Comparison

Echo vs liil

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

Head to head
About

Echo

Tune into thousands of remote radio servers worldwide from your iPhone or iPad. Explore shortwave broadcasts, aviation communications, and more with a global interactive map and advanced tuning features. Enjoy uninterrupted background audio and a privacy-first experience.

Highlights
  • Global interactive map and search
  • Support for multiple SDR architectures
  • Scanner mode and OpenMHz archives
  • Pro-level tuning and analytics
  • Offline frequency library and logging
  • Uninterrupted background audio
  • Privacy-first design
Features
Read full description

Echo is the ultimate, natively-built iOS client for tuning into remote radio servers. Listen to anything, from anywhere. Dive into international shortwave broadcasts from Asia, monitor aviation communications over the Atlantic, discover mysterious numbers stations, or tune into distant FM stations across the globe, all from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac with Apple silicon. Featured in Radio World, on RTL-SDR.com, and in the SWLing Post. Radio World's Nick Langan praised Echo's "thoughtfully designed interface," said he has "loved using" the app, and later described Echo Pro's transcription as "very responsive." Designed for radio enthusiasts and curious listeners alike, Echo is a powerful aggregator that connects you to nearly 3,000 community-hosted Software Defined Radio (SDR) receivers. By integrating these reliable streams into a dedicated native environment, Echo delivers true background audio, high-performance mapping, and features that are difficult to achieve in a standard web browser. KEY FEATURES Global Interactive Map & Search Visually browse thousands of remote SDR servers worldwide using our smooth, native MapKit clustering engine, or instantly search nearly 3,000+ receivers by name or location. Unmatched SDR Compatibility Seamless support for KiwiSDR, OpenWebRX, WebSDR, and FM-DX Webserver architectures. Want to listen to a private node? Add your own unlisted servers with custom URL entry. Scanner Mode Automatically cycle through station lists at set intervals. Advanced Tuning & Analytics • Smart Manual Tuner: Instantly tune by entering kHz or MHz; Echo intelligently detects the band format. • Audio Engine Passthrough: Interfaces directly with server-side signal processors for broad compatibility with waterfall rendering, plugins, and decoding extensions. • Intelligent Profile Switching: Automatically switches to the correct server band profile as you tune on supported networks. Offline Frequency Library & Logging Search an offline, built-in EIBI database of over 9,000 global shortwave and utility frequencies. Save and log your favorite stations to your local device. Uninterrupted Background Audio Keep listening when your screen is locked or while using other apps. Our custom audio bridge intercepts complex SDR streams to provide true iOS background playback and lock-screen controls. ECHO PRO Take Echo further with recording, live transcription, translation, and iCloud sync. • Record the Airwaves: Record live radio and revisit important moments anytime. • Live Transcription: Turn live radio into on-screen text as you listen. • Translation: Transcribe foreign-language broadcasts and translate them into readable English. • iCloud Sync: Sync recordings, transcripts, translations, notes, favorites, saved servers, and supported settings across your Apple devices. Echo Pro requires a monthly or annual subscription. Privacy First Zero tracking. No analytics, no proprietary tracking servers, and no ad IDs. Your listening activity is not tracked. Echo Pro syncs supported data through your private iCloud account. Built with speed, aesthetics, and privacy in mind, Echo ensures a fast, premium listening experience. Start exploring the airwaves today! VoiceOver & Accessibility Support • Station cards, player, recording, and scanner controls announce meaningful context to VoiceOver • Scanner controls (play/pause/skip/favorite) are fully labeled and navigable • Station changes, server connections, and scanner state are announced in real-time • Reduce Transparency support: glass effects swap to solid backgrounds when enabled • Reduce Motion support: animations are simplified when enabled in iOS settings • Decorative elements hidden from assistive technology for a cleaner navigation experience Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

liil

Features
Read full description

Your life, on one timeline. A personal event log for iPhone. Any life event — and the papers that belong with it — on one chronological feed, synced through your iCloud. A FEED, NOT A FOLDER Every event sits in time. Look back along the feed and see when it happened. CATEGORIES AND YOUR OWN TAGS Health, bills, or general events. Mark events with your own tags — for example, everything about one doctor or one trip — and show only those on the timeline. FILES, PHOTOS, AND SCANS Attach PDFs and photos, or scan paper documents with the camera. They stay with the event they explain. SEND FILES TO liil FROM OTHER APPS Send documents to liil with the Share button from any other app. YOURS, NOT OURS No liil account. No liil servers. Events and files stay on your device and sync through your iCloud. FOR EXAMPLE Your visits to doctors or labs, in date order. liil does not read attached documents or process their contents: it is not software for processing medical data. A log of bills. Invoices and receipts next to the day you paid them. Later you can see what was paid, and when. Anything else with a date works the same way.

Screenshots

Echo4 screens
liil4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: liil at none against Echo's 2. liil also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 9 days). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Both are free to download. Echo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. liil asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Echo ships an update every 9 days, liil every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Echo versus liil: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEcholiil
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (35 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings35 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMark Garrison Jr.Anton Shishkin

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Echo

Subscriptions2
  • Echo Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Echo Pro Annual$39.991 Year
None

liil

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Echo free?
Echo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is liil free?
liil is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Echo or liil have ads?
Neither Echo nor liil shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Echo or liil?
Echo ships an update every 9 days, and liil every 3 days. Most recently, Echo was updated on October 20, 2026 and liil on October 21, 2026.

Other comparisons