SDR Receiver vs rtl_tcp SDR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SDR Receiver
This app demodulates and plays AM and FM radio signals received by compatible SDR hardware. It allows users to listen to various broadcasts, manage station lists, and adjust audio settings. Requires a separate radio and host computer for operation.
- Demodulate AM and FM signals
- Manage station lists (import/export)
- Adjustable squelch and LNA gain
- Adjustable audio filters
- Signal strength indicator
- AirPlay audio streaming
- Lock Screen controls
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Demodulate and play AM and FM signals received by an RTL-SDR, Airspy HF+ or SDRplay radio. Requires a radio and a host computer which are not provided with SDR Receiver and must be separately installed and configured. Streams data from an rtl_tcp, hfp_tcp or rsp_tcp server application which are free and open source applications. The appropriate server application must be installed on the host computer and configured for the attached radio. SDR Receiver is a Software Defined Radio (SDR) that processes, demodulates and plays AM, narrowband FM and wideband FM signals. Listen to communications from aircraft (AM), amateur repeaters and VHF handhelds, police and fire, NOAA weather reports (narrowband FM) and commercial broadcasts (wideband FM). • Easily entered and managed lists of stations simplify station selection. • Export and import lists of stations in CSV or TSV format. • Adjustable squelch that works for both AM and FM signals. • Adjustable LNA gain (for RTL-SDR and SDRplay radios). • Adjustable audio high pass and low pass filters. • Audio AGC for AM, optimized for aircraft communications. • Selectable IQ Offset eliminates DC errors. • DC Blocker option reduces spurious errors. • Signal strength indicator that shows power level in the signal passband. • Multiple sampling rates to accommodate different network bandwidths. • Selectable 8-bit or 16-bit sample size streaming from Airspy HF+ and SDRplay radios. • Option to play audio over AirPlay to a HomePod, HomePod mini or any AirPlay compatible device. • Stream synchronized audio to multiple AirPlay 2 compatible devices. • Lock Screen shows controls and streaming station information. • Custom URLs enable another application on the same device to set the station and start streaming. • Supports VoiceOver. SDR Receiver processes signals that are streamed over the network from a host computer (Mac, PC or Raspberry Pi) that is attached by USB bus to an RTL-SDR, Airspy HF+ or SDRplay radio. An rtl_tcp server or equivalent application running on the host computer receives baseband IQ data from the radio and streams the sampled signals over the network to the iPhone or iPad running SDR Receiver. Requires an RTL-SDR, Airspy HF+ or SDRplay radio and a host computer which are not provided with the application. Support for 192 ksps and 384 ksps Airspy HF+ sampling rates requires Airspy HF+ firmware version R3.0.7 or later, and hfp_tcp version v.1.2.117 or later.
rtl_tcp SDR
This app acts as a software-defined radio receiver for iOS devices, allowing you to listen to various radio signals and view RF spectrum data. It connects to external SDR peripherals via a network protocol, requiring a separate server setup.
- Listen to AM, FM, SSB, CW signals
- View RF spectrum and waterfall
- Connect to networked RTL-SDR peripherals
- Supports Airspy HF+, SDRPlay, LimeSDR Mini
- Direct connection to Hermes Lite 2
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An RTL-SDR Software Defined Radio receiver app for iOS devices. Listen to AM, FM, SSB and CW radio signals. View an RF spectrum and waterfall. Connect, via the rtl_tcp network protocol, to networked RTL-SDR USB peripherals. This app requires an external rtl_tcp server. iOS devices do not currently support the direct connection of USB peripherals such as an RTL-SDR. Thus, the use of this app requires network access to a server, such as a Raspberry Pi (or Mac), with an RTL-SDR unit plugged into its USB port, and running the rtl_tcp protocol at an TCP/IP network address accessible from your iOS device. This allows a Raspberry Pi (or Mac) to act, essentially, as the USB port adapter for your iOS device. The rtl_tcp SDR app can also connect to hfp_tcp for the Airspy HF+, rsp_tcp for SDRPlay devices, and lmm_tcp for the LimeSDR Mini; see GitHub for server source code. This app can also connect to a Hermes Lite 2 QRP transceiver directly, if it has a known IP address, or through an hl2_tcp server. No support is provided for installing any of the rtl_tcp or other tcp software needed to use this app (with a Raspberry Pi, or otherwise). Please do not download this app unless you are already familiar with Software Defined Radio, have an RTL-SDR or equivalent USB SDR peripheral, and have already installed and tested rtl_tcp on your Raspberry Pi, Mac, or other server. Note that this app requires a very high bandwidth network connection in order to receive streams of real-time RF samples from an RTL-SDR. It is recommended that your rtl_tcp server be on a wired connection rather than on the same WiFi as your iOS device.
Screenshots
Verdict
SDR Receiver and rtl_tcp SDR both sit at 4.1 stars, but that hides the real split: 73% of SDR Receiver's written reviews are positive against 40% of rtl_tcp SDR's. SDR Receiver also leads on price ($9.99 vs $12.99). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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
SDR Receiver costs $9.99 and rtl_tcp SDR $12.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SDR Receiver holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 15 and 32 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of SDR Receiver's written reviews are positive against 40% of rtl_tcp SDR's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SDR Receiver | rtl_tcp SDR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 — better | $12.99 |
| Rating | 4.1 (15 ratings) — better | 3.9 (32 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 73.1% of reviews — better | 40.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 15 | 32 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Transition Technology Ventures, LLC | HotPaw Productions |
Customer experience
SDR Receiver
rtl_tcp SDR
In-app purchases
SDR Receiver
No in-app purchases
rtl_tcp SDR
No in-app purchases






