VX ConnectBot

I had been using ConnectBot for a long time on my Android devices, because I wanted something to remotely administer machines without needing an actual laptop. It’s nice because the data plan is built-in to most mobiles, so one doesn’t necessarily need a wifi connection nearby. Unfortunately, it’s rather time-consuming and clumsy to use an on-screen keyboard on the command line of a remote system. So a little while back I got an AmazonBasics Bluetooth keyboard to make typing any significant amount easier while away from a real computer. Mainly, I wanted easier access to Esc (I’m a Vim user), Ctrl-(C|D|Z|…) and Tab. The problem was, when I tried out the keyboard on a remote system, almost none of it worked. It turns out ConnectBot is really only meant to work with the most simple soft keyboards; the key mappings just aren’t there.

Enter VX ConnectBot, a fork of the original that adds a lot of key bindings, fixes and new features. I’m loving it so far. The Android Market link is on their page. It’s small like the original, asks for very few permissions, continues with the Apache 2.0 license, and is gratis and ad-free.

I am not affiliated with the project, just a fan.