
PhosphorRTTY
Real-Time RTTY Decoder
Only for iPhone
$0.99 · Designed for iPhone
iPhone
Decode live RTTY signals with your iPhone's microphone. No internet, no hardware, no account — just your phone and a shortwave radio.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
This app has not received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
The developer, Stuart Woolley, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Provider
- Stuart Woolley
- Size
- 2.7 MB
- Category
- Utilities
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 26.2 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 26.2 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 26.2 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 26.2 or later.
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Stuart Woolley
