Comparison

rtl_tcp SDR vs Icefall

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

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.

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

rtl_tcp SDR3 screens
Icefall1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Icefall at 100% against rtl_tcp SDR's 40%. Icefall also leads on price (Free vs $12.99) and rating (5.0 vs 3.9). rtl_tcp SDR's advantage is ratings volume (32 vs 3) and chart position (#197 vs unranked). 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; rtl_tcp SDR costs $12.99 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 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: rtl_tcp SDR has 32 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of rtl_tcp SDR's written reviews are positive against 100% of Icefall's.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
rtl_tcp SDR versus Icefall: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterrtl_tcp SDRIcefall
Price$12.99Free — better
Rating3.9 (32 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings32 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 4 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#197 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHotPaw Productions李俊 倪

Customer experience

rtl_tcp SDR

All ratings32 ratings
Positive68.8%
Neutral9.4%
Negative21.9%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral16.7%
Negative43.3%

Icefall

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

In-app purchases

None

rtl_tcp SDR

No in-app purchases

None

Icefall

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is rtl_tcp SDR free?
rtl_tcp SDR costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Icefall free?
Icefall is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, rtl_tcp SDR or Icefall?
Icefall is rated higher. rtl_tcp SDR averages 3.9 out of 5 from 32 ratings, while Icefall averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do rtl_tcp SDR or Icefall have ads?
Neither rtl_tcp SDR nor Icefall shows ads.

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