(Asking for a friend) - Really! Best RTL-SDR program for Android Phones

[Omega-TI]

I have a friend that is on the poor side, although he does have a a Samsung Android cell phone. Anyway he's shown interest in radio and I figure the RTL-SDR dongle is cheap enough that he can even afford it. The thing is, as soon as I recommend this to him he's bound to ask, "Which program should I use?" Now I don't have hours and hours to hunt a decent one down... out of the many. So I'll put the question out to the experts here to gain a consensus. Which program do you think is currently the best?

 

[PDXh0b0]

Sdr++

That said, sdrangel is in the Google play store, and has lots of bells n whistles

 

[Omega-TI]

Thanks! I wrote it down and will pass it along.

 

[Dirk_SDR]

A simple app for Android and RTL-SDR is SDRTouch, works fine on any phone or tablet.
There are also good Android apps for ADS-B, AIS, DRM ...
All for free.
Hardware: will need an USB OTG cable!

 

[Omega-TI]

I'll pass that along to him as well, thank you. I was wondering about the cable as his cell phone has a USB C jack and the RTL-SDR is a standard USB-A. I'll look up that cable and give him the link as well.

 

[Omega-TI]

I'm pretty sure a straight use OTG cable will work for him, but I got to thinking about the power the thing is probably going to leech off of his phone. So I looked up a dual use charging and data cable for him. It says the cable *MAY* not support charging and data at the same time if the phone has an earphone jack. I'll still recommend the dual use cable to him since they are so cheap and let him roll the dice.

 

[vagrant]

I use RF Analyzer. As to the dual cable, it is nice to power the dongle from a battery instead of the phone.

 

[krokus]

A little late seeing this, but a powered USB hub could be used to power the SDR. Use a USB-C to USB-A OTG, then cable as needed to the hub.

I think this is a two pack of the one I use:

https://www.amazon.com/JSAUX-Adapter-Compatible-MacBook-Samsung/dp/B07BS8SRWH/ref=mp_s_a_1_3_maf_1?keywords=usb+c+otg+adapter&qid=1696611016&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011&rnid=2470954011&rps=1&sr=8-3

 

[imonitorit]

Has anyone got an Android tablet or phone to work with DSDPlus or OP25?