Comparison

Payphone Radio vs usrm wave

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

Head to head
About

Payphone Radio

Experience a unique audio stream featuring hundreds of calls made from New York City payphones. This collection includes spoken commentary, pre-recorded messages, and subway musician performances, preserving the soundscape of a bygone era.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of NYC payphone calls
  • Spoken commentary
  • Pre-recorded payphone messages
  • Subway musician recordings
  • Archive of 1600 calls
  • Over 63 hours of content
Features
Read full description

Payphone Radio is an online radio stream comprising hundreds of calls made from New York City public pay telephones. Most of the audio is spoken commentary by Mark Thomas, but other sounds float through as well. Other audio includes some of the pre-recorded messages heard when calling disconnected payphones. There are also sounds of musicians performing in the New York City subway system, recorded using nearby subway payphones. Virtually all of New York City's payphones are gone. On account of that inevitable reality Payphone Radio, containing 1600 calls and over 63 hours of content recorded from 2010 until the pandemic struck in 2020, is not expected to update with new content. This project had many aims but keeping the grey, monochrome, sometimes poor-quality sound world of the public pay telephone alive for posterity was high among them. Payphone Radio is a spinoff of The Payphone Project, the Internet's original payphone website, online since 1995. The Payphone Project has been featured by The New York Times, CBS Sunday Morning, LA Times and numerous other media outlets.

About

usrm wave

Features
Read full description

usrm wave is a simple recording app that lets you see sound and save the moments you need as WAV files. The app visualizes microphone input with a central dot and waveforms. You can export either the most recent 5-minute capture or a direct recording as a WAV file. Capture stops when the app moves to the background. Main Features - Real-time microphone input visualization - Export the most recent 5-minute capture - Direct recording and WAV file export - Microphone on/off status display - Capture stops when the app moves to the background

Screenshots

Payphone Radio4 screens
usrm wave3 screens

Verdict

The call

Payphone Radio and usrm wave are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Payphone Radio versus usrm wave: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPayphone Radiousrm wave
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 36 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB18 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperPaul HenshawYOUNGSAN CHANG

In-app purchases

None

Payphone Radio

No in-app purchases

None

usrm wave

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Payphone Radio free?
Payphone Radio is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is usrm wave free?
usrm wave is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Payphone Radio or usrm wave have ads?
Neither Payphone Radio nor usrm wave shows ads.

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