# SDR vs Novex Lighting

The clearest difference is price: Novex Lighting at Free against SDR's $44.99. Novex Lighting also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and review sentiment (100% vs 84%). SDR's advantage is ratings volume (67 vs 4) and chart position (#143 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Novex Lighting is free to download; SDR costs $44.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Novex Lighting holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SDR has 67 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 84% of SDR's written reviews are positive against 100% of Novex Lighting's.

SDR ships an update every 2 weeks, Novex Lighting monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SDR | Novex Lighting |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $44.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.6 (67 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sdr-control-mobile/id1673327509/reviews) | **[5.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/novex-lighting/id6765596886/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **67** | 4 |
| Positive reviews | 84.3% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Monthly |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Best chart rank | **#143** | — |
| Size | 55 MB | 35 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | **15.1** |
| Devices | iPhone | **iPhone, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Marcus Roskosch](https://appshunter.io/developer/334053438) | [Novalux LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896004368) |

## What reviewers say

### SDR

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sdr-control-mobile/id1673327509)

**Currently charting:** #143 Top Paid · Utilities (US App Store)

Control your Icom radio remotely from your iPhone. View spectrum scope, waterfall, and access all radio controls over Wi-Fi or the internet. Supports various Icom models and includes features for ham radio operators.

**Highlights:** Spectrum scope and waterfall display, Full radio control, Remote operation over Wi-Fi/internet, FT8-Improved and JS8 modes, CW decoder and keyer, Speech transcription and translation, Logbook with ADIF import/export

**Features:** iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Works perfectly with ICOM radios
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 🌟 Feature-rich and comprehensive
- 💯 Stable and reliable performance
- 📱 Great for remote operation

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 FT8 decoding issues (lower signal levels)
- 🐛 Dialogs do not scale with larger text setting
- 🐛 UI elements can be cramped on iPhone
- 🐛 Some buttons are small and hard to press
- 🐛 Frequency display overlaps buttons

**Reported bugs**

- Dialogs do not scale with larger text setting
- Frequency display overlaps buttons
- FT8 decoding issues (lower signal levels than WSJTX)
- App crashes and leaves radio in transmit
- Logbook export not functional after update

**Requested features**

- Develop for IC-7800
- CarPlay support
- Apple Watch add-on
- Windows version
- JS8call support


### Novex Lighting

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/novex-lighting/id6765596886)

Control your Novalux smart lighting system to create custom scenes for any occasion. Adjust brightness, effects, and colors, or set schedules for automatic illumination. Manage multiple systems locally or remotely.

**Highlights:** Customizable themes, Zone lighting control, Automated scheduling, Brightness and effects adjustment, Multi-system management, Local and remote access

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SDR free?

SDR costs $44.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Novex Lighting free?

Novex Lighting is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, SDR or Novex Lighting?

Novex Lighting is rated higher. SDR averages 4.6 out of 5 from 67 ratings, while Novex Lighting averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.

### Do SDR or Novex Lighting have ads?

Neither SDR nor Novex Lighting shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SDR or Novex Lighting?

SDR ships an update every 2 weeks, and Novex Lighting monthly. Most recently, SDR was updated on October 30, 2026 and Novex Lighting on October 7, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*