Comparison

SWList vs PhosphorHertz

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

Head to head
About

SWList

Discover and identify shortwave radio stations with access to curated EiBi and Aoki lists. Explore stations by frequency, band, or search criteria, and view detailed transmission information, including location on a map.

Highlights
  • Access EiBi and Aoki curated lists
  • Discover stations by frequency or band
  • Search by station name, country, or language
  • Connect to radio receivers via Hamlib
  • Filter for currently broadcasting stations
  • View station transmission details
  • Display transmitter location on map
Features
Read full description

SWList gives you access to the popular EiBi and Aoki lists, helping you easily discover and identify shortwave radio stations. The EiBi list, curated by Eike Bierwirth, is a highly valued resource within the SWL community.  The Aoki list, curated by Shigenori Aoki, is also widely used and recognized for its reliability. SWList offers four convenient ways to explore radio stations: - Enter a listening frequency to display stations transmitting nearby. - Select a specific radio band to view all stations within it. - Search by station name, country, or broadcast language. - Retrieve the frequency manually or automatically from your radio receiver, if connected via Hamlib. You can also filter results to show only stations that are currently broadcasting. For each station, detailed information is available, including transmission location, target area, and spoken language. If the transmitter’s location is available, you can display it on a geographic map and calculate the distance from your location. SWList also supports light and dark modes to suit your viewing preferences.

About

PhosphorHertz

Features
Read full description

PhosphorHz is a real-time HF radio propagation monitor for amateur radio operators. It pulls live space weather data from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center and translates it into band-by-band conditions you can act on — right now, from your location. No guesswork. No stale forecasts. Just the numbers, rendered in a retro CRT phosphor display that would look at home in a Cold War listening post. BAND CONDITIONS See at a glance which HF bands are open, marginal, closed, or blacked out. Conditions are calculated from real-time solar flux, geomagnetic activity, and X-ray flux data — not generic regional forecasts. Each band shows your local status plus path-specific conditions to every DX target you configure. MUF CALCULATION The Maximum Usable Frequency for a 3000km reference path from your QTH, derived from Solar Flux Index, solar zenith angle, and depressed by geomagnetic activity. Individual MUFs are calculated for each great-circle path to your DX targets, because the ionosphere doesn't care about averages. SOLAR INDICES All the numbers that matter, updated in real time: Solar Flux Index (SFI) with 30-day trend chart Planetary Kp Index with 24-hour bar chart Estimated Sunspot Number (SSN) GOES X-ray flux class and latest flare detection Solar wind IMF Bz component NOAA R/S/G scales (Radio Blackout, Solar Radiation, Geomagnetic Storm) Running A-index and solar wind Bt Each index includes a plain-language assessment: is the F2 layer well ionised? Is the geomagnetic field quiet or disturbed? Is the solar wind coupling or shielded? 3D GREYLINE GLOBE A SceneKit globe shows the solar terminator — the boundary between day and night — in real time. The greyline (twilight zone along the terminator) is where lower-band DX propagation is enhanced, and it's rendered as an amber band you can see at a glance. The globe displays coastlines, your QTH position, DX target locations, and great-circle paths coloured by band condition. Drag to rotate. Double-tap to recentre on your station. Hit play to watch the Earth spin. SPACE WEATHER ALERTS NOAA SWPC alerts and warnings filtered for HF relevance. Flare events, geomagnetic storms, radio blackouts — the alerts that actually affect your ability to make contacts, with full detail on tap. DX TARGETS Configure up to five target regions. PhosphorHz calculates path-specific propagation for each one, using great-circle geometry and the MUF at the midpoint of each path. What's open to Japan might be closed to South America — and now you can see both at once. FEATURES Real-time data from NOAA SWPC (public domain, no API key required) Band conditions for 160m through 6m Path-specific propagation to multiple DX targets 3D interactive greyline globe with terminator visualisation Sunrise/sunset times and countdown to next solar event Day/night/greyline status at your QTH Kp index 24-hour bar chart SFI 30-day trend line Full space weather alert log with 30-day history Maidenhead grid locator display Automatic location detection or manual grid entry Green phosphor and amber phosphor CRT themes CRT scanline overlay effect Designed for iPhone, portrait orientation No ads. No tracking. No subscription. Part of the Phosphor suite: PhosphorWX (aviation weather), PhosphorRad (radiation monitoring), PhosphorSol (space weather), and PhosphorOrbit (satellite tracking). 73 de PhosphorHz.

Screenshots

SWList4 screens
PhosphorHertz4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PhosphorHertz at $0.99 against SWList's $3.99. SWList's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.2). On ads, in-app purchases 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

SWList costs $3.99 and PhosphorHertz $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SWList ships an update every 2 months, PhosphorHertz every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
SWList versus PhosphorHertz: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSWListPhosphorHertz
Price$3.99$0.99 — better
Rating3.8 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStefano RampazzoStuart Woolley

In-app purchases

None

SWList

No in-app purchases

None

PhosphorHertz

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SWList free?
SWList costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PhosphorHertz free?
PhosphorHertz costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do SWList or PhosphorHertz have ads?
Neither SWList nor PhosphorHertz shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SWList or PhosphorHertz?
SWList ships an update every 2 months, and PhosphorHertz every 4 months. Most recently, SWList was updated on October 13, 2026 and PhosphorHertz on October 14, 2026.

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