Comparison

NetBuddy ForensicChef vs Ham Engineering

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

Head to head
About

NetBuddy ForensicChef

Features
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ForensicChef β€” mobile forensics and data transformation toolkit Quickly import, inspect, transform and export forensic captures and text data on your iPhone or iPad. Build repeatable "recipes" of operations to automate parsing, decoding, filtering and formatting so you can reproduce results reliably and share findings with colleagues. Key features: Import from files or clipboard: accept raw capture files and text (PCAP, base64/hex dumps, CSV, JSON and plain text) via the Share sheet or clipboard. Reusable recipes: chain operations (parse, filter, decode, extract, format) into named recipes that you can save, run and modify. Lightweight operations: common forensic helpers such as hex/base64 decode, timestamp conversion, field extraction, regex search/replace, and CSV/JSON formatting. Secure local exports: export results to local files for secure sharing or archival; temporary-file export ensures reliable access for the system share sheet. Reproducibility: save, export and version recipes so analyses can be repeated and audited. Privacy-first: all processing occurs locally on-device; nothing is uploaded without your explicit action. Who it’s for? Mobile forensics practitioners who need a portable tool for quick parsing and triage. Security analysts and incident responders who want reproducible, shareable transformations of capture or text artifacts. Developers and researchers who need a compact playground for testing parsing and data-extraction logic. Getting started Paste or import a capture/text into the Input. Add operations from the picker and arrange them into a recipe. Run the recipe to produce transformed Output. Export or share results securely when needed. Download ForensicChef to speed up mobile forensic triage, keep analyses reproducible, and share results securely β€” all from your device.

About

Ham Engineering

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Ham Engineering is the engineering bench for amateur radio β€” antenna and feedline maths, circuit design, propagation and a deep reference library, all completely offline. No account, no ads, no tracking, and not a single network call. ANTENNAS β€’ Half-wave dipole with adjustable k (velocity) factor, quarter-wave and 5/8-wave verticals, ground-plane radials, end-fed half-wave, random wire, full-wave loop and a 3-element Yagi estimator β€’ Matching: L-network, Pi-network, quarter-wave transformer, balun/unun ratios and stub matching β€’ Antenna Lab β€” a live elevation radiation-pattern plot with directivity, realized gain, takeoff angle, beamwidth, front-to-back, mismatch loss, feedline loss and system gain, each explained β€’ Grid Compass that rotates with your phone, showing beam bearing and distance from your grid to a target grid β€’ Antenna gallery β€” every common type drawn as scalable vector art, with what it is, what it is for and what to watch out for FEEDLINES & RF β€’ Coax loss by cable type, frequency and run length; velocity-factor electrical length β€’ SWR from forward/reflected power, plus return loss and mismatch loss β€’ Antenna A/B comparison and receiver noise-floor estimation β€’ RF power conversions: dBm, watts, ERP and EIRP β€’ Propagation: free-space path loss, radio horizon and Fresnel-zone clearance β€’ NanoVNA and tinySA quick-start guides, and a coax + connector gallery CIRCUITS β€’ Ohm's law, series/parallel resistance, voltage dividers, RC and RL time constants β€’ Reactance, LC resonance, Q and bandwidth, stored energy β€’ RC and LC filter cutoffs, a constant-k Pi/T filter designer, a bandpass/notch calculator and a Butterworth low-pass designer β€’ Resistor, capacitor and inductor code decoders, an AWG wire table and a 555 timer calculator β€’ A live RLC resonance lab and a 50-part component gallery REFERENCE & EXTRA β€’ Filterable amateur band plan for ITU Regions 1, 2 and 3 β€’ Unit converters including watts, dBm and microvolts β€’ Comparison tables for coax, connectors, antennas and batteries β€’ Tools-and-gear and rig-controls galleries β€” what every knob and button is called across manufacturers β€’ Maidenhead grid tools and great-circle beam headings β€’ 300+ searchable tips, 40+ formulas, a rich glossary and a constants reference β€’ Curated external links to major retailers, brands and references BUILT FOR THE BENCH β€’ Nearly 200 illustrations drawn as scalable vector art β€” nothing to download, everything sharp at any size β€’ Works fully offline. The app makes no network calls at all β€’ Export any panel or diagram as a theme-aware image to share or file β€’ An (i) explanation on every panel β€” this is a tool and a guide, not a quiz β€’ Light and dark themes, adjustable font size, weekly tips and in-app version history β€’ Your callsign, grid and email stay on your device and are never transmitted PERFECT FOR β€’ Licensed operators designing, building and tuning antennas β€’ Anyone putting up a first dipole or vertical and wanting the numbers right β€’ Homebrewers and kit builders working with filters, matching and components β€’ SWLs and newcomers who want the reference material without the exam drill β€’ Club elmers and anyone teaching antenna and RF fundamentals PRIVACY β€’ Your callsign, grid and email are stored only on your device. β€’ No account, no sign-up, no ads, no analytics SDKs, no advertising ID and no tracking of any kind. 73 de A41UX Yousuf AL Balushi β€” Unixeer, Oman

Screenshots

NetBuddy ForensicChef4 screens
Ham Engineering4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Ham Engineering at Free against NetBuddy ForensicChef's $1.99. Ham Engineering also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Ham Engineering is free to download; NetBuddy ForensicChef costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
NetBuddy ForensicChef versus Ham Engineering: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNetBuddy ForensicChefHam Engineering
Price$1.99Free β€” better
Update frequencyβ€”Every 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” better
Requires iOS26.013.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size1 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRick BodnarYousif AL Balushi

In-app purchases

None

NetBuddy ForensicChef

No in-app purchases

None

Ham Engineering

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is NetBuddy ForensicChef free?
NetBuddy ForensicChef costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ham Engineering free?
Ham Engineering is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do NetBuddy ForensicChef or Ham Engineering have ads?
Neither NetBuddy ForensicChef nor Ham Engineering shows ads.

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