QSO Central vs Ditdah CW
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
QSO Central
Prepare for amateur radio licensing exams with comprehensive study tools and practice tests. Access essential station utilities, reference materials, and live data features, all designed to work offline for maximum accessibility.
- Offline exam preparation with official question pools
- Realistic timed practice exams with instant grading
- Station toolkit for band plans, antenna, and electrical calculations
- Grid square tools and Morse code trainer
- Logbook with ADIF/CSV export
- Live data for callsign lookup and propagation
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QSO Central is the all-in-one companion for amateur radio operators and anyone studying for their license. No account, no sign-in, no ads, no tracking. The study and station tools work completely offline — perfect for the field, a contest site, or a basement shack with no signal. A set of optional Live Data features add real-time information when you're connected. LICENSE EXAM PREP (offline) • Full official NCVEC question pools: Technician, General, and Amateur Extra • Flashcards, browsable/searchable questions, and a realistic timed practice exam with instant grading • Missed-question review and per-subelement progress, saved on your device • Diagrams included for the questions that need them STATION TOOLKIT (offline) • U.S. Band Plan — slide across any band to see mode, common use, and exactly what your license class may transmit, color-coded by privilege • Antenna calculators — dipole, vertical, wavelength, plus SWR, coax loss, feedline impedance, and balun • Electrical calculators — Ohm's Law (voltage/current/resistance/power) and battery runtime & capacity • Grid Square tools — your Maidenhead grid from GPS, plus distance and bearing between grids on a map • Morse Code trainer — characters, random groups, callsign practice, and head-copy with adjustable speed and Farnsworth timing • Logbook — log your contacts and export standard ADIF and CSV files • Contest clock — a live UTC clock over a reference of major recurring contests • Emergency Comms — ICS forms reference, your own frequency plans, local repeaters, and contacts REFERENCE LIBRARY (offline) • The full text of 47 CFR Part 97 (the FCC amateur rules), plus plain-language summaries of common topics — Q-codes, phonetics, repeaters, operating procedures, and more • Everything searchable, everything offline LIVE DATA (optional, needs internet) • Callsign Lookup — U.S. lookups via the FCC database, no account required; optionally add your own QRZ.com or HamQTH account for worldwide results • Propagation — current solar indices and day/night band conditions • Repeater Directory — find and sort nearby repeaters with offset, tone, mode, and a map • On the Air — a live feed of current POTA (Parks on the Air). Each Live Data screen credits its public source and caches its last result so you can still see it offline. PRIVACY BY DESIGN QSO Central runs no servers and has no accounts, ads, trackers, or analytics. Your data stays on your device. Your location is used only on your device — to show your grid and sort nearby repeaters — and is never transmitted; you can skip it and type your grid by hand. The Live Data features send only what's needed to answer your request (for example, the callsign you look up) directly to the public service that provides it. Set your license class and home grid once in Settings, and the whole app tailors itself to you.
Ditdah CW
Master Morse code through auditory training using the Koch method. Practice sending and decoding messages, simulate HAM exams, and access a comprehensive reference guide. Designed for serious operators, it offers adjustable speeds and offline functionality.
- Koch Method lessons
- Farnsworth Mode for ear recognition
- Listen & Decode practice
- Send Practice with screen tapping
- HAM Exam Simulation
- Offline functionality
- Adjustable speed (5-30 WPM)
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Learn Morse code the way real operators do — by ear, not by chart. Ditdah CW uses the proven Koch method to train your ear from day one. No subscriptions. No ads. No paywalls. One purchase, everything included. - LEARN - Koch Method lessons — 13 structured lessons, 2 characters at a time - Farnsworth Mode — wider spacing to build ear recognition faster - Proven progression — advance only when you hit 90% accuracy PRACTICE - Listen & Decode — letters, words, and sentences at your chosen WPM - Send Practice — tap the screen like a real CW key, short for dit, long for dah - Custom Text — practice your callsign, CQ calls, or any text you choose - Adjustable speed — 5 to 30 WPM, dial it to your level TEST - HAM Exam Simulation — 40 questions, mixed characters, 13 WPM - Letter, Number, and Q-Code tests - Instant results with missed character breakdown REFERENCE - Full alphabet, numbers, and essential Q-codes — all in one place - Tap any character to hear it - Works completely offline - BUILT FOR SERIOUS OPERATORS Ditdah is designed for HAM radio candidates and experienced operators who want a no-nonsense, professional training tool. Not a game. Not a flashcard app. A real CW trainer. CW tone frequency is adjustable (400–900 Hz). Streak tracking keeps your daily practice consistent. Statistics show your WPM growth and weakest characters over time. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: QSO Central at 5.0 against Ditdah CW's 4.0. QSO Central also leads on monetization model (free vs paid). Ditdah CW's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
QSO Central holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.
QSO Central ships an update every 4 months, Ditdah CW every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | QSO Central | Ditdah CW |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.0 (2 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 7 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Brickhouse Technologies LLC | Mustafa Sucu |
Customer experience
QSO Central
Ditdah CW
In-app purchases
QSO Central
No in-app purchases
Ditdah CW
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is QSO Central free?
Is Ditdah CW free?
Which has better reviews, QSO Central or Ditdah CW?
Do QSO Central or Ditdah CW have ads?
Which is updated more often, QSO Central or Ditdah CW?
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