Comparison

R4 Companion vs U/AWARE

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

Head to head
About

R4 Companion

Enhance your driving experience with intelligent alerts and advanced muting for your radar detector. This app offers location-based false silencing, custom phrases for alerts, and a customizable heads-up display for real-time threat information.

Highlights
  • Location-based false silencing (SpotLocks™)
  • Intelligent alert customization
  • Customizable heads-up display (HUD)
  • Advanced muting features
  • Real-time threat and signal meters
  • Customizable alert phrases
Currently charting
Read full description

CarPlay Support! NOTE: R4 Companion™ requires a Uniden R4 or R4w radar detector with US Version 142 (R4) or 127 (R4w) firmware to function correctly. R4 Companion will NOT function correctly without at least this version of firmware. R4 Companion™ is a feature rich app, designed to give you the most out of your R4, while enhancing your driving experience along the way. Featuring intelligent alerts and advanced muting! R4 Companion™ is the COMPLETE solution to enjoying your R4. SpotLock 2.0 and Advanced False Assist 3.0. Both data driven systems have been updated using 5 years of historical data. This takes your detector to a whole new level of quietness and safety against real threats. The R4 Companion™ app leverages years of optimizations and features from the Radar Companion™ series of apps. (Available separately for owners of the V1, R8, R9, & DS1 radar detectors). Enhanced GPS location based 'false muting' via SpotLocks™ - All future updates to this app are free to purchasers of R4 Companion™ R4 Companion™ feature list: • SpotLocks™ - Location based false silencing has never been this good or easy. Turn on the intelligent location-based learning and let R4 Companion™ do the rest. Or you can manually 'lock' or 'unlock' locations with ease from the main alert screen. • Full navigation functionality in preparation for future CarPlay integration. • New alert screen (portrait & landscape views). • Posted speed limit displayed on main alert screen (US, CA, AU, NZ). • Customizable low speed muting based on PSL. • Quickly switch back from navigation screen to classic alert details screen. • Works seamlessly with the R4's auto mute memory, manual mute memory, k-block, and quiet-ride built in muting. • Option to play detector tones in app. • Ability to set R4’s internal detector settings from the app. *Requires US Version 142 (R4) 127 (R4w) firmware. • SpotLocks™ works seamlessly with your R4’s built in 'auto mute memory' locations. If you create or delete a location from the app it will apply the changes to your R4 at the same time. • 'Proximity' meter - leverages the high resolution signal strength to show you a better representation of the signal's source. • 'K & X falses in area' meter shows you how many possible false alerts exist in the area you are traveling based on the accumulated SpotLock data™. • 'Custom Phrases' for a given threat's audio announcements. • High resolution meters for the priority alert (Not limited to the # of bars on the R4 display). • Customizable heads-up display (HUD). • HUD displays the priority alert's band, signal strength, frequency. The HUD is color coded between real threats & muted false signals. • HUD of the secondary alerts' bands, signal strengths, frequencies, & bogey counts. • Advanced BSM/CAS/Ka False Muting (Optimized for the R4 platform). • 'Ghost' muting quiets false alerts when you are stuck traveling near a false emitting vehicle. • "Passive Mute™"- Quiets the R4 below user set speeds & during weak K & X signals. • Bogey count display showing total number of threats. • Vehicle speed display. Speed is color coded for each alert type. • Mute status with the ability to manually mute/unmute alerts as you need. • Detailed & intelligent voice announcements of band, frequency, strength, number of alerts, occurrences of mixed signals and more. • Automatic muting of Ka, K, and X bands ('Time before mute' set for each band). • 'Reduce Speed' notification for user set speed. • ‘Urgency Alerts™’ - Unmutes growing threats & announces these alerts via voice & notifications. • ‘Alert History’ - View your past alerts with detailed information. • Compass heading. • Detailed trip summary including duration, distance, alerts, muting stats, battery, and more. • Automatic and seamless connection via Bluetooth even while the app is in the background. • iPhone & Apple Watch notifications of Band, & Frequency of each alert. • Help system.

About

U/AWARE

Control and monitor your Uniden SDS150 scanner remotely via Bluetooth. View transmissions visually, hear audio, and record incoming signals directly on your device.

Highlights
  • Remote operation via Bluetooth
  • Visual display of transmissions
  • Audio playback of scanned signals
  • Record incoming transmissions
  • Full control replication of SDS150
Read full description

Provides remote operation functionality via Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE), a visual display and audio of scanned radio transmissions. The display and all controls of the SDS150 are replicated on the app allowing you to access and control all the functions within the range. All incoming audio from the transmissions can be recorded and heard through your devices.

Screenshots

R4 Companion4 screens
U/AWARE4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: U/AWARE at Free against R4 Companion's $9.99. U/AWARE also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). R4 Companion's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 3.8) and ratings volume (624 vs 12). On ads 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

U/AWARE is free to download; R4 Companion costs $9.99 up front. R4 Companion sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. U/AWARE asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

R4 Companion holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: R4 Companion has 624 ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of R4 Companion's written reviews are positive against 63% of U/AWARE's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

R4 Companion ships an update monthly, U/AWARE every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
R4 Companion versus U/AWARE: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterR4 CompanionU/AWARE
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (624 ratings) — better3.8 (12 ratings)
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews — better62.5% of reviews
Number of ratings624 — better12
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#49 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB33 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperAngela McarthurUniden Corporation

Customer experience

R4 Companion

All ratings624 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral2.7%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral13.3%
Negative6.7%

U/AWARE

All ratings12 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral8.3%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative25.0%

Bugs and requests

R4 Companion

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Speed limit warning changes automatically
  • Advanced false assist doesn't work well in small towns

Requested features

6 requests
  • Built-in media player with controls
  • Waze integration to show speed trap locations
  • Option to change screen colors
  • Ability to mark false alerts on the map
  • CarPlay support
Show 1 more
  • Option to mute startup process

U/AWARE

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

R4 Companion

One-time4
  • Snacks - Contribution$1.99
  • Drinks - Contribution$3.99
  • Lunch - Contribution$6.99
Show 1 more
  • Super Fan - Contribution$9.99
None

U/AWARE

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is R4 Companion free?
R4 Companion costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is U/AWARE free?
U/AWARE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, R4 Companion or U/AWARE?
R4 Companion is rated higher. R4 Companion averages 4.8 out of 5 from 624 ratings, while U/AWARE averages 3.8 from 12 ratings.
Do R4 Companion or U/AWARE have ads?
Neither R4 Companion nor U/AWARE shows ads.
Which is updated more often, R4 Companion or U/AWARE?
R4 Companion ships an update monthly, and U/AWARE every 2 months. Most recently, R4 Companion was updated on October 18, 2026 and U/AWARE on October 16, 2026.

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