Comparison

HAM Test Prep Lite vs HamTester General

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

Head to head
About

HAM Test Prep Lite

Prepare for your Amateur Radio General license exam with practice questions and mock tests. Review FCC rule text and track your proficiency across question groups. This lite version includes a subset of the full question pool.

Highlights
  • General question pool practice
  • Practice exams
  • Proficiency tracking
  • Immediate feedback option
  • View FCC rule text
  • Zoomable figures
  • Dark mode support
Features
Read full description

Includes the General Question Pool effective July 1, 2023! NOTE: This "Lite" version contains only 2 of the 10 subelements in the question pool. Click the 'Buy Now' link in the app to get the FULL version. Upgrade your HAM license from Technician to General! With the elimination of the Morse Code requirement, there is no reason not to upgrade your license to gain additional privileges! Amateur Radio License exams are composed of questions from a pool. Use this application prior to taking your exam to review and practice all possible questions. Then, test your knowledge with practice exams! After completing your first practice exam, the question pool screen will display your proficiency in each question group for all practice exams you have completed. You may choose to receive immediate feedback on right and wrong answers when taking a practice test. On practice tests, questions in a group will not be repeated until all of them have been used. Some questions require you to review associated Figures. These figures may be zoomed and panned on iPhone/iPod touch. FCC rule text is viewable within the application. All sections can be browsed from the main screen. Additionally, for questions where rule sections have been identified, the rule text can be viewed on the question screen when studying the question pool or reviewing test results. An in-progress practice test can be resumed if you exit the test or the application. Current General question pool is valid through June 30, 2027. This "Lite" version only contains questions from subelements G1 and G7. Versions of this application for both the Technician and Extra license classes are also available. This app has these additional features: • Accessibility option for vision-impaired users to exclude questions with figures • Dark mode support • Portrait and Landscape support on iPad • Swipe gestures to navigate between questions • Tap on answer to select it • Double-tap or use pinch gesture to zoom Figures on iPhone and iPod touch • Buttons to skip to next/previous wrong answer in test results • ARRL question number displayed on practice tests • Configurable Test Settings • Optional randomizing of test answers • Optional auto-advance during test

About

HamTester General

Prepare for your ham radio FCC General Class exam with unlimited practice tests. This app simulates real exam sessions, providing immediate feedback on your answers and highlighting correct responses.

Highlights
  • Unlimited exam generation
  • Complete General Class Question Pool
  • Immediate exam grading
  • Feedback on errant questions
  • Display of correct answers
Features
Read full description

This application will generate unlimited examinations for you to take to prepare you for your actual testing session. NOTE: The Question Pool is valid for testing sessions beginning July 1, 2024 to June 29, 2027. "It is important to realize that to prepare someone to take an exam, you need to do more than just present a question pool. It is more than just questions/answers, statistics etc. It requires a mental preparation also. I created the HamTester series Technician, General and Extra to be as close to a real FCC exam session as I could, to prepare the student for more than just a list of questions." - Gene Backlin And Gene should know. Since 2000, Gene has been a Volunteer Examiner(VE) and has presided over 150 examination sessions. He has seen what it takes to pass, as well as mentored and encouraged/tutored those who have not. "It is a great hobby, and if I have been able in any way to help you achieve your ham ticket, I am thankful for your trust in my application" - Gene Backlin Features include: - Unlimited Examination Generation. - Complete General Class Question Pool included for immediate study. - Immediate grading of exam upon completion. - Feedback of questions that are errant, including multiple display of incorrect answer chosen as well as correct answer expected.

Screenshots

HAM Test Prep Lite4 screens
HamTester General4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: HAM Test Prep Lite at 89% against HamTester General's 0%. HAM Test Prep Lite also leads on price (Free vs $0.99) and ratings volume (46 vs 1). HamTester General's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 7 months). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

HAM Test Prep Lite is free to download; HamTester General costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HamTester General holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HAM Test Prep Lite has 46 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 89% of HAM Test Prep Lite's written reviews are positive against 0% of HamTester General's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HAM Test Prep Lite ships an update every 7 months, HamTester General every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
HAM Test Prep Lite versus HamTester General: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHAM Test Prep LiteHamTester General
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.4 (46 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews89.4% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings46 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.512.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPatrick J Maloney LLCGene Backlin

Customer experience

HAM Test Prep Lite

All ratings46 ratings
Positive87.0%
Neutral2.2%
Negative10.9%
Written reviews66 reviews
Positive89.4%
Neutral4.5%
Negative6.1%

HamTester General

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bugs and requests

HAM Test Prep Lite

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • App crashed iPod
  • Some questions ask about schematic symbols but the necessary picture is not shown

Requested features

2 requests
  • Include schematic symbol images for relevant questions
  • Consider a UK version

HamTester General

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

HAM Test Prep Lite

No in-app purchases

None

HamTester General

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HAM Test Prep Lite free?
HAM Test Prep Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is HamTester General free?
HamTester General costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HAM Test Prep Lite or HamTester General?
HamTester General is rated higher. HAM Test Prep Lite averages 4.4 out of 5 from 46 ratings, while HamTester General averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do HAM Test Prep Lite or HamTester General have ads?
Neither HAM Test Prep Lite nor HamTester General shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HAM Test Prep Lite or HamTester General?
HAM Test Prep Lite ships an update every 7 months, and HamTester General every 3 months. Most recently, HAM Test Prep Lite was updated on October 18, 2026 and HamTester General on October 13, 2026.

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