Comparison

PhosphorRTTY vs Spectrum SDR (RTL

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

Head to head
About

PhosphorRTTY

Decode Radio Teletype (RTTY) signals in real time using your iPhone's microphone. Listen to shortwave radio transmissions and see the text appear on an authentic phosphor CRT display. No internet or external hardware needed.

Highlights
  • Real-time RTTY signal decoding
  • Authentic phosphor CRT display
  • Automatic signal detection (AFC, baud, shift)
  • Manual tuning options
  • Live signal analysis (FFT, waterfall)
  • Session logging and sharing
  • Customizable display themes
Features
Read full description

PhosphorRTTY decodes Radio Teletype (RTTY) signals in real time using your iPhone's microphone. Hold your phone near a shortwave radio tuned to an RTTY signal and watch the text appear on screen, character by character, on an authentic phosphor CRT display. No internet connection required. No external hardware. No account. Just your iPhone and a radio. WHAT IT DECODES RTTY is the oldest digital mode in amateur radio — two audio tones representing mark and space, encoding text via the 5-bit ITA2 (Baudot) alphabet or 7-bit ASCII. PhosphorRTTY handles all standard configurations: Baud rates: 45.45, 50, 75, 100 Bd (auto-detected or manual) Shifts: 85, 170, 450, 850 Hz (auto-detected or manual) ITA2 (Baudot) and ASCII modes USB and LSB conventions AUTOMATIC SIGNAL DETECTION The app automatically finds and locks onto RTTY signals: AFC (Automatic Frequency Control) acquires and tracks drifting signals Auto-baud detection identifies the transmission speed Auto-shift detection determines the frequency separation Squelch suppresses noise when no signal is present Or disable any of these and tune manually for full control. FOUR TABS DECODE — The main teleprinter display. Decoded text appears character by character with an authentic mechanical delay. Status bar shows baud rate, shift, mark/space frequencies, and signal lock state. Clear, pause, and session controls. SIGNAL — Live signal analysis. FFT spectrum display (0–4 kHz), scrolling waterfall, mark/space tone indicators, bit period histogram with baud rate markers, and a paper punch tape visualisation of the decoded data stream. LOG — Session history. Every decode session is saved with timestamp, duration, character count, and the full decoded text. Copy, share, or delete individual sessions. CONFIG — All parameters. Audio input gain, decode mode (auto/manual for baud, frequency, and shift), display theme, font size, bell character handling, and RYRY sequence display options. THE DISPLAY Two authentic phosphor CRT themes: Amber (classic teleprinter terminal) Green (military/commercial terminal) Both feature horizontal scanlines, edge vignette, and phosphor glow effects. Monospaced font throughout. RYRY test sequences can be dimmed or hidden to keep the display clean. DSP ENGINE The signal processing is done entirely on-device using a per-sample I/Q quadrature demodulation pipeline: Biquad low-pass filtered I/Q channels for each tone W7AY Automatic Threshold Correction for bit decisions Digital Phase-Locked Loop (DPLL) with per-transition phase correction for timing recovery 512-point FFT for frequency analysis and AFC Asymmetric envelope detection for robust tone tracking through fading Tested against real over-the-air recordings from 20m and 40m amateur bands. Under 1% error rate on clean signals, 4–5% on moderate HF conditions with fixed tuning. WHERE TO FIND RTTY Amateur radio: 14.080–14.099 MHz (20m band), 7.080–7.100 MHz (40m band), 21.080–21.100 MHz (15m band). RTTY contests run throughout the year — during a contest, these frequencies are packed with signals. Maritime and commercial RTTY transmissions can be found across the HF spectrum. A shortwave receiver or SDR with audio output is all you need. REQUIREMENTS iPhone with microphone iOS 17 or later A radio receiver tuned to an RTTY signal (shortwave radio, SDR, or WebSDR audio played through a speaker) No in-app purchases. No subscriptions. No tracking. No network access.

About

Spectrum SDR (RTL

Explore radio signals with your RTL-SDR dongle. Listen to AM/FM/SSB/CW, view FFT and waterfall displays, and customize your experience. Requires a remote rtl_tcp instance over WiFi.

Highlights
  • Full frequency range support
  • AM, FM, SSB, CW reception
  • FFT and Waterfall displays
  • Adjustable sample rates
  • Bias tee and gain controls
  • Squelch functionality
  • Customizable display options
Features
Read full description

This application is about having a bit of fun with those amazing little RTL-SDR dongles, whilst listening to AM/FM/SSB/CW radio signals. It's nice and easy to use so why not give it a try? - Covers the full frequency range of your RTL-SDR dongle. - AM and FM, wide and narrow, SSB, CW. - FFT and Waterfall displays. - Sample rates 240000 Hz to 2160000 Hz. - Bias tee control. - 75 presets over 5 pages. - Gain controls. - Squelch. - Flexible display options, hide things you don't need to see. - Built-in help. The application needs to be connected to an instance of rtl_tcp running on a remote computer, most likely over WiFi. You will need a good network connection for this to work reliably when using the higher sample rates. It can be installed on an iPhone, iPad or Apple Silicon Mac. We hope you enjoy using this application.

Screenshots

PhosphorRTTY4 screens
Spectrum SDR (RTL3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Spectrum SDR (RTL at Free against PhosphorRTTY's $0.99. Spectrum SDR (RTL also leads on update cadence (every 11 days vs every 7 months) and device support (3 vs 1). PhosphorRTTY's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On review sentiment, ads 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

Spectrum SDR (RTL is free to download; PhosphorRTTY costs $0.99 up front. Spectrum SDR (RTL sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PhosphorRTTY asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PhosphorRTTY ships an update every 7 months, Spectrum SDR (RTL every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
PhosphorRTTY versus Spectrum SDR (RTL: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPhosphorRTTYSpectrum SDR (RTL
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating—4.5 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS26.226.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStuart WoolleyJames Mainwaring

Customer experience

PhosphorRTTY

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Spectrum SDR (RTL

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

PhosphorRTTY

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Spectrum SDR (RTL

One-time1
  • Full Version$2.99

Questions

Is PhosphorRTTY free?
PhosphorRTTY costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Spectrum SDR (RTL free?
Spectrum SDR (RTL is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PhosphorRTTY or Spectrum SDR (RTL have ads?
Neither PhosphorRTTY nor Spectrum SDR (RTL shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PhosphorRTTY or Spectrum SDR (RTL?
PhosphorRTTY ships an update every 7 months, and Spectrum SDR (RTL every 11 days. Most recently, PhosphorRTTY was updated on October 14, 2026 and Spectrum SDR (RTL on October 10, 2026.

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