Comparison

Airports. vs PhosphorSWL

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

Head to head
About

Airports.

Access a comprehensive database of over 8,500 airports worldwide, featuring detailed information on runways, facilities, weather, and more. Search, browse, and save your favorite airports for quick access, with map customization and universal device support.

Highlights
  • 8,500+ airport database
  • Runway data and charts
  • Airport weather and forecasts
  • Map customization
  • Favorite airports
  • Universal purchase
Features
Read full description

Introducing Airports, the ultimate app for aviation enthusiasts. With over 8,500 large and medium airports worldwide, Airports provides you with all the essential information you need about airports in one place. Easily search for airports by city, name, ICAO/IATA identifiers, or alternatively, browse airports by continent, country, region, and municipality. You can also save airports as favorites and set your home base for quicker access. → AIRPORT DATA - Runway data, including dimensions - Minimalistic runway charts for all major airports - Terminal buildings and other facilities - Aircraft stands, ATC frequencies, airport services - Time zones and local times - Field elevation and coordinates → WEATHER CONDITIONS - Worldwide airport weather coverage powered by Apple Weather - Detailed current conditions, including wind gusts, visibility, humidity, and pressure - Hourly forecasts - Adjustable measurement units → MAP FEATURES & CUSTOMIZATIONS - Switch between standard and satellite modes - Set up runway, terminal, and aircraft stand markers - Fine-tune camera angles and zoom levels - Metric & non-metric unit systems are supported - Built and optimized for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and tvOS - Universal purchase: buy once for all of your devices - Unlimited use: no ads or in-app purchases - Built for privacy: the developer of Airports does not collect any personal information Some of these features may not be available for all airports. Map content and weather services require a connection. Please note that most data is provided by third-party sources and services whose accuracy and availability cannot be guaranteed. We strongly recommend verifying information with official sources.

About

PhosphorSWL

Features
Read full description

PhosphorSWL is a shortwave broadcast schedule browser and numbers station reference, rendered through the green phosphor glow of a Cold War signals intelligence console. Your phone becomes a monitoring station — a frequency dial, a schedule grid, a station database, and a curated dossier of every numbers station still whispering into the void. BROADCAST SCHEDULES Browse over 10,000 shortwave broadcast entries from the EiBi database — the most comprehensive freely-licensed shortwave schedule resource in existence. Filter by frequency band, time, language, and target area. See what's on air right now. Search for stations by name, country, or frequency. Every broadcast entry includes transmission times, languages, target areas, transmitter sites, and signal path maps showing the great circle route from transmitter to target. Schedule data refreshes automatically from EiBi, keeping your listings current through seasonal schedule changes. NUMBERS STATIONS The centrepiece. A personally curated database of known numbers stations — active, historic, and legendary. ENIGMA designators, frequencies, schedules, operators, signal characteristics, and full station profiles assembled from publicly observable facts. From E06 "Russian Man" still counting for the GRU, to the ghost of E03 "The Lincolnshire Poacher" — the most iconic numbers station ever recorded, silenced in 2008 after decades broadcasting from RAF Akrotiri. The Buzzer on 4625 kHz. The Pip. The Squeaky Wheel. Cuban DGI digital modes. Chinese military networks. Polish intelligence. Every station for which sufficient factual data exists. This is not a decoder. It is a field manual for the darkest inhabitants of the radio spectrum. SCANNER Scroll the entire shortwave spectrum from VLF submarine communications through every broadcasting band. Band headers mark the boundaries. Tap any entry for full details and signal path mapping. HF PROPAGATION Live HF propagation conditions from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, derived from the planetary K-index. Band-aware — lower frequencies are more resilient to geomagnetic disturbance than upper HF. The status bar tells you whether the ionosphere is cooperating before you tune in. THE INTERFACE Three phosphor colour modes: green (default), amber, and red. Red mode preserves scotopic dark adaptation for night-time listening — the same principle used in military operations rooms, submarine control rooms, and observatory domes. CRT scanlines. Phosphor glow. A frequency readout rendered in segmented digits. Function key tabs. A UTC clock. No bright colours, no rounded corners, no friendly illustrations. This is a monitoring console, not a lifestyle app. FAVOURITES Bookmark any broadcast or numbers station for quick access. Your listening post, organised. DATA SOURCES Broadcast schedules: EiBi Shortwave Schedule Database (eibispace.de), freely licensed for third-party use. Numbers station data: curated from Priyom.org, ENIGMA 2000, Numbers & Oddities, and the Signal Identification Wiki. Propagation data: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (public domain). All station observations are factual records of publicly receivable radio transmissions. No subscriptions. No in-app purchases. No ads. No tracking. One price. The ether is full of ghosts. This is a ghost detector.

Screenshots

Airports.4 screens
PhosphorSWL4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Airports. at every 2 weeks against PhosphorSWL's every 6 months. Airports. also leads on device support (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.4). PhosphorSWL's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $3.99). On 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

Airports. costs $3.99 and PhosphorSWL $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Airports. ships an update every 2 weeks, PhosphorSWL every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Airports. versus PhosphorSWL: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAirports.PhosphorSWL
Price$3.99$0.99 — better
Rating4.7 (23 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews70.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings23 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.4
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFoyer Objet Inc.Stuart Woolley

In-app purchases

None

Airports.

No in-app purchases

None

PhosphorSWL

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Airports. free?
Airports. costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PhosphorSWL free?
PhosphorSWL costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Airports. or PhosphorSWL have ads?
Neither Airports. nor PhosphorSWL shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Airports. or PhosphorSWL?
Airports. ships an update every 2 weeks, and PhosphorSWL every 6 months. Most recently, Airports. was updated on October 20, 2026 and PhosphorSWL on October 14, 2026.

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