DTMF Decoder vs Radio ID
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DTMF Decoder
This utility transforms your iPhone into a DTMF tone decoder. It listens to DTMF tones through the microphone and displays the dialed numbers. Decoded digits can be easily copied to the clipboard for further use.
- DTMF tone decoding
- Microphone input
- Displays dialed numbers
- Copy to clipboard
- Source code available
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Turns your iPhone into a simple DTMF decoder. Simply hold the iPhone's microphone near to a clear source of DTMF tones (telephone "Touch Tones") and it will display the numbers being dialed. The decoded digits are also placed into a text area from which you can copy them to the clipboard. See it in action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_QD8KFCJPw Source code freely available: https://github.com/veghead/ios-dtmf-decoder
Radio ID
This utility decodes two-way radio transmissions using industry-standard formats like Motorola MDC-1200, GE STAR, and Kenwood FleetSync. It also supports QuickCall II signaling, making it an essential tool for radio technicians and scanner enthusiasts.
- Decodes Motorola MDC-1200
- Decodes GE STAR
- Decodes Kenwood FleetSync
- Decodes QuickCall II signaling
- Useful for radio technicians
- Helpful for scanner listeners
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Identify two-way radio transmissions made using Motorola MDC-1200, GE STAR, or Kenwood FleetSync radio identifier formats. Also decodes QuickCall II signaling format. (All formats trademarks of their respective owners). Invaluable tool for the two-way radio technician and a helpful utility for the serious scanner listener.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Radio ID at 3.7 against DTMF Decoder's 2.5. Radio ID also leads on review sentiment (64% vs 39%) and update cadence (every 7 months vs every 19 months). DTMF Decoder's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). On price, ratings volume, 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
DTMF Decoder costs $0.99 and Radio ID $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Radio ID holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 2.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 46 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 39% of DTMF Decoder's written reviews are positive against 64% of Radio ID's.
DTMF Decoder ships an update every 19 months, Radio ID every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DTMF Decoder | Radio ID |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | $0.99 |
| Rating | 2.5 (17 ratings) | 3.7 (46 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 39.0% of reviews | 64.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 17 | 46 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 19 months | Every 7 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | dreadtech.com | Matthew Kaufman |
Customer experience
DTMF Decoder
Radio ID
User reviews
DTMF Decoder
From 17 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Works as advertised (for some)
- 👍 Handy for professionals
- 👍 Useful for troubleshooting
- 👍 Good value for money (for some)
- 👍 Can pick up speed dial tones
Room to improve
- 🐛 Too many "double digits" / errors
- 🐛 Doesn't work well
- 🐛 Never displays anything
- 🐛 Nothing would get it to work
- 🐛 Piece of crap doesn’t work
Radio ID
From 46 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Fantastic decoding for MDC-1200, FleetSync, QCII
- 🚀 Accurate for two-tone paging
- 👍 Great utility for radio enthusiasts
- 👍 Works well with analog systems
- 👍 Good value for the price
Room to improve
- 👎 Does nothing for some users
- 🐛 Not working for a year
- 🐛 Does not decode FleetSync
- 🐛 Does not show MDC1200 PPT-ID/call ID
- 🐛 Incompatible with newer iOS/iPhones
Bugs and requests
DTMF Decoder
Reported bugs
32 issues- Too many "double digits"
- Generates errors
- Phonal Tonal generates random (phantom) numbers
- Never displays anything
- Nothing would get the app to work
Show 27 moreShow fewer
- Doesn't pick up tones
- Doesn't work
- Won't work with new iPhone update
- Doesn't detect anything
- Misses about half of the numbers
- Poor performance
- Only usable at full sensitivity, and works poorly then
- Never identified even one digit
- Unhappy with latest version
- On/off switch serves no purpose
- Decoded box works poorly
- Doesn't decode hex
- Doesn't work properly
- Only gets about half of the numbers correct
- Erkennung mangelhaft (poor recognition)
- Couldn't recognise accurately
- Only got the number 0 each time
- 使え方 (not usable)
- Doesn't work
- Not working as stated
- Barely works
- Usually nothing detected
- Only detected a couple of digits
- Misses digits when sound is too loud
- Display is too small
- Doesn't support scrolling back
- Stray false digits, especially 1's
Requested features
11 requests- Buffering for DTMF better
- Ability to get this work with new iPhone update
- History feature
- Decode hex
- Ability to decode faster (shorter) tones
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- More sensitive and flexible detection
- Translation into multiple languages
- See each decode on a separate line
- Continue decoding while app is closed (background operation)
- DTMF tone generator
- Shorten app name to "DTMF"
Radio ID
Reported bugs
9 issues- App not working for extended periods
- FleetSync decoding failure
- MDC1200 PPT-ID/call ID not showing
- Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
- App freezes and becomes unresponsive
Show 4 moreShow fewer
- Microphone access issues after updates or on new devices
- UI not optimized for iPhones without home buttons
- Inaccurate tone decoding compared to actual tones
- App turns off microphone access
Requested features
11 requests- Add aliases to IDs
- Keep a count of IDs
- Add notes to log entries
- Sort IDs by signaling type
- Add IDs as contacts with custom names
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Provide a manual for features
- Improve detection speed for short tones
- Add portrait layout support
- Make app compatible with Windows
- Allow decoding from streaming web audio
- Keep phone awake while running
In-app purchases
DTMF Decoder
No in-app purchases
Radio ID
No in-app purchases
