Comparison

Shortwave Broadcast Schedules vs SWLog

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

SWLog

Log amateur radio QSOs and broadcast transmissions on your mobile device. Supports QRZ lookups and various broadcast schedule queries for station identification. Features GPS integration and local log browsing, with the ability to upload to a main logging program.

Highlights
  • Log amateur radio QSOs
  • Log broadcast transmissions
  • QRZ lookups
  • Broadcast schedule lookups
  • GPS integration
  • Upload logs to main program
Features
Read full description

SWLog is a mobile companion application to the full SWLog suite or logging and radio control applications. SWLog allows amateur radio and broadcast (shortwave, AM/FM, and utility) transmissions to be logged locally and later uploaded to the main logging program. QRZ can be used for lookups for amateur radio logs. For broadcast logs, various program schedules from ADDX, AOKI, EIBI, FCC, HFCC, ILGRadio, and SWSkeds are queried to aid in identifying the station. Features of this app include: * Download a preset list of locations, radios, and broadcast program schedules * Add an amateur radio QSO * Supports QRZ lookups * Monitor POTA spots * Add a POTA spot * Add a broadcast log * Supports lookups to various program schedules * GPS integration including calculating the current grid square to 10 characters * View/Browse locally added logs * Upload logs to the main logging program

Screenshots

Shortwave Broadcast Schedules3 screens
SWLog4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Shortwave Broadcast Schedules at 73% against SWLog's 25%. Shortwave Broadcast Schedules also leads on rating (4.5 vs 1.0) and ratings volume (241 vs 1). SWLog's advantage is price (Free vs $3.99) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

SWLog 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Shortwave Broadcast Schedules holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shortwave Broadcast Schedules has 241 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Shortwave Broadcast Schedules's written reviews are positive against 25% of SWLog's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shortwave Broadcast Schedules ships an update every 2 months, SWLog fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Shortwave Broadcast Schedules versus SWLog: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShortwave Broadcast SchedulesSWLog
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (241 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews73.1% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings241 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS6.0 — better16.1
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB305 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBlack Cat SystemsRobert Sillett

Customer experience

Shortwave Broadcast Schedules

All ratings238 ratings
Positive89.9%
Neutral3.4%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews119 reviews
Positive73.1%
Neutral5.9%
Negative21.0%

SWLog

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative75.0%

Bugs and requests

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
Show 3 more
  • 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
Show 9 more
  • 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

SWLog

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Shortwave Broadcast Schedules

No in-app purchases

None

SWLog

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Shortwave Broadcast Schedules free?
Shortwave Broadcast Schedules costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is SWLog free?
SWLog is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Shortwave Broadcast Schedules or SWLog?
Shortwave Broadcast Schedules is rated higher. Shortwave Broadcast Schedules averages 4.5 out of 5 from 241 ratings, while SWLog averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Shortwave Broadcast Schedules or SWLog have ads?
Neither Shortwave Broadcast Schedules nor SWLog shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shortwave Broadcast Schedules or SWLog?
Shortwave Broadcast Schedules ships an update every 2 months, and SWLog fortnightly. Most recently, Shortwave Broadcast Schedules was updated on October 29, 2026 and SWLog on October 24, 2026.

Other comparisons