Comparison

UVB vs GhostLab

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

Head to head
About

UVB

This app recreates the eerie sound and look of Russian numbers stations, like the famous UVB-76. It allows you to trigger broadcasts for creative projects, streams, or as a prop, offering an offline emulation of these mysterious shortwave signals.

Highlights
  • Recreates UVB-76, the Buzzer
  • Emulates Pip and Squeaky Wheel signals
  • Offline functionality
  • Trigger broadcasts on cue
  • Cold War prop for streams/videos
  • Ambient music layering
Features
Read full description

UVB-76, the Buzzer, and other Russian numbers stations, recreated on your iPhone. Unlike a real numbers station, this app can start a transmission on cue. IS IT REAL? No, and that is the point. This is an offline emulator, not a receiver. It does not pick up the live signal from Russia. It recreates the eerie sound and look of a shortwave numbers station, so you can trigger a broadcast whenever you want, for a performance, a stream, a video, an installation, a game, or as a prop. ABOUT UVB-76 AND THE BUZZER UVB-76, nicknamed the Buzzer and sometimes called Russia's doomsday radio, is a shortwave station on 4625 kHz that has broadcast a monotonous buzzing tone for decades from near Moscow. Every so often the buzz stops and a Russian voice reads a string of numbers and code words. No one officially claims it, its purpose has never been confirmed, and that mystery is exactly why people go looking for it. BEYOND THE BUZZER The app also recreates two more famous signals: the Pip on 5448 kHz and the Squeaky Wheel (S32) on 5473 kHz. Switch between the three like presets, each on its own frequency, with its own marker tone and its own Russian voice reading coded messages. WHO USES IT Musicians layer it into ambient and experimental tracks. Streamers and filmmakers use it as a Cold War prop. Fans of the mystery just let it buzz in the background. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Is UVB-76 still broadcasting? Yes. The real station near Moscow is still active on 4625 kHz and has never officially gone silent. This app is a standalone recreation of it, so it keeps buzzing even with no radio and no internet. What is UVB-76 used for? Officially undisclosed. Theories range from a military command channel to simply keeping a frequency occupied. In this app the buzz and the numbers are yours to trigger for creative work. How do you listen to the real UVB-76? You need a shortwave radio tuned to 4625 kHz, or an online WebSDR receiver. This app does not receive that signal. It emulates the experience, so you can hear a numbers station anytime, with no equipment at all. Where is UVB-76 located? The transmitter is believed to sit near Povarovo, not far from Moscow, in Russia. What does the Buzzer do? It transmits a repeating buzz tone almost continuously, interrupted now and then by spoken Russian letters and numbers in the Monolith format. Are there still numbers stations? Yes. Numbers stations still send coded broadcasts on shortwave today, and enthusiasts around the world log and record them. This app is a tribute to that world. Has a numbers station ever been decoded? The messages are thought to use one-time pads, which are effectively unbreakable without the key, so the codes themselves stay secret. The fascination is in the ritual, not the answer. Works fully offline on iPhone and iPad. No signal required.

About

GhostLab

This app simulates a spirit box using eight voice banks to generate audio fragments and words. Ask questions aloud and listen for potential messages, with sessions recorded and saved. It's an instrument for exploring generated sounds, not proof of the paranormal.

Highlights
  • Eight distinct voice banks
  • Generated audio fragments and words
  • Session recording and saving
  • Adjustable sweep rate
  • Offline functionality
  • No ads or microphone use
Features
Read full description

Dead Channel is a spirit box instrument built around eight voice banks. Tap Start and they begin: broken syllables, breaths, and pieces of English words, deep men and high women, forward and backwards, a few at a time with silence in between. Ask your question out loud, then listen. When a longer, clearer word or a whispered sentence comes through, the phone taps once and the screen flushes red. • Eight voice banks, each with its own tone, played in clusters with silence between • Echo, reverb, and a white noise bed that dips under the voices • Sweep rate from slow and sparse to fast and crowded • Every session is recorded with the effects you used and saved to the Library • Works offline, with no account and no ads, and it never uses the microphone Every sound is free to try for 48 hours. After the trial, a single one-time purchase unlocks Dead Channel for good. There is no subscription. Dead Channel is an instrument. It plays generated audio, and it does not prove the paranormal. Some voices are generated with Piper from the LibriTTS-R corpus (Koizumi et al., CC BY 4.0).

Screenshots

UVB3 screens
GhostLab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: UVB at 5.0 against GhostLab's 4.5. UVB also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. GhostLab sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. UVB asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

UVB holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

UVB ships an update every 9 days, GhostLab weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
UVB versus GhostLab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterUVBGhostLab
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.5 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings12 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.617.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB110 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMaxim OranskyJack Miller

In-app purchases

None

UVB

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

GhostLab

One-time2
  • 2-Day TrialFree
  • Dead Channel Lifetime Unlock$7.99

Questions

Is UVB free?
UVB is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is GhostLab free?
GhostLab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, UVB or GhostLab?
UVB is rated higher. UVB averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while GhostLab averages 4.5 from 2 ratings.
Do UVB or GhostLab have ads?
Neither UVB nor GhostLab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, UVB or GhostLab?
UVB ships an update every 9 days, and GhostLab weekly. Most recently, UVB was updated on October 25, 2026 and GhostLab on October 29, 2026.

Other comparisons