Mobile Scanners vs DispatchLink
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mobile Scanners
Access over 3000 live community-hosted radio feeds from the US, Australia, Canada, and more. Includes NOAA Weather feeds, missing children lists, and custom audio feed options. Learn emergency codes with state-specific guides.
- 3000+ live community radio feeds
- NOAA Weather agency feeds
- Missing Children Lists
- Favorites list
- Custom audio feed support
- 10-Codes by State
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Over 3000 live community hosted feeds from all around the United States, Australia, Canada, Chili, Puerto Rico and over 200 feeds from the NOAA Weather agency. • Missing Children Lists children from all around the U.S. This feed is categorized and always up to date. • Mobile Scanners allows you to add any number of these feeds to a list of Favorites and if more than 3000 feeds is not enough, you can add your own Custom audio feeds! • 10-Codes by State allows access to all of the codes used by Police, Fire, Emergency and other radio band codes and other useful codes! Learn the lingo and know what’s happening as it happens! • Got a suggestion? Use the in-app contact form in the about view to submit your feedback!
DispatchLink
Listen to live public-safety radio channels across Utah, with real-time incident summaries and mapping. Understand what you're hearing with plain-English explanations and track events as they unfold.
- Live police, fire, and EMS radio streams
- Real-time incident summaries
- Interactive incident map
- Aviation radio monitoring
- Unit tracking
- Transmission console
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DispatchLink brings Utah's public-safety radio to your phone, live, and explains what you're hearing. LISTEN LIVE • Nearly 50 police, fire and EMS channels across Utah, Salt Lake, Davis and Wasatch counties • Tiles light up the moment a channel is talking • Tap the (i) on any channel to see the towns it covers, how busy it is, and when it's usually busiest AVIATION RADIO • Salt Lake airband: tower, ground, ATIS and more, free THE MAP (PLUS) • Every incident heard on the radio, on one map • Pick live now, the last hour, today or the week • One tap shows every crash, and tap any pin to play its radio calls SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING • Incidents: calls turned into clear, plain-English summaries, grouped by town • Just in: what's happened in the last 15 minutes • Today's majors: fires, serious crashes and pursuits in one place WATCH LIKE A DISPATCHER • Console: every transmission as it happens, live • Follow any unit to see where it works and when it's busiest Built in Utah by radio enthusiasts. DISPATCHLINK PLUS Live radio is free. DispatchLink Plus unlocks the Map, Incidents and Today's majors. Plus is an auto-renewing subscription, billed monthly or yearly to your Apple ID, and includes a free trial for new subscribers. It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID settings. DispatchLink is not an emergency service. In an emergency, call 911. Privacy: https://dispatchlink.org/privacy Terms: https://dispatchlink.org/terms License (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: DispatchLink at 5.0 against Mobile Scanners's 3.1. DispatchLink also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). Mobile Scanners's advantage is ratings volume (20 vs 2) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, 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
Both are free to download. Mobile Scanners sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and DispatchLink sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
DispatchLink holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mobile Scanners has 20 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 57% of Mobile Scanners's written reviews are positive against 50% of DispatchLink's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Mobile Scanners ships an update every 4 months, DispatchLink monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Mobile Scanners | DispatchLink |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.1 (20 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 56.5% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 20 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Wrights Creative Services, L.L.C. | Nathan Hayes |
Customer experience
Mobile Scanners
DispatchLink
In-app purchases
Mobile Scanners
- FBI Crime Alerts$0.99
- FBI Top 10 Most Wanted$0.99
- Most Wanted Terrorists$0.99
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- Wanted by the FBI$0.99
DispatchLink
- Monthly Premium Access7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Annual Premium Access7 Days trial$79.991 Year
Questions
Is Mobile Scanners free?
Is DispatchLink free?
Which has better reviews, Mobile Scanners or DispatchLink?
Do Mobile Scanners or DispatchLink have ads?
Which is updated more often, Mobile Scanners or DispatchLink?
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