EchoLink vs Shortwave Broadcast Schedules
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
EchoLink
Connect to the EchoLink network using your iOS device. This application allows validated Amateur Radio operators to access the system from virtually anywhere. Registration with a valid Amateur Radio callsign is required.
- Connect to EchoLink network
- Use on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch
- Validated user access
- Remote connectivity
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Please note: This app is for licensed Amateur Radio operators only. See www.echolink.org for more information. EchoLink for iOS provides access to the EchoLink network for validated EchoLink users. You can use this app to connect to the EchoLink system from almost anywhere, using an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. If you are not already a validated EchoLink user, you will be required to register (using your Amateur Radio callsign and a password of your choice) the first time you run the app. Please see the iPhone FAQ at www.echolink.org. Please direct any bug reports or feature suggestions to the Web site at http://www.echolink.org/support.htm, since developers do not read app reviews. If you are interested in becoming a licensed Amateur Radio operator, see www.arrl.org for more information. EchoLink is a registered U.S. trademark of Synergenics, LLC.
Shortwave Broadcast Schedules
Access up-to-date schedules for international longwave, mediumwave, and shortwave broadcast stations. Easily search for stations by various criteria and log your listening experiences. Never miss your favorite broadcasts with reminders and a personal logbook.
- Broadcast schedules for 11,000+ stations
- Search by name, frequency, time, language, area, country
- View stations currently on air
- Personal listening logbook
- Favorite stations and broadcast reminders
- Detailed station information
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Are you a shortwave radio listener (SWL) in need of an up to date set of schedules for international broadcast stations? Shortwave Broadcast Schedules is a handy app that displays broadcast schedules of about 11,000 longwave, mediumwave, and shortwave broadcast stations. The stations are initially listed in order by frequency. You can tap a button to see which stations are on the air right now, as well as search for stations by name, frequency, time of day that they are on, or select by language, target area, or country of origin. Stations currently on the air are displayed in bold, making it quick and easy to see which stations are on right now. The app can keep a log of stations you have heard, with the date, time, frequency, SIO, and other notes you wish to enter. Now your device can be your personal logbook! You can keep track of favorite stations, as well as set reminders for favorite broadcasts, so you’ll never forget about a transmission again. Tap on a station to bring up more information about the station, such as the country of origin, target area, and programming language. When viewing the details for a station, you can tap on the frequency, country, target, or language to get a list of all other stations with that matching value. You can also tap on Schedule to see all of the transmissions throughout the day for this station. Updated schedules can be downloaded for free. Visit the support page for step by step instructions on using the app: http://www.blackcatsystems.com/iphone/SWBC_FAQ.html Get your copy of Shortwave Broadcast Schedules, and never miss listening to another of your favorite stations again. Note: A shortwave radio is required to listen to the broadcasts.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: EchoLink at Free against Shortwave Broadcast Schedules's $3.99. Shortwave Broadcast Schedules's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 3.9) and review sentiment (73% vs 62%). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
EchoLink is free to download; Shortwave Broadcast Schedules costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Shortwave Broadcast Schedules holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shortwave Broadcast Schedules has 241 ratings behind it against 44, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 62% of EchoLink's written reviews are positive against 73% of Shortwave Broadcast Schedules's.
EchoLink ships an update every 4 months, Shortwave Broadcast Schedules every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | EchoLink | Shortwave Broadcast Schedules |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 3.9 (44 ratings) | 4.5 (241 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 61.5% of reviews | 73.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 44 | 241 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | 6.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Synergenics, LLC | Black Cat Systems |
Customer experience
EchoLink
Shortwave Broadcast Schedules
User reviews
EchoLink
From 44 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Wonderful System
- 🚀 Great for ham travelers
- 🚀 Amazing App
- 🚀 Great tool for Hams
- 🚀 Excellent System
Room to improve
- 🐛 EchoLink does not work
- 🐛 Can't find stations!
- 🐛 Not working on ios26 iPhone pro max
- 🐛 Mic gain
- 🐛 Connectivity problems lately
Shortwave Broadcast Schedules
From 241 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 📚 Comprehensive shortwave station database
- 🔄 Regular automatic schedule updates
- 📱 Portable and convenient tool
- 🎯 Accurate station identification
- 📝 Useful logging feature
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes when writing notes in logs
- 🔤 Text encoding issues with apostrophes/quotes
- 📱 Landscape-only orientation
- 🖥️ Outdated UI design
- ⚠️ Inconsistent data accuracy
Bugs and requests
EchoLink
Reported bugs
13 issues- Latest version (2.19) could use some improvement
- No way to reset password
- Doesn't seem to be working on my phone, I enter call sign, password, and email. I click on login and nothing happens
- Just updated EchoLink to find that it's now stuttering all the time
- After the upgrade there are connection issues
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- No support for passwords longer than 14 characters
- The app won't allow me back in to validate my information
- Doesn't work on iphone
- Unable to Use; Password Too Long
- Cannot connect to local reapeater
- Can't close app
- Latest update issues
- Cannot connect
Requested features
13 requests- Bigger PTT please?
- Add more to app
- Password reset in app option
- Almost There!
- Bigger PTT please?
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- Searching for call sign s
- Not able to connect with 14.4 iOS upgrade
- Mac version
- Dark Mode Wonky
- Missing Nodes
- Echolink multitasking
- Needs a help or tutorial
- Needs full sysop node server capabilities
Shortwave Broadcast Schedules
Reported bugs
8 issues- App crashes when writing notes in logs (iOS 17)
- Text encoding corrupts apostrophes and quotation marks
- 12-hour clock offset error
- App won't open or auto-closes on some devices
- Keyboard won't dismiss properly
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- Incompatible with iOS 11.3+
- Frequency field reverts when saving log entries
- Heavy battery drain on newer iPhones
Requested features
14 requests- Portrait and landscape orientation support
- Modern UI redesign for current iOS standards
- Sort/filter by frequency
- Sort logs by frequency instead of date only
- Reverse chronological order for log display
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- Export logs via email or other methods
- Ability to add new discovered frequencies
- Filter by country and language
- Abbreviation glossary for beginners
- Transmitter location and signal strength data
- Geolocation-based station filtering
- Audio streaming capability
- Keyboard dismissal improvement
- Edit frequency field in log entries
In-app purchases
EchoLink
No in-app purchases
Shortwave Broadcast Schedules
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is EchoLink free?
Is Shortwave Broadcast Schedules free?
Which has better reviews, EchoLink or Shortwave Broadcast Schedules?
Do EchoLink or Shortwave Broadcast Schedules have ads?
Which is updated more often, EchoLink or Shortwave Broadcast Schedules?
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