When will be RootShell available from Mac AppStore

[bmansvk]

I understand, that RootShell is currently available via TestFlight or direct download.

@kitknox do you have ETA when RootShell will be available via Mac AppStore?

[kitknox]

@bmansvk Its basically ready for submission, but I had been holding off on submission as the standalone release appears to be dramatically more popular so far vs the TestFlight sandboxed edition. The Apple handling also has me concerned, compared to other platforms even the TestFlight approvals at times have been 6+ days.

The sandboxed version also has a growing list of limitations vs standalone :

• No full local shell without helper that cannot come from the Mac AppStore itself.
• VPN doesn't work because Apple doesn't support Catalyst apps with a VPN entitlement. The standalone version works around this by bundling an AppKit helper inside the main app bundle. This isn't allowed in the AppStore. We would need to submit a second additional AppStore app that is just the VPN feature and based on AppKit.
• The transparency feature uses private APIs that are banned in AppStore.

Since all of the development is already done I guess I can at least do a submission to see how much grief I get and decide on the release from there.

Do you just prefer that as the distribution mode vs separate install and Sparkle based updates?

[bmansvk]

Thanks for the detailed breakdown — but honestly, none of those limitations affect me at all. The local shell, VPN support and window transparency are features I neither need nor want.

What I actually need is a solid remote shell: modern protocols (SSH, Mosh, tssh) and a proper auth engine with Secure Enclave-backed keys. Based on what you wrote, all of that works fine in the Catalyst build.

And the sandboxing I see as a huge benefit of the app, not a drawback — it’s well worth giving up features that are useless to me anyway. I’m a sysadmin who mostly SSHes into remote machines; the Mac is just my GUI desktop.

So from my perspective it’s definitely worth publishing to the App Store. Every other SSH client out there doesn’t even come close to rootshell — they’re not in the same league. And those are typically apps behind a hefty subscription! rootshell would wipe the floor with the competition, on both features and price. It’s absolutely worth the effort to get it in there.

[eejd]

One comment I would make on this which also releases to your ongoing open source release process. I personally feel that providing a reduced functionality version for both the macOS and iOS stores which provides most users with most of the features they need with a reduction in the power users features needed by a smaller subset will both provide a longer term sustainability and development path than only releasing via other methods. For power users, a bells and whistles standalone which matches the power users self-build from open source becomes the development path for RootShell where the power users develop and debug the extended features. But for my use cases (I am a power user, would contribute PRs, etc.), I would love to be able to have the option of getting the core features I actually use with the additional security scrutiny, official management, etc. from both the iOS and macOS App Store for nodes where I am not using the additional features--which is often most of them. As I would also run the open source self build for debugging, PRs, etc. on my primary development system I'd also then explore and test features that would be potentially bound for App Store deployment. One thing that early on cause me to keep returning to Blink for daily needs was silly problems that were likely better in the long run but made basic tasks difficult--for me it was copy-paste semantics, which we discussed in another thread. But for wide adoption, the most important feature is pure usability with simple, intuitive, compliant human user guideline experience. This kind of model would allow a wide adoption by many users for all the stable core features. How you should draw the boundaries or if this make sense I leave to you--but the reason the iPod took over the world, the reason the iPhone took over the world was not initially providing the full, complete, fully customizable experience but rather by addressing the 95% users core needs without friction and with stability.

One example of this from my own experience and why I found RootShell in the first place was that I started to author my own very simple version of a modern tmux/tmuc -CC + mosh/tsshd that solved some of my frustrations with Blink and iTerm2. In the end, discovering RootShell stopped that in its tracks and it was already far beyond what I was going to be able to get running and stable in a reasonable time. But my longer term needs still likely break in part from that 95% user base needs and I am someone who would like to have the 'always works smoothly for most of my needs' as my default workflow while I slowly work on solutions for the specific needs I have. For me, there are specific needs I have as primarily a research scientist and not a developer that likely diverge from most other current RootShell users needs---but I'd be happy to build on RootShell to provide those to this different community down the road. In the mean time, I just want a stable solution that works the same way for me on macOS and iOS so my workflow doesn't stumble when I am switching between devices to work and where I can explore exotic needs slowly. The fact that some things that I never had problems with rendering and lost keys in Blink (via mosh) but did with RootShell (via the admittedly better tsshd) still were frictions I'd have rather avoided, similarly with the copy-paste semantics.

That said, I want to express my deep appreciation for your work and this project and I hope it has been worth while for you. Please let us users know how best to support your work and the project!