# ish-app/ish

Linux shell for iOS

Repository: https://github.com/ish-app/ish
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/ish
Homepage: https://ish.app
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: linux, ios, emulator, hacktoberfest
Last push: 2026-08-22T06:20:13+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 86/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 60, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3408, "days_push": 11, "days_rel": 11, "gap_med": 6.0, "n_releases_24m": 89}
- flags: prerelease_only, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 20369, forks 1497 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:30.031983+00:00)

## What it is
iSH is an iOS/iPadOS app that runs a Linux shell locally using a usermode x86 emulator and syscall translation. It ships an Alpine Linux environment so users can run common command-line tools on their iPhone or iPad.

## Use cases
- run a linux terminal on iphone
- use shell commands on ipad
- run alpine linux on ios
- ssh and edit files from a mobile terminal
- learn linux command line on a phone
- run busybox tools on ios

## When to choose
- you want a real Linux shell environment on an iPhone or iPad without jailbreaking
- you need lightweight command-line tools like sed, cat, and ssh on the go
- you want an open-source terminal app you can build or extend yourself

## When to avoid
- you need native ARM performance or heavy workloads - x86 emulation is slow
- you need a full desktop Linux distribution or GUI applications
- you need guaranteed App Store availability - the app has faced removal disputes with Apple

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: interpreter, cli, terminal-ui, file-system
- domain: operating-systems, developer-tools, cross-platform
- platform: cpp, c
- tags: x86-emulation, linux-shell, syscall-translation, alpine-linux, terminal-emulator, usermode-emulator, command-line, ios, mobile

## Member repositories
- ish-app/ish (main) score 86

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:30.031983+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T16:59:01.374260+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/ish-app/ish (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:30.031983+00:00, sha 974f95afd6b5)
  - homepage: https://ish.app (fetched 2026-08-29T07:57:33.111044+00:00, sha f8e51de2d1da)
  - site_page: https://ish.app/blog/app-store-removal (fetched 2026-08-29T07:57:33.120823+00:00, sha 8c909c2605bc)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.