SWLog vs Spacetrucker Galactic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Log amateur radio QSOs
- Log broadcast transmissions
- QRZ lookups
- Broadcast schedule lookups
- GPS integration
- Upload logs to main program
Read full descriptionHide 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
Spacetrucker Galactic
This app consolidates space weather, amateur radio, and astronomical data into a single, location-aware view. It provides HF propagation summaries, aurora likelihood, DX cluster information, and celestial event timings. Designed for field use, it operates entirely on-device with no backend services.
- HF propagation summary
- Aurora likelihood alerts
- DX cluster integration
- Parks On The Air/Summits On The Air spots
- Magnetic declination calculation
- APRS callsign tracking
- Sunrise/sunset and twilight times
- Planetary positions
Read full descriptionHide full description
Galactic is a daily almanac for amateur radio operators, space-weather watchers, and anyone who keeps an antenna outside. It pulls the forecasts and ephemerides that normally live in eight separate browser tabs into one quiet view, tuned to your location. FOR RADIO OPERATORS • HF propagation summary. Live planetary Kp, A index, and 10.7 cm solar flux (SFI) from NOAA SWPC, plus a plain-English read on band conditions and noise floor. • Aurora-likelihood flag. Kp-driven heads-up when the auroral oval is pushing south and HF is about to get interesting. • DX cluster. Recent DX spots so you can see what's audible right now — without firing up a separate client. • Parks On The Air & Summits On The Air. Live spots sorted by distance, with a detail page for each — distance and bearing from your QTH, frequency, mode, comments, and a map pin where the spot carries coordinates. • Magnetic declination at your location, computed on-device against the World Magnetic Model — for beam headings and portable directional antennas. • APRS callsign tracking. Save your friends' callsigns; one tap pulls their last-known position from aprs.fi (your read key, your account), with APRS-symbol icons and path-derived DX stats. SPACE WEATHER, SUN, AND SKY • Sunrise, sunset, golden-hour windows, and the three twilight transitions (civil, nautical, astronomical) on a 24-hour color strip. • Moon phase, illumination, and procedural surface features rendered on a starfield — Mare Imbrium, Tranquillitatis, Tycho, the rest of the near-side face. • Ten planetary positions (Sun, Moon, Mercury through Pluto) in zodiac signs at their current degree, computed locally with Meeus's formulas. • Upcoming launches. Next five orbital launches from The Space Devs. WEATHER, FOR THE REST OF THE KIT • Earth weather. Six-period NWS forecast for your coordinates. • Marine forecasts. NWS coastal-zone bulletins (GMZ, AMZ, PZZ, AN, …) parsed as readable periods with seas, wind, and weather. WHERE THE BRIEF LIVES • Home-screen widget — small and medium sizes with current temperature, sun events, Kp, and moon phase at a glance. • Apple Watch app with five glance cards and four complication families (circular, corner, inline, rectangular). • Local notifications for golden hour and astronomical dusk, scheduled fourteen days ahead. BUILT FOR THE FIELD Galactic runs entirely on your device. No backend, no accounts, no analytics, no third-party SDKs. Outbound requests go only to NOAA, NWS, aprs.fi, The Space Devs, POTA, SOTA, and the DX cluster — the public services that produce the data. Your aprs.fi API key is yours, stored in iOS UserDefaults on this device only. 73 — de SpaceTrucker. What's New in This Version (4000 char max — 1,170 used) v0.2 — Standalone • Galactic now runs entirely on your device. Every data source is fetched directly from its public origin; nothing is routed through a Galactic server. • Brand-new RF tab leading with the radio-operator story: HF propagation, aurora flag, POTA, SOTA, DX cluster, magnetic declination, APRS callsign tracking and receive-only messaging. • POTA & SOTA detail pages — distance and bearing from your QTH, frequency, mode, comments, and a map pin where coordinates are available. • Moon surface features rendered on the moon hero — Mare Imbrium, Tranquillitatis, Procellarum, Tycho, and the rest of the near-side face. • Apple Watch app with five glance cards and four complication families. • Apple Maps deep linking from any callsign's last-known position. • Local notifications for golden hour and astronomical dusk, scheduled fourteen days ahead. • Accessibility: the Sun day strip reads sunrise, sunset, and the current twilight phase to VoiceOver. Every tab's interactive surface now has stable identifiers and labels. • Haptic feedback on refresh, success, and error.
Screenshots
Verdict
SWLog and Spacetrucker Galactic are too close to call on the numbers: across 7 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.
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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SWLog ships an update fortnightly, Spacetrucker Galactic monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SWLog | Spacetrucker Galactic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 25.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.1 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 305 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Robert Sillett | river.io llc |
Customer experience
SWLog
Spacetrucker Galactic
In-app purchases
SWLog
No in-app purchases
Spacetrucker Galactic
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SWLog free?
Is Spacetrucker Galactic free?
Do SWLog or Spacetrucker Galactic have ads?
Which is updated more often, SWLog or Spacetrucker Galactic?
Other comparisons















