SWList vs PhosphorCW
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
PhosphorCW
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PhosphorCW — Morse Code Decoder Decode CW (Morse code) signals in real time using your iPhone or iPad's microphone. PhosphorCW listens to radio audio and prints decoded text on screen with the warm glow of a vintage phosphor terminal. REAL-TIME DECODING Point your device at a radio speaker or feed audio via a line-in adapter. PhosphorCW's DSP engine continuously processes the audio stream, detecting CW tones and decoding them into readable text as they arrive. Characters appear on a teleprinter-style display that scrolls automatically, just like the machines that once clattered in radio rooms and newsrooms worldwide. AUTOMATIC SIGNAL TRACKING • Auto Frequency (AFC) — Automatically finds and locks onto the CW sidetone using FFT peak detection. No need to know the exact tone frequency. The tracker adapts as conditions change. • Auto Speed — Measures dit and dah timing to determine sending speed in words per minute. Adapts continuously from around 5 to 60 WPM as the operator's speed varies. Both can be switched to manual mode for fixed-frequency or fixed-speed operation. ON-DEVICE DSP ENGINE All signal processing happens locally on your device. Nothing is recorded, transmitted, or stored externally. The decoding pipeline includes: Bandpass filtering centred on the detected tone frequency Goertzel-based tone detection with adaptive noise floor tracking Envelope extraction with slow-decay peak tracking for reliable squelch Adaptive timing estimation for dit/dah discrimination and character/word gap detection Full ITU Morse code table including prosigns SIGNAL ANALYSIS A dedicated signal view provides: Live FFT spectrum display showing the audio frequency content Scrolling waterfall display for visualising signal activity over time Tone level indicator Real-time WPM, tone frequency, and SNR readout Lock status indicator showing when AFC has acquired a signal DISPLAY Choose from multiple phosphor colour themes — green, amber, white, and blue — inspired by the CRT terminals of the Cold War era. Adjustable decoder font size. Text selection enabled for copying decoded output. SESSION LOG Each decoding session is automatically logged with timestamp, duration, character count, WPM, and tone frequency. Review past sessions and their decoded text at any time. CONFIGURATION Input gain control (0.1x to 20x) Auto/manual frequency detection (300–1500 Hz range) Auto/manual speed tracking (5–60 WPM) Colour theme selection Font size adjustment USE CASES Monitor amateur radio CW transmissions Practice copying Morse code from on-air signals Decode CW practice recordings and training files Analyse CW signal characteristics Learn Morse code by watching the decoder work ABOUT CW Continuous Wave — the original digital mode. Samuel Morse's code has been the universal language of radio since the 1840s. From clipper ships to Cold War submarines, from Bletchley Park to amateur radio contests, CW remains the most efficient and reliable communications mode ever devised. This app decodes it from your microphone or line input. Requires microphone access for audio input. iOS 18.0 or later.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: SWList at every 2 months against PhosphorCW's every 7 months. SWList also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.2). PhosphorCW's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $3.99). 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
SWList costs $3.99 and PhosphorCW $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
SWList ships an update every 2 months, PhosphorCW every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SWList | PhosphorCW |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $3.99 | $0.99 — better |
| Rating | 3.8 (4 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stefano Rampazzo | Stuart Woolley |
In-app purchases
SWList
No in-app purchases
PhosphorCW
No in-app purchases









