Radio Reference vs RepeaterSTART Premium
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Radio Reference
This app provides quick access to useful information for radio communication. It offers phonetic spellings, the full phonetic alphabet, Morse code learning, and a lookup for common radio abbreviations and Q signals.
- Phonetic spelling lookup
- Phonetic alphabet reference
- Morse code learning
- Radio abbreviation lookup
- Q signal definitions
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Radio Reference is a handy app for information you might need while communicating over your radio. Need to spell something phonetically? Type your word or phrase to get the phonetic spelling. Or view the whole phonetic alphabet. Learn Morse Code. Heard a Q signal or other abbreviation you don't recognize? Look it up here. Let me know what other stuff you'd like to see in here.
RepeaterSTART Premium
This tool helps amateur radio operators find and program local repeaters. It displays repeaters on a map and in a sortable list, with offline functionality. The premium version adds advanced search and radio programming guides.
- Ham radio and GMRS repeater map
- Offline map and list view
- Search by country, peak, or IARU Locator
- Look up ham locations by callsign
- Step-by-step radio programming guides
- Supports multiple popular radio models
- Filter by GMRS or Ham repeaters
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Repeater-START (Showing The Amateur Repeaters Tool) is a ham radio (and GMRS*) repeater map utilizing the repeaters at Hearham.com. This app lets you see nearby repeaters on a topo map, and on a list, sorted nearest first. Once updated, the app works online or offline. No cell service? power outage? - no problem! This premium version includes: * Search functionality to move map directly to any country or peak (internet required). * Search allows input of IARU Locator (maidenhead locator), even offline - move map to position and show nearby repeaters. * Look up location of other hams by callsign and move map directly to position (internet required). * Simple step by step instructions to program local repeaters on your radio. Anytone, Baofeng, Baofeng-mini, Retevis RT85/TYT UV88/Explorer QRZ-1, iCom, Quansheng, TIDRadio, Radioddity GD77/Baofeng 1801 DMR, Kenwood (TH-G71, TM-261, and TM-281) and Yaesu( VX-6, FT-4X, ft 25, ft-70, ft-65, ft-60, ft-2980) radios are supported with more coming soon... * GMRS and/or Ham (amateur radio) can be selected to show or hide, in the settings. (*GMRS repeaters list is available for Washington, Oregon, Idaho: https://hearham.com/GMRS) * Print out ability to print the step by step instructions to a networked printer. Missing repeater information? Don't panic - the database can be easily updated by adding the information at https://hearham.com/repeaters/add. Wrong information / unusable repeater? Add a comment to the repeater's page and an administrator will review and update the database as needed.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: RepeaterSTART Premium at 100% against Radio Reference's 0%. RepeaterSTART Premium also leads on rating (4.7 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 37 months). Radio Reference's advantage is price ($1.99 vs $9.99). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and chart position 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
Radio Reference costs $1.99 and RepeaterSTART Premium $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
RepeaterSTART Premium holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Radio Reference's written reviews are positive against 100% of RepeaterSTART Premium's.
Radio Reference ships an update every 37 months, RepeaterSTART Premium every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Radio Reference | RepeaterSTART Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) | 4.7 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 37 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #192 | #147 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 0 MB | 32 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Koral Oztan Schemel | Great Maps LLC |
Customer experience
Radio Reference
RepeaterSTART Premium
In-app purchases
Radio Reference
No in-app purchases
RepeaterSTART Premium
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Radio Reference free?
Is RepeaterSTART Premium free?
Which has better reviews, Radio Reference or RepeaterSTART Premium?
Do Radio Reference or RepeaterSTART Premium have ads?
Which is updated more often, Radio Reference or RepeaterSTART Premium?
Which is more popular, Radio Reference or RepeaterSTART Premium?
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