Echo vs StellarTrack AR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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/
StellarTrack AR
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StellarTrack shows you where weather satellites are in the sky right now, overlaid on your camera view, so you can aim an antenna at them with confidence. Point your phone at the sky. Each tracked satellite appears as a marker where it actually is, with live azimuth and elevation you can read off directly. Lock onto one and an arrow guides you until you are on target. WHAT IT TRACKS • METEOR-M2-3 and METEOR-M2-4 — Russian polar orbiters broadcasting LRPT • GK-2A — Korean geostationary satellite • GOES-18 — NOAA geostationary satellite over the eastern Pacific FEATURES Live AR pointing Satellite markers rendered in a live camera view, anchored to true north and gravity. Aim the phone the way you would aim the antenna. Precise azimuth and elevation Read the exact bearing and elevation for any tracked satellite. Positions are computed on device with the standard SGP4 orbital model. Pass predictions See when each polar orbiter rises next, how long until it does, and how high it will climb at peak. Plan a reception session before you set up. Below-horizon preview Satellites that have not risen yet still appear, dimmed, so you can see which direction the next pass will come from. Compass health warnings Phone compasses drift near metal and magnets. StellarTrack tells you when the heading has become unreliable instead of silently pointing you the wrong way. Works offline Location, compass and all orbital mathematics run entirely on your device. Only refreshing orbital elements needs a connection, and cached data keeps working in the meantime. Multilingual Full English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese interface. PRIVACY StellarTrack collects nothing. There are no accounts, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking of any kind. Your location is used on your device to compute bearings and is never uploaded. The camera feed is never recorded or saved. The only network request the app makes is downloading public orbital elements from CelesTrak, identified by each satellite's public catalog number, containing no personal data. A NOTE ON ACCURACY Orbital positions come from public elements refreshed every few hours and are accurate enough to aim an antenna. In practice your phone's compass is the larger source of error, which is why the app warns you when calibration is poor. This is a pointing aid, not survey-grade instrumentation. REQUIREMENTS Requires a device with ARKit support, a camera, and location services enabled.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: StellarTrack AR at none against Echo's 2. 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
Both are free to download. Echo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. StellarTrack AR asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Echo | StellarTrack AR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (36 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 36 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mark Garrison Jr. | YANG SONG |
In-app purchases
Echo
- Echo Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
- Echo Pro Annual$39.991 Year
StellarTrack AR
No in-app purchases









