Comparison

HAM Test Prep Lite vs ARRL magazines

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

ARRL magazines

Access the monthly ARRL membership journal, QST, on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. This publication offers news, construction projects, and tutorials for Amateur Radio enthusiasts. The digital version includes exclusive content not found in print.

Highlights
  • Monthly QST digital delivery
  • News and updates
  • Construction projects
  • Tutorials and guides
  • Exclusive digital content
Read full description

If you're a member of ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, install this app and have QST, the ARRL membership journal, delivered to your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch every month! QST entertains and informs with news, construction projects, tutorials and much more. That's why it is the most widely read Amateur Radio publication in the world. The digital version of QST goes even further with content not found in the printed journal. Privacy & Terms of Conditions: http://www.arrl.org/online-privacy-policy

Screenshots

HAM Test Prep Lite4 screens
ARRL magazines4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: HAM Test Prep Lite at 89% against ARRL magazines's 12%. HAM Test Prep Lite also leads on rating (4.4 vs 1.8). ARRL magazines's advantage is monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and ratings volume (258 vs 46). On price, update cadence, 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

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

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HAM Test Prep Lite holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ARRL magazines has 258 ratings behind it against 46, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of HAM Test Prep Lite's written reviews are positive against 12% of ARRL magazines's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HAM Test Prep Lite ships an update every 7 months, ARRL magazines every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
HAM Test Prep Lite versus ARRL magazines: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHAM Test Prep LiteARRL magazines
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (46 ratings) — better1.8 (258 ratings)
Positive reviews89.4% of reviews — better12.2% of reviews
Number of ratings46258 — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.512.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB126 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPatrick J Maloney LLCARRL, American Radio Relay League, Inc.

Customer experience

HAM Test Prep Lite

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

ARRL magazines

All ratings258 ratings
Positive15.9%
Neutral3.1%
Negative81.0%
Written reviews123 reviews
Positive12.2%
Neutral5.7%
Negative82.1%

User reviews

HAM Test Prep Lite

From 46 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to learn and use
  • 👍 Great for studying for exams
  • 👍 Helpful for Technician and General licenses
  • 👍 Mobile and convenient for on-the-go studying
  • 👍 Provides confidence for tests

Room to improve

  • 👎 Free version is limited
  • 👎 Only a subset of questions in free version
  • 👎 Some questions lack necessary images (schematics)
  • 👎 Not all test questions were in the study material
  • 👎 App crashed iPod

ARRL magazines

From 258 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • 💡 Offline reading support

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • 🔒 Authentication issues
  • 👎 Unreliable login/logout
  • 🔋 High battery consumption

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

ARRL magazines

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Downloading issues causes app to freeze
  • Inconsistent behavior across devices
  • Disappearing downloaded content

Requested features

3 requests
  • Seamless integration with ARRL account
  • Ability to resume reading from last page
  • PDF export option

In-app purchases

None

HAM Test Prep Lite

No in-app purchases

None

ARRL magazines

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 ARRL magazines free?
ARRL magazines is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HAM Test Prep Lite or ARRL magazines?
HAM Test Prep Lite is rated higher. HAM Test Prep Lite averages 4.4 out of 5 from 46 ratings, while ARRL magazines averages 1.8 from 258 ratings.
Do HAM Test Prep Lite or ARRL magazines have ads?
Neither HAM Test Prep Lite nor ARRL magazines shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HAM Test Prep Lite or ARRL magazines?
HAM Test Prep Lite ships an update every 7 months, and ARRL magazines every 4 months. Most recently, HAM Test Prep Lite was updated on October 18, 2026 and ARRL magazines on October 9, 2026.

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