SSH, SFTP, RDP and VNC on iPhone and iPad
A native iOS client, not a web wrapper. Open a shell from the train, pull a file off a server, take over a Windows desktop, bring up a VPN, all with the profiles you already saved on your Mac.
- Pro $12.99 once
- Universal Purchase
- No account
- Made in France
Profiles
On iOS
Everything native, nothing wrapped
Each protocol runs on a real iOS implementation, with the system keyboard, the share sheet and credentials in the Keychain behind Face ID.
Terminal with a key row
esc, tab, ctrl and the arrows sit above the keyboard, so a shell is genuinely usable on a phone.
SFTPFiles, both ways
Browse, download and upload through the share sheet, the Files app or Photos.
RDPProWindows on a tablet
Sign in with NLA or an Active Directory account. Trackpad, hardware keyboard and Apple Pencil on iPad.
VNCProScreens you can take over
A Linux desktop, a Raspberry Pi or a media centre, from the sofa.
IKEv2 · IPSec · OpenVPNProiOS onlyThe private network first
Bring the VPN up, then reach the hosts that are not exposed publicly. iPhone and iPad only: the Mac App Store build has no VPN.
Tunnels · ToolsPort forwarding and diagnostics
Local (-L) tunnels, and remote (-R) ones with Pro, plus ping, traceroute, DNS and port checks. SOCKS5 (-D) stays on the Mac.
Free network diagnostics are built in, on the phone as on the Mac: ping, traceroute and DNS lookup, plus whois, MX and blacklist checks.
One purchase, three devices
Universal Purchase: buy Pro once on any of them and it unlocks on all of them, under your Apple ID. Turn on iCloud sync and your profiles follow.
iPhone & iPad
SSH · SFTP · RDP · VNC, the VPN (IKEv2, IPSec, OpenVPN), local (-L) and remote (-R) tunnels, the network tools and Face ID.
macOS only
Broadcast mode, the OTP authenticator, SOCKS5 (-D) tunnels, FTP and FTPS, the serial console, Telnet, the in-terminal AI assistant and the MCP server.
- Rated 4.8/5 on the App Store: 18 ratings, Mac and iPhone combined, as of September 21, 2026
- Download size: 24.2 MB
- Privacy label: Data Not Collected
- Read the reviews on the App Store
Pricing
Free to start. Pro is $12.99, once.
No subscription, no account, no trial. The free tier gives you 2 concurrent SSH sessions, 5 saved profiles and the SFTP browser. Pro adds RDP, VNC, the VPN client, unlimited sessions and iCloud sync, and it covers your Mac too.
- iOS 17+ · iPadOS 17+
- No ads, no tracking
- Face ID + Keychain
FAQ
Questions
What can the Mac do that the iPhone and iPad cannot?
The phone and the tablet speak SSH, SFTP, RDP and VNC. The Mac adds FTP and FTPS, the serial console, Telnet, broadcast mode, the OTP authenticator, SOCKS (-D) tunnels, the in-terminal AI assistant and the MCP server. The tunnel line is narrower than it sounds: local (-L) and remote (-R) both work on the phone, and SOCKS is the single one that stays on the Mac, because no iOS app can consume a SOCKS proxy listening on the device itself. It goes the other way once: the VPN client, with IKEv2, IPSec and OpenVPN, is on iPhone and iPad only. A profile that the Mac created for a protocol the phone cannot open still syncs across, and the phone shows it rather than pretending it is not there.
Is a terminal really usable on a phone?
For reading a log, restarting a service or firing a saved snippet, yes. For a long editing session, reach for the iPad or the Mac; we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. What makes the phone workable is the bar above the keyboard: Esc, Tab, Ctrl, Alt, the four arrows, and the characters a shell needs that iOS buries: | / ~ - and _. Ctrl and Alt stay lit while they are armed, so you can see that Ctrl-C is about to be sent instead of guessing. Pinch the terminal to change the font size, and your snippets are one tap away in the toolbar. One caveat, because it was real: up to 1.2.3, Ctrl and Alt on that bar never reached what you typed, as an App Store review rightly complained. Since 1.2.4 they drive the terminal's own modifiers, so Ctrl then C sends ^C.
What exactly syncs between my devices?
Connection profiles, folders and snippets, through your own iCloud account: a Pro feature, off until you turn it on, with no server of ours in between. The passwords and keys those profiles use are copied into your iCloud Keychain, which carries them to your other devices where iCloud Keychain is turned on. One behaviour that has surprised people: deleting a profile also removes the matching entry from your SSH known_hosts file.
How do I create my first connection?
On iPhone and iPad: open the Profiles tab, tap + at the top right, choose New profile, pick SSH, SFTP, RDP or VNC, fill in the host and tap Log in. On the Mac: New connection at the top of the Connections sidebar. If the + is not visible on an iPad, resize the window: a layout bug hid it in split view until version 1.2.2.
What languages is SSHive available in?
The Mac app is in English, French, German and Spanish; the iPhone and iPad app is in English, French and Spanish. Each opens in your system language when it has it, and you can choose another one in Settings. The first versions shipped in French only, and for a while a switch to English did not stick; both are fixed.
Which VNC servers does SSHive work with? Does it reach a Raspberry Pi?
On the Mac, SSHive handles these authentication methods: VNC password, RSA-AES, VeNCrypt / X.509 and Apple Screen Sharing. That covers a Raspberry Pi today, both RealVNC's RSA-AES and wayvnc's VeNCrypt variant, but only since macOS 2.0.4 and 2.0.5, released in September 2026 after a customer hit exactly that wall. On iPhone and iPad the client is a different engine, with its own list: VNC password, RSA-AES, UltraVNC MS-Logon II and Apple Screen Sharing. VeNCrypt with X.509 is the one Mac method the phone does not do, so a wayvnc host that insists on it answers the Mac and not the phone. We do not claim every VNC server in the world: if yours refuses, the error now names the method it wanted, and sending us that line is usually enough.