# Blue Box vs Shortwave Guide

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Blue Box at 56% against Shortwave Guide's 20%. Blue Box also leads on price ($4.99 vs $8.99). Shortwave Guide's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 7 months). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Blue Box costs $4.99 and Shortwave Guide $8.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Blue Box ships an update every 7 months, Shortwave Guide every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Blue Box | Shortwave Guide |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **$4.99** | $8.99 |
| Rating | **[5.0 (3 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blue-box/id391832739/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **3** | — |
| Positive reviews | **55.6% of reviews** | 20.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | **Every 2 months** |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Size | 2 MB | 26 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 15.6 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Sunshine Valley Systems](https://appshunter.io/developer/327149814) | [Vladyslav Haliuk](https://appshunter.io/developer/1563954274) |

## What reviewers say

### Blue Box

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blue-box/id391832739)

Encode and decode DTMF signals using your device's microphone or keypad. Play back tone sequences with adjustable settings, and save them for easy recall. Explore various tone systems, including trunk control and coin signals, for educational and utility purposes.

**Highlights:** Encode/decode DTMF signals, Adjustable tone, delay, and volume, US, UK, and European tone systems, Multi-frequency and trunk control tones, Coin tone sequences (Red Box mode), Custom tone creation, Save and organize sequences

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Shortwave Guide

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shortwave-guide/id1629061921)

This application displays a real-time schedule of shortwave radio broadcasts worldwide, sourced from the EiBi database. Users can rescan for updates, view specific frequencies, and update the entire broadcast schedule database.

**Highlights:** Worldwide shortwave broadcast schedule, Real-time station listings, Frequency viewing, Database updates, EiBi database integration

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Blue Box free?

Blue Box costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Shortwave Guide free?

Shortwave Guide costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Blue Box or Shortwave Guide have ads?

Neither Blue Box nor Shortwave Guide shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Blue Box or Shortwave Guide?

Blue Box ships an update every 7 months, and Shortwave Guide every 2 months. Most recently, Blue Box was updated on September 30, 2026 and Shortwave Guide on September 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*