SWListener vs Space Widget
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SWListener
Discover shortwave radio broadcasts with this app. View current transmissions, detailed information like language and target, and explore station schedules. Find broadcasts by frequency or station name.
- Find broadcast schedules
- View current transmissions
- Get transmission details
- Search by frequency
- Browse station schedules
- Sort stations by name
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Tune into the world. No algorithms. No streaming. Just radio. SWListener is the ultimate companion for shortwave enthusiasts. Discover thousands of broadcast schedules from stations around the world - always up to date and at your fingertips. What you can do: - Scan live frequencies and see what's currently on air - Type any frequency directly into the VFO display for instant tuning - Browse the complete schedule of every world station - Check language, transmitter site, target region and antenna data - Navigate by frequency, band or station name - See which frequencies have recent DX spots highlighted on the tuning scale - Log reception reports and share them with the SWL community Whether you're a seasoned DXer or just discovering shortwave - SWListener gives you the tools to explore the spectrum like never before. NOTE: SWListener is a broadcast schedule database - not a radio player. A real shortwave receiver is required to listen. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Space Widget
Discover stunning daily images of space, from nebulae to eclipses, with detailed explanations from astronomers. Customize your Home Screen and Lock Screen with widgets, and explore a vast archive of past images.
- Daily space photographs
- Astronomer explanations
- 30+ years of image archive
- Customizable Home Screen widgets
- Lock Screen widgets
- Offline image display
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Space Widget brings the universe to your Home Screen. Every day there's a new picture of space, a nebula, a galaxy, a comet or an eclipse, with its story told by a professional astronomer. THE DAILY PICTURE • A new space photograph every day, on your Home Screen and in the app. • Every picture comes with an explanation written by a professional astronomer, and credits the people who made it. • Swipe up to travel back in time through more than 30 years of pictures, all the way to 1995. • Pinch or double-tap to zoom into every detail, and share any picture. • Pull down for new pictures. MADE FOR EVERY SCREEN • Widgets in every size, including extra large on iPad. • On iPad in landscape and on iPhone Duo, the picture and its story sit side by side. • The widget looks right on tinted Home Screens and keeps showing the last picture when you're offline. WIDGET STUDIO Today's picture on your Home Screen is free. Widget Studio adds more: • Put the title or the date on your widget. • Add Lock Screen widgets. • Pin any day you like, or let the widget pick a random picture from the archive. If you bought Space Widget before, Widget Studio is included. • Widget Studio is an auto-renewing subscription, yearly or monthly. The yearly plan starts with a one-week free trial for new subscribers. • Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase, or when the free trial ends. • Your subscription renews automatically unless you turn it off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Renewal is charged within the 24 hours before the period ends. • Manage or cancel it any time in your Apple Account settings. Any unused part of a free trial ends when you subscribe. Pictures and explanations come from Astronomy Picture of the Day. Space Widget is an independent app and isn't affiliated with NASA. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://www.taphive.com/spacewidget/privacy.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Space Widget at 2.5 against SWListener's 1.4. SWListener's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 17 months) and monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. SWListener sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per year and Space Widget sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Space Widget holds the better App Store score, 2.5 against 1.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SWListener has 43 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 6% of SWListener's written reviews are positive against 0% of Space Widget's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
SWListener ships an update every 5 weeks, Space Widget every 17 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SWListener | Space Widget |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.4 (43 ratings) | 2.5 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 6.3% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 43 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 17 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple TV — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 — better | 27.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 50 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | md | Taphive GmbH |
Customer experience
SWListener
Space Widget
Bugs and requests
SWListener
Reported bugs
16 issues- App crashes
- Blank screens
- Zero functionality
- No sound
- No reception
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- App opens but nothing loads
- App crashes constantly
- App freezes on 'retrieving data'
- App crashes and closes after selecting a station
- App shuts down immediately when tapped on a frequency
- App hangs on 'running'
- App freezes
- App opens, screen pops up and says retrieving data, then freezes
- App will not open
- Unzumutbare Ladezeiten
- Abstürze
Requested features
6 requests- Add selection by language
- Add selection by target area
- Fetch free SW schedule updates from EIBI and HFCC
- Customer support to show screenshots
- Dark mode option
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Advanced analytics dashboard
Space Widget
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
SWListener
- SWListener premium7 Days trial$2.991 Year
Space Widget
- Widget Studio Monthly$1.991 Month
- Widget Studio Yearly7 Days trial$9.991 Year
Questions
Is SWListener free?
Is Space Widget free?
Which has better reviews, SWListener or Space Widget?
Do SWListener or Space Widget have ads?
Which is updated more often, SWListener or Space Widget?
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