ARRL magazines vs MorseCAT
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ARRL magazines
Access the monthly ARRL membership journal, QST, on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. This publication offers news, construction projects, and tutorials for Amateur Radio enthusiasts. The digital version includes exclusive content not found in print.
- Monthly QST digital delivery
- News and updates
- Construction projects
- Tutorials and guides
- Exclusive digital content
Read full descriptionHide full description
If you're a member of ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio, install this app and have QST, the ARRL membership journal, delivered to your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch every month! QST entertains and informs with news, construction projects, tutorials and much more. That's why it is the most widely read Amateur Radio publication in the world. The digital version of QST goes even further with content not found in the printed journal. Privacy & Terms of Conditions: http://www.arrl.org/online-privacy-policy
MorseCAT
Learn Morse code by sound at real operating speeds from day one. Practice listening to characters and keying them back, with tools to track your progress and simulate real-world radio communications. Unlock additional arcade-style games and advanced drills with a one-time purchase.
- Instant Character Recognition (ICR) training
- Listen & Learn sound-based introduction
- Keying back practice with hardware support
- Per-character mastery heatmap
- QSO simulator for realistic exchanges
- Offline functionality
Read full descriptionHide full description
Learn Morse code the way high-speed operators actually hear it: as sounds, not dots and dashes. MorseCAT is an Instant Character Recognition (ICR) trainer. Every character is sent at real speed from day one — you never count elements, you learn the sound. Then you answer the way an operator would: key it back. LEARNING IS FREE. FOREVER. • The full guided path — every letter, number, and prosign, in the proven CW Academy order • Listen & Learn — hear each character introduced as pure sound • Listen & Say — say the character out loud and MorseCAT grades you by ear • Free Practice — your speed, your character set, whenever • Word Patterns and weekly LICW class groups — drill exactly what your class covers • Progress that means something: a per-character mastery heatmap, recognition-time tracking, a copy-ceiling benchmark, streaks, and a proficiency rank ANSWER LIKE AN OPERATOR Hear a character, key it back. Use the on-screen straight key, the touch paddle, or plug in real hardware — Bluetooth MIDI keyers and paddles (TinyMIDI, HaliKey, VBand-style interfaces) take over automatically the moment they connect. Motor memory in, guesswork out. REAL SPEED, HONEST NUMBERS Characters always sound at your character speed (default 32 wpm, floor 25) — fast enough that there's no time to count elements, which is the whole point. Difficulty comes from closing the gaps, Farnsworth-style, never from slowing the code down. MorseCAT measures your time-to-recognize on every single character, so you always know which ones are instant and which ones still make you think. MORSECAT PRO — ONE PURCHASE, YOURS FOREVER A single one-time unlock (no subscription, ever) opens the arcade and the airwaves: • Key Invaders — read the falling words, shoot them by keying them • Ice Dash — an arcade sprint for your sending hand • The full QSO simulator — realistic contest and club exchanges: SST, POTA hunting, CWT, SKCC, and LICW scenarios, with band noise and fading if you want it • Advanced push drills — the Miss Drill and Send Sprint Code Invaders, single-caller QSOs (5 a day), and every learning tool stay free — and the whole arcade opens free for ten minutes every day, so you can try it before you decide. NO NONSENSE • No account. No ads. No tracking. • Works offline — practice on a plane, in a park, anywhere • Your progress lives on your phone, nowhere else Whether you're prepping for your first POTA hunt, keeping up with your LICW class, or chasing 40 wpm head-copy, MorseCAT meets your ear where it is and pushes it — one instantly-recognized character at a time. 73, and happy keying.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: MorseCAT at 100% against ARRL magazines's 12%. MorseCAT also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.8) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 8 months). ARRL magazines's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (268 vs 1). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. MorseCAT sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ARRL magazines asks for nothing beyond the download.
MorseCAT holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ARRL magazines has 268 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 12% of ARRL magazines's written reviews are positive against 100% of MorseCAT's.
ARRL magazines ships an update every 8 months, MorseCAT every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ARRL magazines | MorseCAT |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.8 (268 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 12.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 268 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 137 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ARRL, American Radio Relay League, Inc. | Aspen Ventures, LLC |
Customer experience
ARRL magazines
MorseCAT
Bugs and requests
ARRL magazines
Reported bugs
3 issues- Downloading issues causes app to freeze
- Inconsistent behavior across devices
- Disappearing downloaded content
Requested features
3 requests- Seamless integration with ARRL account
- Ability to resume reading from last page
- PDF export option
MorseCAT
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ARRL magazines
No in-app purchases
MorseCAT
- MorseCAT Pro$4.99
Questions
Is ARRL magazines free?
Is MorseCAT free?
Which has better reviews, ARRL magazines or MorseCAT?
Do ARRL magazines or MorseCAT have ads?
Which is updated more often, ARRL magazines or MorseCAT?
Other comparisons















