# MagicSDR: SDR Radio Receiver — Shortwave, Ham Radio & KiwiSDR

> Interactive software-defined radio application for RF spectrum exploration and signal demodulation. (iPhone/iPad app by Vladyslav Haliuk.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/magicsdr-sdr-radio-receiver/id1563954272 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Vladyslav Haliuk](https://appshunter.io/developer/1563954274)
- Category: Utilities, Education
- Price: $12.99
- Rating: 3.10/5 from 10 App Store ratings · 29 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 65 MB
- Released: 2021-05-01
- Data updated: 2026-08-29
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/magicsdr-sdr-radio-receiver/id1563954272/reviews.md

## What is MagicSDR?

Turn your iPhone or iPad into a real radio receiver. MagicSDR connects you to more than 600 live SDR (software defined radio) servers around the world — tune in to shortwave broadcasts, ham radio and utility stations right away. No antenna, no dongle, no hardware required.

WHAT YOU CAN HEAR

- International shortwave broadcasters from every continent
- Ham radio operators on SSB and CW — contests, DXpeditions, everyday QSOs
- Aviation, marine and utility stations
- Time signals, beacons and digital modes

Pick a receiver close to the signal you want: a server in Japan, Brazil or the Alps is one tap away. Somewhere the bands are always open.

HAVE YOUR OWN SDR HARDWARE?

MagicSDR also works as a fast native client for your own receivers. The app supports the SoapyRemote protocol, which means it works with any SDR device that has a SoapySDR driver.

More supported protocols:

- rtl_tcp — stream IQ data from the popular and affordable RTL-SDR dongles
- Airspy network — connect to Airspy receivers shared over the network
- Hermes-Lite — direct connection to the open-source Hermes-Lite 2 HF transceiver

A POWERFUL RECEIVER WITH A TOUCH-FIRST UI

- Wideband panadapter and waterfall with smooth pinch-to-zoom and pan gestures
- AM, SSB (USB/LSB), CW, NFM and WFM demodulators
- Adjustable filter bandwidth and noise-threshold squelch
- Frequency bookmarks to collect and organize stations
- Band plan overlay, so you always know where you are on the dial
- Audio over UDP — feed external decoders such as FT8/WSJT-X or CW
- Built-in EiBi shortwave schedule database — instantly see which broadcast station is on the air, in what language and when

MADE FOR

Ham radio operators, shortwave listeners (SWL), DXers, spectrum analysis — and anyone curious about what is on the air right now.

Feedback and feature requests are always welcome — MagicSDR is in active development.

## Key features

- Panadapter and waterfall visualization
- AM, SSB, CW, NFM, WFM demodulation
- Frequency collection
- Support for multiple SDR protocols
- Access to global SDR servers
- Screen gestures
- Frequency bookmarks

## Recent user reviews (10 of 29)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/magicsdr-sdr-radio-receiver/id1563954272/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Working Great Again!

*2026-04-24, version 26.04*

The developer is very responsive and I appreciate that. Thank you. My kiwi SDR’s are up and running again…:) This app is the best out there for listening to the “Ham Radio Nets” ease of use with the book marks to listen to all your favorite broadcasts. I appreciate all you hard work and highly recommend this app for all your SDR needs.

John

### 1/5 — Fixed getting kiwi SDR? No longer recommended this app…

*2026-04-19*

Why did you remove the kiwi SDR receivers??? 
You can turn it off by deselecting kiwi SDR in the “Filter” check box. You just removed the 600+ receivers that you have listed on your feature page. The developer removed the best part of the app. I can no longer recommend this to anyone unless you want to set up your own SDR. “Hardware is now required”. Increasing it complexity. It’s really too bad, I really liked this app, and used to a lot.

### 1/5 — SDR dongles are NOT supported on iOS

*2026-02-13*

But for some reason it’s not stated on the apps page. You have to set up your dongle through a pc and connect with this app to the server you set up….you can do this for free without this app btw. Don’t let this “developer” scam you

### 1/5 — Won’t connect to Kiwi servers

*2026-02-10, version 25.05.2*

I don’t know if this is temporary, but I just paid 13 bucks for a dead app. I don’t have a dongle. I was hoping to connect to public SDR connections…

### 5/5 — Works great with rtl_tcp

*2026-02-03, version 25.05.2*

MagicSDR is working perfecting with my rtl_tcp service that is working with an RTL-SDR V4 Blog dongle.  I am running rtl_tcp in a podman container on a fedora 43 server and it’s working perfectly with MagicSDR. I really like that I can see the entire 2m HAM band in the spectrum chart and I like that I can bookmark frequencies of my favorite repeaters and double tap on the spectrum to tune into a particular frequency.  With this app I actually found a new repeater that I was unaware of doing a morning ragchew.  Pretty impressive!

### 3/5 — MagicSDR

*2025-10-02, version 25.05.2*

Don’t work iPhone 7 plus.

### 5/5 — Started working as described.

*2025-08-26, version 25.05.2*

Not sure why it didn’t work in the beginning… Thought it was a “rip off…. Changing my review to 5 stars. Works in the background. Use it every day for keeping up with the Nets. The book marks are great and fast for on the go reception and testing of your antennas. Highly recommend. Beats the cost of buying your own Shortwave radio. Plus the cost of an antenna. No other equipment needed. Exactly what I was looking for.

### 5/5 — Highly Recommended

*2025-05-28*

This app is essential for listening to SDR’s with the ability to turn the screen off. It’s easy to use works great.

### 5/5 — KiwiSDR links stop showing recently

*2025-05-15, version 23.11*

I’d like the links back, thank you.

### 1/5 — How do you get access to the 600 servers???

*2025-05-13*

The developer mentioned no special equipment needed? You need a server for this to work. All you get is a wav file for $12.00 bucks. Rip off…

## Frequently asked questions about MagicSDR

### What does MagicSDR do?

MagicSDR is a software-defined radio application that allows users to interactively explore the RF spectrum. It provides visualizations like panadapters and waterfalls, enables demodulation of various radio signals (AM, SSB, CW, NFM, WFM), and facilitates frequency collection. It's designed for applications like dx-ing, ham radio, radio astronomy, and spectrum analysis.

### What are the main features of MagicSDR?

Key features include a wide band spectrum view, AM/SSB/CW/NFM/WFM demodulators, screen gestures for interaction, frequency bookmarks, a band plan, a shortwave guide, noise threshold squelch, and audio over UDP for external data decoders. It also supports numerous SDR server protocols.

### How can I listen to radio bands with MagicSDR?

MagicSDR provides access to over six hundred servers worldwide, allowing you to listen to shortwave radio bands without requiring special equipment. You can connect to these servers using supported protocols like KiwiSDR, RTL-TCP, and Airspy network.

### Is MagicSDR compatible with different SDR hardware?

Yes, MagicSDR is built with a plug-in architecture and supports a wide range of SDR servers and protocols. This includes KiwiSDR, RTL-TCP, MagicLink, Airspy network, Hermes-Lite, and HiQSDR, making it flexible for various hardware setups.

### What are common use cases for MagicSDR?

Common use cases include dx-ing (long-distance radio communication), ham radio operations, radio astronomy for observing celestial radio sources, and general spectrum analysis to understand radio frequency activity. It's also useful for exploring shortwave broadcasts.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 26.08 — 2026-08-10

- Added enumerator map
- Added support SoapyRemote protocol

### 26.07 — 2026-07-18

Many changes and improvements

### 26.04 — 2026-04-21

Fixed bugs

### 25.05.2 — 2025-05-27

Fixed getting kiwisdr servers

### 23.11 — 2023-11-09

- Added background play
- Fixed sound in headphones

## Apps similar to MagicSDR

| App | Rating | Price | Category |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [RST Scope](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rst-scope/id1550582276) | 5.0 (1) | Free | Utilities |
| [FT Control for YAESU](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ft-control-for-yaesu/id6738919471) | 4.6 (8) | $89.99 | Utilities |
| [rtl_tcp SDR](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/rtl-tcp-sdr/id1351164646) | 3.9 (32) | $12.99 | Utilities |
| [SDR Receiver](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sdr-receiver/id1289939888) | 4.1 (15) | $9.99 | Utilities |
| [Morse Decoder AI](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/morse-decoder-ai/id6475193752) | 2.0 (4) | $2.99 | Utilities |
| [FT8 Decoder](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ft8-decoder/id1592847401) | 4.3 (8) | $1.99 | Utilities |

## More apps by Vladyslav Haliuk

- [Shortwave Guide](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shortwave-guide/id1629061921)
- [SDR Radio](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sdr-radio/id6444103136)

All apps by Vladyslav Haliuk: https://appshunter.io/developer/1563954274

## Related topics

[plsdr](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/plsdr) · [kiwi sdr](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/kiwi-sdr)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-29.*