What SpectaShell does not do
Last updated: 2026-11-01
Some things other terminals do, SpectaShell leaves out on purpose, and a few are still to come. Each is here with the reason, so you know what to use instead.
Notifications while you are away#
While you are away from all your devices, only a shell in a keeper can tell you something, and only what its program says. A host's keeper sends when a program needs you, is done or sends a notification, and when a long command ends (see When you are away). A bell, a trigger's match and a connection that ended are noticed by SpectaShell itself, not by the host, so they reach you only while it runs; an iPad or iPhone stops SpectaShell soon after it leaves the screen. A plain SSH shell has no keeper, and usually ends with its connection (see On the iPad and iPhone).
No mosh#
SpectaShell reaches hosts over SSH, without mosh. Keepers already keep a shell across a lost connection, a sleeping device and a quit app, which is what mosh is used for, over plain SSH with no UDP port to open; mosh would need its own server installed on every host. What mosh still does better is a slow link: it shows what you type before the host answers (predictive echo), which SpectaShell does not. See Shells that keep running.
A serial adapter plugged into an iPad#
A USB serial adapter plugged straight into an iPad or iPhone is not supported yet. It needs a driver for each adapter's chip that Apple approves, and an iPad with an M-series chip. A serial port of a Mac or a Linux host opens on every device, held by that machine's keeper (see Serial ports and telnet).
Apple devices only#
SpectaShell runs on the Mac, the iPad and the iPhone only (macOS 15, iPadOS 18 and iOS 18 or later). It is made of each platform's own controls, and keeps each device's key in its Secure Enclave where the device has one, so there is no version for Windows, Linux or Android. Any machine you can reach over SSH can be a host.
No local shell on the iPad or iPhone#
On an iPad or iPhone, every shell is on another machine. iPadOS and iOS run no shell of their own. Your Mac can be one of the hosts the iPad and iPhone reach (see No local shell).
No pictures in the terminal#
Pictures that programs draw in a terminal are not shown — imgcat, the kitty graphics protocol, sixel. The terminal shows text. To look at an image on a host, open it in SFTP, where it shows in Quick Look (see Files, ports and pages).
No password vault#
SpectaShell never stores a password or a passphrase, so there is none to sync. A connection asks for one each time it needs it. To log in without typing one, let a host take this device's key: SpectaShell offers to add it after you log in with a password (see Your devices, keys and iCloud). Each device has a key of its own, which never leaves it.
The one kind of secret SpectaShell keeps is a cloud account's credentials, for listing its machines. They are kept in the Keychain, and reach your other devices through iCloud Keychain when you leave that on, not with the rest of what syncs.
Port forwarding in one direction#
A forward opens a port of a host on this device, and on this device only. It listens on 127.0.0.1, never on your network, since SpectaShell runs no network service of its own, and it reaches the port on the host itself (localhost there). Forwards from the host back to your device (ssh -R) and SOCKS proxies (ssh -D) are not offered. See Files, ports and pages.