In review with Apple, releases on approval. Includes everything from 5.1.8 (22 September 2026).
One Tap server connect. Are you connecting to one server 90% of the time? This setting applies to you. The droplet + button on the terminal screen opens a new tab straight to your chosen server, no Launchpad detour. Settings > Terminal > One Tap server connect
One tap paste. A paste key on the keyboard toolbars drops your clipboard into the terminal, no menu. Turn it on in Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard toolbars > Paste key. To stop iOS asking every time: iOS Settings > Apps > ShellDrop > Paste from Other Apps > Allow
Live activities read a session with a background shell as still running, and hold steady while the phone is locked. Quiet time before a session is flagged now defaults to 10 seconds. Settings > Agents > Live activities
The keyboard button on the collapsed toolbar always sits at the far left.
User Guide contents jump straight to each section.
Security updates to the SSH libraries (swift-nio, swift-crypto).
v5.1.7
Live activities for your agents, snippets, Siri
18 September 2026
Live activities for your agents: on the lock screen and dynamic island, plus home screen and lock screen widgets showing the same. One card per server, one row per Tmux session. When an agent stops at a prompt or permission question, its row says so, with a timer. Works with Claude Code, Codex, Grok CLI and Hermes, reads the session itself, no server setup. Off by default, in Settings under Agents, Agent needs you.
Snippets. Saved text, sent to the terminal with one tap, with an optional return after it. Pin favourites to the keyboard toolbars. Your One Tap command is now the first.
Siri. Say "Connect to my server in ShellDrop", using any saved connection's name. Also from the Shortcuts app, the action button and control centre.
Set up a key from your password login. ShellDrop creates the key, installs it on the server and switches the connection over once it works.
Settings reorganised around what you're doing: Terminal, Keyboard, Agents, Login and connections, General.
A tab key on both keyboard toolbars, switchable in Settings.
Sound effects no longer pause other apps' audio, and cues survive a call or other interruption.
iPad rotates to all four orientations.
Fixed: iCloud sync status in Settings now shows real mirror events.
v5.1.5
SSH engine security update, Face ID fix
9 September 2026
The SSH engine is updated to SwiftNIO SSH 0.15.0, which fixes CVE-2026-43798. The bug is a memory-safety issue that a malicious or intercepting server could trigger during key exchange, without authenticating first. Everyone running ShellDrop should install this update.
Fixed a Face ID bug. On some devices the saved connections list, the key picker and the SSH keys screen could trigger repeated Face ID prompts, and sometimes crash the app. Those screens no longer touch Face ID at all. It now appears when you actually connect with a protected key.
The login area in Settings is now Login and Connections.
Camera roll mode for the paperclip. If you attach photos far more often than you send a video or a file, switch it on in Settings and a plain tap on the paperclip opens your camera roll. Tap and hold it for the file, image and video menu. Off by default.
While camera roll mode is on, the button becomes a photo icon with a small paperclip in the corner, so you can tell at a glance which mode you are in. Both keyboard toolbars carry it.
Tmux auto-attach now explains itself when it cannot find your session. If your server does not publish its session name as the terminal title, reattaching has nothing to aim at. ShellDrop points you straight at the one-time server setup in Settings, under Tmux tab-name sync.
Small fixes and polish.
The redesigned camera roll mode icon, the photo glyph with a small paperclip badged into its top-right corner, shipped a day later in 5.1.4.
v5.1.2
Close Tab, hardware keyboard paste, VPN reconnect
15 August 2026
Close Tab in the terminal tap-and-hold menu, with a toggle in Settings.
Paste with a hardware keyboard on iPad. Cmd+V and trackpad right-click now paste straight into the terminal.
Connections that die after a VPN switch are detected and reconnected automatically.
Auto-reconnect re-attaches your Tmux session, and the terminal reflows to full width afterwards, so a session resumed from the background no longer comes back in narrow columns.
Voice Drop. Tap the mic on the keyboard toolbar and drop your words straight into the agent. On-device Siri transcription by default, bring your own free Groq API key for whisper-large-v3-turbo. On by default, disable in Settings.
Droplet Visualizer. Open any session like a portal. Every live session becomes a droplet on a pyramid you can spin and page through.
Paste images straight into your agent's session. Copy from any app or multi-select from Photos, and it uploads to the server for your agent to read.
Agent to clipboard. Ask your agent to write an email, say "copy that to my clipboard", then paste it into your mail app. Opt in via Settings.
Text selection with a dedicated selection mode and long-press word select.
Editable keyboard toolbar with sticky Ctrl. Tap and hold to rearrange.
Tab names sync with Tmux automatically.
Nerd Font support: FiraCode and JetBrains Mono.
Sound design. The app now answers with a family of five-dot sound cues. Toggle in Settings.
UI sound cues, faster navigation, and dozens of fixes across iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro.
v4.1.0
SSH key authentication, Quick Drop, Home redesign
21 May 2026
SSH key authentication. Generate Ed25519 or Secure Enclave-backed P-256 keys in-app, or paste-import existing OpenSSH keys.
Secure Enclave option keeps the private key inside the iPhone's secure hardware. Every signing operation happens there.
Per-connection auth picker. Pick Password or Key per saved connection.
Quick Drop. Pin one saved connection to the Home screen for instant launch. Long-press to swap.
Home and Droplet Launch screens redesigned with mesh animation and per-element shrink cascade.
Reverse-scroll chevron fix during long tmux scrollback bursts.
