SUNSCAN vs PhosphorCW
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SUNSCAN
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The Sunscan is a revolutionary spectroheliograph designed to allow you to capture images of the Sun in minutes, directly from your smartphone. This complete and autonomous device is the result of several months of work by our team of enthusiasts. With the Sunscan, you will be able to explore the wonders of the Sun like never before. Thanks to our dedicated application, you will be able to control the Sunscan directly from your smartphone or tablet, making the experience even more intuitive and accessible. You will be able to make observations very simply and obtain images of our star automatically without any special knowledge, showing prominences, flares or even sunspots.
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 price: SUNSCAN at Free against PhosphorCW's $0.99. SUNSCAN also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.2). On ads and in-app purchases 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
SUNSCAN is free to download; PhosphorCW costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | SUNSCAN | PhosphorCW |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 26.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 47 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | STAROS | Stuart Woolley |
In-app purchases
SUNSCAN
No in-app purchases
PhosphorCW
No in-app purchases





