Prompt 2

I am still getting used to the amazing concept of ssh-ing into a server on an iPad. The terminal emulation has so far proven to be faultless, and the interface works well. With a Bluetooth keyboard, it's as functional as a laptop. I was demonstrating how data were being written to a MySQL database by a balance, and being read and updated from a FileMaker database, all on my iPad. Amazing. You can even store a public key in a saved server, which in my case skips me around the two-factor authentication hassle. Being bugged to switch back to Prompt to keep it connected is making me crazy. I have had to do that a number of times while writing this review, and the App Store app stops taking keyboard input when I switch out. Sigh. It's an unavoidable restriction imposed by Apple. If the programmers at Panic are ever sitting around trying to think of a bone to throw us users, the ability to change screen colors (background, type, etc.) would be cool, or the ability to create themes (or even a few more themes) would be nice.

Perhaps the most crucial app on my iPad Mini. Deals with the space- and UI constraints in a sensible way. I actually love the way that I need to re-authN to the app each time I switch to it (and that biometric is an option for authN), and the fact that the devs took pains to prevent data leakage via app-switcher thumbnails. Just enough assignable keys to drag heavily-used symbols (pipe, underscore) up and out of where Apple buried them on the default keyboards. Finally, very pleased with Prompt 2’s (so far, fully-transparent) IPv6 support. I’d recommend it to anyone who needs SSH on the go. Kudos!

I wrote an earlier review that I cannot locate but stated only one issue with this app, the termination of sessions. The developer responded and provided an acceptable answer. The fault is not with the app but with Apple's regulations which force developers to comply with a ten minute background process limit. This should be a setting I can override. If I want a background app to run indefinitely, discharging my battery regardless, I should be able to. Five stars for this app, best SSH client for iPhone and iPad.

ask user to change the rating

Very shady for a sensitive security app to be making unsolicited third party connections. It should only be reaching out to servers I explicitly connect to. Developer doesn’t seem to be privacy minded. Edit: You can say that you care about privacy but as long as your app is making connections that I did not initiate, it means very little. First, it should be opt-in, not opt-out, because by the time the user navigates to the option to opt out, it has already sent some information out to third parties. Second, even with the setting toggled to opt out, it’s still opening random connections, so this setting is insufficient anyway. Earlier versions never did this.

This app works great as a basic SSH client. But if you use a external keyboard and use Emacs as your terminal editor, Prompt 2 will not work because it will not interpret the Option key as a meta key, but instead will just insert “funky” characters. I asked the Prompt 2 developers about re-binding Option to a Meta key, and their answer was “I’m afraid there’s no way to change/bind/unbind keys on the keyboard right now. … Your best bet in this case is to use the on-screen keys to use meta or ESC.” They must have never used Emacs, because clicking on-screen for a meta key is not even close to a solution.