RealADSB vs phyphox
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
RealADSB
Track local air traffic from your device using ADS-B data feeds. View aircraft on a map or list, filter by various parameters, and access additional flight information. Supports custom feeds and public data sources.
- ADS-B traffic feed consumption
- Map and list view of aircraft
- Aircraft filtering by tail number, callsign, type
- METAR and altitude adjustments
- Push notifications for squawks 7600/7700
- Integration with online flight resources
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RealADSB app is intended for stationary observers of local air traffic. It can consume traffic feed generated by adsb_hub or adsb_hub3 server applications. With some limitations traffic feed in SBS-1 BaseStation format (port 30003) is also supported. For example Stratux ADS-B device or ADSBx feeder can produce such feed. Another option to get traffic feed is to use Airplanes.live integration. That could be a good way to start using app because such option doesn't require additional hardware. You can setup traffic feed yourself or use one of the public feeds covering Germany, UK and New York. adsb_hub server application is using Java runtime and can run on PC, Mac or Raspberry Pi. It can work on top of FlightAware, FR24 feeders or generate feed using cheap USB adapter and external antenna. For more information please check our web site http://www.realadsb.com Inside mobile app commercial, private and military aircrafts are shown on map or in scrollable list sorted by distance from reference point. It can be your current location or airport defined by ICAO code such as LFPG. When ICAO code entered special button provides access to METAR and aircrafts below transition altitude will have altitude adjusted using barometric pressure of the airport. There is a way to search/filter aircrafts by tail number, callsign, type, altitude in both list and on map. Additionally 2 layers with airports and weather are available on map. For each airframe following basic parameters shown: * Speed, Altitude, Heading, Rate of climb/descend, Squawk and for most of them there is additional information: * Tail number, Callsign, ICAO type, Origin/Destination, Photo If information about tail number or type of aircraft is missing you can easily add it right inside the app. This change will be automatically shared across all devices that using same iCloud account. Other features: * Quick access to online resources including FlightAware, Google Flights, LiveATC etc. * Push notifications for special squawks 7600/7700 * Imperial or metric units * 3 types of map: standard, satellite and hybrid * Sharing of map with aircrafts using standard iOS Sharing Panel * Barometric pressure and altitude measured by mobile device conveniently shown at the bottom of main menu
phyphox
Unlock your phone's sensors for scientific exploration. Conduct pre-built experiments or create your own using accelerometers, magnetometers, and more. Analyze and export data in various formats for further study.
- Pre-defined experiments
- Data export (CSV, TSV, Excel)
- Web-based remote control
- Custom experiment editor
- Access to phone sensors
- Advanced analysis functions
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Did you know that you are carrying a 3D magnetometer? That you can use your phone as a pendulum to measure earth's local gravitational acceleration? That you can turn your phone into a sonar? phyphox gives you access to the sensors of your phone either directly or through ready-to-play experiments which analyze your data and let you export raw data along with the results for further analysis. You can even define your own experiments on phyphox.org and share them with colleagues, students and friends. Selected Features: • A selection of pre-defined experiments. Just press play to start. • Export your data to a range of widely used formats • Remote-control your experiment through a web interface from any PC on the same network as your phone. No need to install anything on those PCs - all you need is a modern web browser. • Define your own experiments by selecting sensor inputs, defining analysis steps and creating views as an interface using our web-editor (http://phyphox.org/editor). The analysis consists of just adding two values or using advanced methods like Fourier transforms and crosscorrelation. We offer a whole toolbox of analysis functions. Sensors supported: • Accelerometer • Magnetometer • Gyroscope • Pressure • Microphone • Proximity • GPS • Camera • LiDAR/ToF *some sensors are not present on every phone. Export formats • CSV (Comma separated values) • TSV (Tab-separated values) • Excel (if you need other formats, please let us know) This app has been developed at the 2nd Institute of Physics A at the RWTH Aachen University.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: phyphox at Free against RealADSB's $6.99. phyphox also leads on review sentiment (79% vs 35%) and rating (4.6 vs 3.0). RealADSB's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months) and device support (5 vs 3). On 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
phyphox is free to download; RealADSB costs $6.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
phyphox holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: phyphox has 276 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 35% of RealADSB's written reviews are positive against 79% of phyphox's.
RealADSB ships an update monthly, phyphox every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | RealADSB | phyphox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.0 (4 ratings) | 4.6 (276 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 35.3% of reviews | 78.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4 | 276 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nikolay Klimchuk | RWTH Aachen University |
Customer experience
RealADSB
phyphox
Bugs and requests
RealADSB
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
phyphox
Reported bugs
21 issues- App crashes on older devices
- Barometer not working on iOS 17.4
- Network error: Generic error
- Sound measurement curve disappears
- App crashes frequently
Show 16 moreShow fewer
- Cannot be opened on iPhone 6
- Light sensor not implemented
- Recording stops when phone is locked or app is minimized
- Green lines on screen and faded to black after using barometer sensor
- WLAN not working after using the app
- Pressure no longer displayed on iOS 17.5
- Barometer not working on iOS 17.4
- Latest version cannot be opened on iPhone 6
- Sound chronometer reset button not working
- iPad destroyed after update
- App displays Russian language by default
- Experiments not working on iPhone 7
- Magnetometer not working after update on iPhone 5s
- GPS shows 0 satellites with 6m accuracy
- App claims iPhone 11 is comparable to a low-cost tablet
- App crashes every time
Requested features
33 requests- Add infrasound detector
- More units of measurement (G-force, PSI, feet)
- NFC/RFID support
- In-app bug report feature
- Allow other sensors via USB-C
Show 28 moreShow fewer
- Ability to plug in external sensors
- Slo-mo recording with timestamps
- Add attitude sensor (roll, pitch, yaw)
- Integration with Apple Shortcuts
- Ability to record audio/dB simultaneously with other sensors
- Adjustable sampling frequency for all sensors
- Dark mode option
- Experiment editor integrated into the app
- More documentation for the editor
- Ability to form averages
- Support for older iPhones (iPhone 6)
- Add GPS satellite count display
- Add speedometer functionality
- Add Lux measurement using light sensor/camera
- Ability to play recorded audio
- Limit input for sound analyzers (dB/Hz range)
- Wi-Fi and RF module access for EMF analysis
- iWatch integration
- Improve audio generator capability
- Allow background/screen locked recording
- Add light sensor functionality
- Change units of measurement
- Add more precise measurements for static cases
- Add FFT and spectral generation for accelerometer
- Support for older devices
- Improve UI/UX for new users
- Add support for more languages
- Add a donate option
In-app purchases
RealADSB
No in-app purchases
phyphox
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is RealADSB free?
Is phyphox free?
Which has better reviews, RealADSB or phyphox?
Do RealADSB or phyphox have ads?
Which is updated more often, RealADSB or phyphox?
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