.0+, Secure Enclave P-256) | Yes |
| tmux single-finger scroll | Yes | Standard scroll |
| iPad layout (incl. 13" iPad Pro M4) | Universal app, full-canvas landscape, centred toolbar | iPad supported (historic) |
| Custom command shortcut | One Tap toolbar button (v3.1.4+) | Snippets |
| Latest release | v4.1.x (May 2026) | Check App Store listing |
ShellDrop is built with the design as a feature. The hero is a live cyan mesh that breathes behind the brand, six droplet nodes drifting on the edges with master-shot lines tracing connections between them. Switching from Home to a session triggers a per-element shrink cascade where the layout itself animates. The droplet metaphor carries from the App Store icon through tabs and sessions. Built natively in SwiftUI for iOS 17+.
Single-finger swipe through tmux scrollback. Esc, Ctrl-C, arrow keys, Shift-Tab, and a tmux detach button on the toolbar at all times. Built around the workflow of leaving a coding agent running in tmux and checking in from a phone.
v4.1.0 generates P-256 keys inside the iPhone Secure Enclave. Private key cannot be exported. Ed25519 generation and paste-import of unencrypted OpenSSH keys also supported.
No up-front cost.
This is the whole reason Cathode exists and it is genuinely well executed. The CRT effect is faithful, the typography fits the look, and the app is a small piece of design history. If you want your terminal to feel like a Mac SE running NetHack at 2am, Cathode is the app.
Cathode historically supported local-shell-style use (telnet to bbs etc) and worked as a self-contained vintage object. ShellDrop is SSH-only.
Phosphor colour, scanline intensity, screen curvature, ambient hum. All the dials are there if you want them.
Cathode's App Store availability has been patchy across iOS generations. It's beloved for its CRT aesthetics but not as actively updated as Termius or Blink. Check the App Store for current status.
It runs tmux over SSH like any vt-compatible terminal. It is not built around tmux the way ShellDrop is.
Yes. Free on the App Store, no in-app purchases, no subscription, no account.
A single opinionated dark theme. No CRT shader or theme picker. For aesthetic customisation, Cathode is the app built for it.
ShellDrop. tmux scroll, dedicated Esc / Ctrl-C / arrow keys, background keep-alive, One Tap for firing commands at the agent.
ShellDrop is on the App Store. Universal iPhone and iPad, iOS 17+. Free, no subscription.
