Comparison

rtl_tcp SDR vs RSS Radar

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

RSS Radar

Features
Read full description

FEED MANAGEMENT: Users can add new feeds by entering an RSS URL or selecting from a predefined list of hundreds of feeds. Feeds can also be deleted or reordered. FEED CLASSIFICATION: Group your feeds into categories and sort them. AUTOMATIC FEED UPDATES: Automatically refreshes feed articles after an user-defined interval set in the app's settings. OPML IMPORT/EXPORT: Easily manage your feeds with the new OPML import/export functionality. ARTICLE INDEXING: Indexes new articles upon reading for enhanced searchability. ADVANCED SEARCH QUERIES: Users can create multiple search queries using a Query Builder to search through content. QUERY AS FEED: Allows users to set a search query as a feed, displaying it on the main screen alongside other feeds. ALERTS AND NOTIFICATIONS: Users can designate a query as an alert and receive notifications for content of interest. CONTENT INTERACTION OPTIONS: Users can visit the original website, enter in read mode, or bookmark for later reading. READ/UNREAD TRACKING: The app tracks which articles have been read or remain unread, with options to mark them individually or in bulk. QUERY INSIGHTS: In the Queries section, alongside found articles, users can see relevance and sentiment scores. SENTIMENT ANALYSIS: Provides a Sentiment chart for individual queries, allowing for sentiment analysis. EXCEL EXPORT: Users can export query results to Excel. DATA EXPORT/IMPORT: Enables users to export all data from the RSS Radar app and import previously exported data, facilitating sharing between devices. THEME SELECTION: Light or Dark. Change font size for better reading. PRIVACY-FOCUSED: All app functionality occurs on the user's device without the intervention of cloud services, ensuring a high level of privacy and security for users' data and activities.

Screenshots

rtl_tcp SDR3 screens
RSS Radar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: RSS Radar at $7.99 against rtl_tcp SDR's $12.99. RSS Radar also leads on device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (14.2 vs 16.6). rtl_tcp SDR's advantage is chart position (#197 vs unranked). On update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

rtl_tcp SDR costs $12.99 and RSS Radar $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

rtl_tcp SDR ships an update every 4 months, RSS Radar every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 16, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
rtl_tcp SDR versus RSS Radar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterrtl_tcp SDRRSS Radar
Price$12.99$7.99 — better
Rating3.9 (32 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings32 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#197 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.614.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB114 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperHotPaw ProductionsDejan Petrovic

In-app purchases

None

rtl_tcp SDR

No in-app purchases

None

RSS Radar

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is rtl_tcp SDR free?
rtl_tcp SDR costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is RSS Radar free?
RSS Radar costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do rtl_tcp SDR or RSS Radar have ads?
Neither rtl_tcp SDR nor RSS Radar shows ads.
Which is updated more often, rtl_tcp SDR or RSS Radar?
rtl_tcp SDR ships an update every 4 months, and RSS Radar every 3 months. Most recently, rtl_tcp SDR was updated on September 16, 2026 and RSS Radar on September 19, 2026.

Other comparisons