rtl_tcp SDR vs RSS Radar
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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
Read full descriptionHide 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.
RSS Radar
Read full descriptionHide 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
Verdict
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
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.
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.
| Parameter | rtl_tcp SDR | RSS Radar |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $12.99 | $7.99 — better |
| Rating | 3.9 (32 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 40.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 32 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | #197 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 14.2 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 114 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | HotPaw Productions | Dejan Petrovic |
In-app purchases
rtl_tcp SDR
No in-app purchases
RSS Radar
No in-app purchases









