SDR Receiver vs Icefall
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.
Icefall
Broadcast audio from your iOS device to an Icecast 2 server. Configure your server and account details, then easily start streaming using your microphone.
- Broadcast audio to Icecast 2
- Configure server and account info
- Simple switch to start broadcasting
- Microphone access for streaming
- Network usage for broadcasting
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If you deployed an Icecast 2 server, you can broadcast through your iOS device with this app! The function is very simple: configure your server and account information, then open the switch to broadcast! Note: It needs accessing to your microphone and using network.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Icefall at Free against SDR Receiver's $9.99. Icefall also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (100% vs 72%). SDR Receiver's advantage is ratings volume (15 vs 3). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Icefall is free to download; SDR Receiver costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Icefall holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SDR Receiver has 15 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 72% of SDR Receiver's written reviews are positive against 100% of Icefall's.
| Parameter | SDR Receiver | Icefall |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.1 (15 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 15 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Transition Technology Ventures, LLC | 李俊 倪 |
Customer experience
SDR Receiver
Icefall
In-app purchases
SDR Receiver
No in-app purchases
Icefall
No in-app purchases









