Comparison

SDR Receiver vs Icefall

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • Broadcast audio to Icecast 2
  • Configure server and account info
  • Simple switch to start broadcasting
  • Microphone access for streaming
  • Network usage for broadcasting
Features
Read full description

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

SDR Receiver4 screens
Icefall1 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
SDR Receiver versus Icefall: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSDR ReceiverIcefall
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.1 (15 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews72.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 4 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTransition Technology Ventures, LLC李俊 倪

Customer experience

SDR Receiver

All ratings15 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive72.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative20.0%

Icefall

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

SDR Receiver

No in-app purchases

None

Icefall

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SDR Receiver free?
SDR Receiver costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Icefall free?
Icefall is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SDR Receiver or Icefall?
Icefall is rated higher. SDR Receiver averages 4.1 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Icefall averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do SDR Receiver or Icefall have ads?
Neither SDR Receiver nor Icefall shows ads.

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