MorseDecoder vs HAM
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MorseDecoder
This app decodes Morse code sounds directly from your device's microphone or headset input. It offers both automatic and manual decoding modes with adjustable parameters for optimal performance in various conditions.
- Morse code sound to text translation
- Automatic and manual decoding modes
- Adjustable audio filter frequency
- Configurable WPM speed
- Background noise threshold adjustment
- Built-in spectrogram
- Optional narrow-band DSP audio filter
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The HotPaw Morse Code Decoder translates Morse Code sound into text. Just use the microphone or headset input on your iPhone or iPad for the audio signal input, and watch decoded text appear. The Morse Code Decoder includes both an automatic decoding mode, plus manual controls to allow the decoding of weaker signals in noise and QRM. Manually adjustable parameters include the frequency of the audio filter, the WPM dot/dash speed used for detecting characters, the threshold level of background noise, and whether Farnsworth timing is to be used for detecting spaces between individual characters. The Morse Code Decoder includes a built-in spectrogram to help determine the audio frequency of the Morse Code tones. Use the optional narrow-band DSP audio filter to help filter out background noise. The audio filter works for tone frequencies from 300 to 2400 Hz. Please do not try to decode tones outside this range. The Morse code WPM (words per minute) detection speed is automatically adaptive from about 8 to 40 WPM, and can be locked to the current estimated WPM dot speed. You can also manually set the WPM code speed if the automatic speed detection guesses incorrectly. A QRQ High Speed WPM mode setting allows decoding much higher WPM speeds in the range of 30 to 80 WPM. Please aim your iPhone microphone at the Morse Code sound source so that the iPhone's noise cancelling microphone doesn't cancel it out. You can see if sound is getting to the iPhone by seeing a peak in the spectrum display. Please use the manual settings if automatic decoding does not adjust to the frequency, WPM. or background noise threshold level properly. Decoding will not work if the audio filter or WPM are set incorrectly, or there is a lot of background noise or room echoes above the threshold setting. Please see the help file on the HotPaw website for hints as to how to solve decoding issues.
HAM
This utility app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for amateur radio operators, including band conditions, DX-Cluster monitoring, and a logbook. It features direct radio integration for tuning and automatic logging, along with various calculations and resource information.
- DX-Cluster and PSK-Reporter activity monitoring
- Bandplan, Glossar, and AWG resource information
- Built-in radio integration for direct tuning
- Fully featured logbook with QSO editing
- LOTW and QRZ.com log submission
- Calculations for Ohm's law, VSWR, and antennas
- CW Encoder and Decoder
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The ultimate utility App for every HAM-Radio Operator HAM-Toolbox provides a variety of useful Tools to help you operating your HAM-Radio. The Tools are ranging from activity monitoring Tools like DX-Cluster and PSK-Reporter, to Tools helping you with resource information like Bandplan, Glossar, AWG and many more Tools. HAM-Toolbox also has a built-in radio integration, so that you can directly tune to spots from the DX-Cluster and other tools. During logging, the appropriate fields for the frequency and mode will be automatically filled. With a one-time purchase you gain access to all of the following Tools on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. · TOOLS: + Band Conditions + POTA + DX-Cluster + PSK-Reporter + Reverse Beacon Network + Call-Lookup + Locator + Beacons (especially NCDXF) + Repeater + DTMF Generator + CW Encoder and Decoder + Frequency List + QSL Card Designer (design, preview, print and export your own QSL cards) · LOGBOOK: HAM-Toolbox comes with a fully featured Logbook. + Inspect and edit your existing QSOs + Easy-to-use logging interface + Maintenance (Data completion from QRZ.com, Duplicates finder, Mass change) + LOTW and QRZ.com log submission + Integrated Call-Lookup with possibility to update QSO + Worked/Needed statistics for CQ-Zones, ITU-Zones and DXCCs + Map with worked grid locators representation + iCloud-Sync with multiple devices (compatible with SDR-Control and SmartSDR) · Radio-Integration: + Frequency and Mode + Logbook integration + Direct tuning from various Tools like DXCluster, POTA, Frequency List + Supports all major Brands and Radios via Network or USB + YAESU: FT-710, FT-991, FT-DX10, FT-DX100 + Icom: IC-705, IC-7300mk2, IC-7300, IC-7610, IC-7760, IC-9700, IC-R8600, + Kenwood: TS-890, TS-990 + Elecraft: K4 + HamLib · CALCULATIONS: + Ohm's law + VSWR + Dipole-Antenna + Groundplane-Antenna + HB9CV-Antenna + Helix-Antenna + dB Conversion + Wavelength · RESOURCES: + Bandplan + Glossar + Morse + AWG + CTCSS-Codes + Formulas + Q-Codes + Abbreviations + Constants Find out more here: https://ham-toolbox.com Read the Manual: https://go-to.me/hamtoolbox-manual
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: HAM at 4.0 against MorseDecoder's 3.2. HAM also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (69% vs 55%). MorseDecoder's advantage is price ($9.99 vs $14.99) and ratings volume (49 vs 7). On ads, in-app purchases, chart position 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
MorseDecoder costs $9.99 and HAM $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
HAM holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MorseDecoder has 49 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of MorseDecoder's written reviews are positive against 69% of HAM's.
MorseDecoder ships an update every 3 months, HAM monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MorseDecoder | HAM |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 3.2 (49 ratings) | 4.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 54.8% of reviews | 69.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 49 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #187 | #177 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 12.3 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 83 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HotPaw Productions | Marcus Roskosch |
Customer experience
MorseDecoder
HAM
In-app purchases
MorseDecoder
No in-app purchases
HAM
No in-app purchases









