URL Short questions, answered honestly

Yes. In URL Short you paste a link, pick a service and get the short version, with no sign-up and nothing to remember. is.gd, v.gd, CleanURI and Spoo.me need no key at all, so they work the moment you install the app.

Ten public ones: is.gd, v.gd, CleanURI and Spoo.me without a key, plus Bit.ly, TinyURL, Cutt.ly, T.ly, Rebrandly and Short.io with your own key from that service. The app does not run a shortener of its own and does not put itself between the short link and the page.

Get an API key from that service's website, then add it in the app's API Key Settings in Settings. A keyed service shows up in the Shortening Service menu once you have opted it in and saved its key. Keys are stored in the iOS Keychain on your device.

No. A short link lives with the service that created it, so it keeps redirecting after the app is gone. What you lose is the local history, the list of links you made and their QR codes, unless iCloud Sync had already copied it to another of your devices.

Partly. Shortening needs a connection because the shortening service has to answer, and so does checking whether a link still works. Your history and the QR codes already made for it open without a connection.

Yes, for every link. You can change its colors for free with Customize Colors, save it with Save to Photos, and put it on a slide, a poster or a label. Test Scan lets you scan it with the camera to confirm it opens the right link.

No. The app does not track clicks at all. For is.gd, v.gd and Bit.ly it can open that service's own public stats page for the link; the other seven services have no public stats page the app can open, so any click numbers they offer live only on their own dashboard.

That depends on the service that made the link, not on the app. If you know a link has an end date, you can set it in the link's details under Expiration and ask for a reminder a few days before. The app cannot extend a link's life.

Open History and use Check All Links, or open one link and tap Check Status Now. The app follows the redirect and marks the link Active or Broken from the final server response, with the HTTP code and response time.

Yes, with Premium, on the services that support it: is.gd, v.gd, Spoo.me, TinyURL, Bit.ly, Rebrandly and Short.io. Type it in Custom Alias before shortening. If the ending is already taken, pick another; the app does not switch services for you when an alias is set.

Yes, with Batch Mode, which is part of paid Premium. Paste one link per line (or separate them with commas) or import a text file, shorten them all with one service, and export a PDF print pack or a ZIP of QR images.

It is free to download, and all ten services, QR codes, the Print Optimizer, Test Scan, link checks and iCloud sync work in the free version. The free version shows ads, shows the 10 most recent links in History and allows 5 QR exports. Premium turns off the ads and lifts those limits: unlimited history, custom endings, QR templates and Batch Mode.

A short trial of a few Premium actions, up to twice a day. It covers things like custom endings and QR templates, but not Batch Mode or the full history, and the app keeps showing ads during the trial.

Your history stays on your device and, with iCloud Sync on, in your own iCloud account. The app's usage counters stay on the device too. Two things worth knowing: the shortening service sees the link you send it, and the ad network in the free version collects a device identifier for advertising.

Yes. Tap Share in Safari or any other app and choose URL Shortener in the share sheet. The link is shortened right there and you can copy or share the result.

Only for scanning QR codes, either to read a link from a code or to test the code the app just made. The scan runs on the device, and the camera is not used for anything else.

The service you picked rejected the link, so the app retried with the next available service and told you which one it used. This does not happen when you set a custom alias, because an alias belongs to one service.