Review Insights · App Store
LiveATC Air Radio
Dave Pascoe · 632 ratings · ★ 3.6
3.6
★★★★★
632 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 54 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"work"
10 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "SUPER Unreliable. 2026 Update: Besides the expected inconsistent quality of volunteer-provided streams (mostly bad), the LiveATC servers themselves can’t seem to provide a consistent connection. Constant drops and buffering delays and disconnections. Funny …" - Q4242
2
"frequency"
10 negative reviews mention this · 19% of all complaints
★★★★★ "SUPER Unreliable. 2026 Update: Besides the expected inconsistent quality of volunteer-provided streams (mostly bad), the LiveATC servers themselves can’t seem to provide a consistent connection. Constant drops and buffering delays and disconnections. Funny …" - Q4242
3
"doesn"
9 negative reviews mention this · 17% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Don’t buy. Doesn’t work have the time." - Camden.J.Young
4
"channel"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "SUPER Unreliable. 2026 Update: Besides the expected inconsistent quality of volunteer-provided streams (mostly bad), the LiveATC servers themselves can’t seem to provide a consistent connection. Constant drops and buffering delays and disconnections. Funny …" - Q4242
5
"down"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Local ATC down. KTMB has been down for weeks" - Canesrb
6
"hear"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Thumbs down. I paid the $4.99 plus tax and have changed from one channel to another at Major airports that I know stay busy and surely have plenty of radio traffic in the towers. So far after 20 minutes I cannot hear one word. The app buffers over and o…" - EasyE574
7
"working"
8 negative reviews mention this · 15% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not working on iPad. Not working on iPad" - ME99467
8
"money"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "SUPER Unreliable. 2026 Update: Besides the expected inconsistent quality of volunteer-provided streams (mostly bad), the LiveATC servers themselves can’t seem to provide a consistent connection. Constant drops and buffering delays and disconnections. Funny …" - Q4242
9
"audio"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Terrible. It’s really sad that this app essentially has a monopoly on what it does because it’s really poorly designed. Awful UI. Audio frequently loops. Really annoying to find a channel based on the frequency." - EG1451
10
"tower"
7 negative reviews mention this · 13% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Thumbs down. I paid the $4.99 plus tax and have changed from one channel to another at Major airports that I know stay busy and surely have plenty of radio traffic in the towers. So far after 20 minutes I cannot hear one word. The app buffers over and o…" - EasyE574
11
"quality"
6 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "SUPER Unreliable. 2026 Update: Besides the expected inconsistent quality of volunteer-provided streams (mostly bad), the LiveATC servers themselves can’t seem to provide a consistent connection. Constant drops and buffering delays and disconnections. Funny …" - Q4242
12
"airports"
6 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Not up to standard. As this app seems to be a major player and live audio from ATC and other aeronautical sources. It seems that this app should be a better quality looking at the ratings at a 3.6. It is obvious to me that more effort could be put into this ap…" - Bearbullcruising
📋 All 54 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Melissa Rosenberg Attny At Law
Cant cancel. Where is the cancel switch???????????????
Terrible
It’s really sad that this app essentially has a monopoly on what it does because it’s really poorly designed. Awful UI. Audio frequently loops. Really annoying to find a channel based on the frequency.
Local ATC down
KTMB has been down for weeks
KMIA
Fix your Miami Tower feed. Horrible!
Buy a cup of coffee instead
Poor build quality, with no explanation provided for why certain channels are down or whether they will return.
Dsan56
Disappointing audio quality, hit and miss communications. Not what I expected.
DOES NOT STREAM FEEDS
I suspect the app may no longer be maintained or supported. It’s nicely featured and layed out, it just does not deliver the feeds. Worse, it stopped my device’s ability to stream ANY video from any source such as Prime, Hulu, etc. That’s pretty serious. Had to uninstall.
I read the critical reviews and gambled five bucks on this anyway. Duh! Lost my money. Next time I’m heeding the warnings.
I read the critical reviews and gambled five bucks on this anyway. Duh! Lost my money. Next time I’m heeding the warnings.
Not working on iPad
Not working on iPad
Disappointing
Definitely could be a better layout especially that the app isn’t free but the website is…
Don’t buy
Doesn’t work have the time.
Not the best
Constantly stopping and freezing, leave the channel running for a couple minutes then it pauses itself and you have to close the app to restart. A lot of frequencies don’t work fully and the ones that do have there issues as well. Not worth it.
Don’t waste your money!!
I just downloaded this app, nothing works. I’ve tried a few channels and they all say connection error. I’ve tried clicking on diagrams and things and nothing comes up. My Internet is working just fine. It took about 10 seconds to take my money and upload the app, I’ve been waiting to connect to a channel for 20 minutes now. Not happening.
Very poor Don’t waste your money
This app basically gives you the impression that it can will work at any airport . IT DOESN’T !!!!! I live about 1 mile MDT Harrisburg International airport and although this app has what looks like the frequencies loaded up on this app those airport frequency are always down . What a joke I can see the commercial jets taking off and you know they are talking to the tower and see them on radar on another app. It’s just I can’t listen to the tower talking to the planes, because this app seems to not be function correctly . I feel like I got ripped off of $3.99 . What a joke ! Like I said don’t waste your money !! I would rate them a zero if I could …..
No archive access in the app
Was very disappointed I couldn’t find archived recordings from today.
Very Upset!
I bought this app thinking you guys would have SeaTac listened at a live Atc channel and it’s not there…you guys have a lot of other major airports besides this… I know it would not be hard to add at all. Please fix this😁
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY
Sat at Founders Plaza in KDFW and downloaded this app. Not one channel would come through. Then got back to hotel and tried to try any near by airports and channels.. nothing! Just says “unable to load stream”.
This app is pure garbage
This app is pure garbage
Does not work
I purchased the app to listen to the frequency and you do not get the conversation. You only get partial at best. I would not waste your money on this app.
One way communication
It’s nice to hear the tower but you never hear the response to the pilot. One way communication… it’s not worth $3,99 to us. A waste.
App won’t play for more than 5 minutes
I’ve noticed the app will no longer play for more than a few minutes. It will stop playing after about 5 minutes and has occurred on all frequencies I’ve listened to recently. It also doesn’t seem to matter if I am in the app while listening or not. This seems to be a new issue as I haven’t experience this before and I’ve had the app for awhile. Please fix this is as it’s frustrating having to press play over and over and over again. Thank you.
Won’t stay on frequency
I like the app but it just doesn’t stay on, it just keeps stopping and I have to keep hit the play button over and over and buffering way to much just to hear traffic, needs massive improvement and someone who actually knows what they’re doing
Do Not Purchase
Very limited coverage. You won’t find this out until after you make the purchase.
Do not purchase unless you want Class B airspace and then you might not get the ATC you want.
Do not purchase unless you want Class B airspace and then you might not get the ATC you want.
Quits playing without notice
Just as the title suggest. I like to listen to my home airport as background noise or listening for practice with my own conversation with ATC when I fly. Without warning, it will just stop. I won’t realize until I notice I haven’t heard anything for a while. When I go to check, sure enough it’s stopped. So aggravating, I’d expect that from a free app, but this is a paid app.
Update- I have discovered that this issue is from my device automatically switching from LTE to 5G or vice a versa. I’d like to se an update that would resolve that issue.
Update- I have discovered that this issue is from my device automatically switching from LTE to 5G or vice a versa. I’d like to se an update that would resolve that issue.
Doesn’t work anymore
Nope
No way to adjust audio levels
This is a helpful app, and I do enjoy that I can play ATC audio while receiving audio from my other apps… however most channels are super quiet, so I have to turn the volume all the way up to even hear ATC audio… and If there’s a notification or any other sound from my phone.. RIP to my hearing. An example would be listening to live ATC in the car while using google maps. You can set google maps notifications/directions to quiet, however that is still ear piercingly loud since this app has to be turned all the way up. Please fix this.
Worst
Only noise….
Trash
App doesn’t work as expected especially compared to a scanner at the airfield. This app was advertised at my local airport as well KCVG which is always busy. Lags, wouldn’t play over Bluetooth etc. Just straight trash wouldn’t recommend
Just another way for Google to track you
This app sends tons of personal information to google!
Needs a lot of work
This app is great but it has not been a voice over friendly and I really think you should update it for voice over problems
Disappointed
Bought the app. Worked a month or so. Then all my local channels have been down for over 200 days. Can’t hear anything on cape cod. Happened when Biden came to the islands. All his fault. Lol
Junk
App worked fine for a few days and now I can only pick up tower frequency. No aircraft radio transmissions are coming thru. I do not recommend
Never worked
Could not listen to any radio
KSAT San Antonio airport ground
Have sent afew emails on the ground chanel and it’s real choppy and still no fix !
No audio
Tried everything I can think of. Looks like it’s playing, but no audio.
KIAH Frequencies Still Bad
Both KIAH Approach & Tower Frequencies are still terrible for going on 4 Weeks now and again My chief complaint about this APP is that there is nobody to contact to find out if anyone is working on the issue or not?? I cannot hear the Pilots nor the Tower for KIAH Approach nor the KIAH Tower - just a lot of noisy static - so I have to often come here to the review page but I’d like to avoid doing this so PLEASE get a contact email so listeners do not have to come here to the APP Store and complain that they cannot hear the Stations😖.
Didn’t purchase
Didn’t purchase and can’t get my money back even if I don’t have the app downloaded
Overcharged me
This app was listed as $4 but when I clicked to purchase it it billed me $12!
Lacks airport support can’t enter a frequency that’s not preset
Doesn’t tell you how limited the airports are until you purchase it … correction buried in the small print be sure to read that.
Never works
This app worked the first time I tried then never again. Continually says something about system being down try later. How about never again
App needs work
The app is a huge let down. Takes forever to lock onto the frequency and constantly kicks you out. I can only listen to KFTW tower by my place for a few minutes before it stops working. Huge improvement needed, I suggest going with an old fashioned scanner if you want to truly listen in.
Not working
Nothing will play from literally any frequency
SUPER Unreliable
2026 Update:
Besides the expected inconsistent quality of volunteer-provided streams (mostly bad), the LiveATC servers themselves can’t seem to provide a consistent connection. Constant drops and buffering delays and disconnections. Funny enough the app seems to work slightly better than the website now, but overall I wouldn’t recommend anyone spending actual money on this service.
Original review (2022):
I much prefer the website to the app.
First, on the website it clearly lists the frequency alongside the description. On the app it will just provide the name (i.e. KSEA Ground) without a frequency. To find the freq you have to select the channel and then select “view frequency.” There is ample room on all pages to show freqs, requiring extra click-throughs is just bad UI.
Second, there is SIGNIFICANT delay on the app vs. the website. The website is typically within a few seconds of real-time, whereas the app takes a very long time to load a channel and consistently has delays of 30 seconds or more. If you’re listening to ATC in conjunction with plane spotting, such a delay makes the app practically unusable. I’m still a huge LiveATC supporter and the website is still an excellent resource, unfortunately this app is poorly built with too much lag to be useful.
Besides the expected inconsistent quality of volunteer-provided streams (mostly bad), the LiveATC servers themselves can’t seem to provide a consistent connection. Constant drops and buffering delays and disconnections. Funny enough the app seems to work slightly better than the website now, but overall I wouldn’t recommend anyone spending actual money on this service.
Original review (2022):
I much prefer the website to the app.
First, on the website it clearly lists the frequency alongside the description. On the app it will just provide the name (i.e. KSEA Ground) without a frequency. To find the freq you have to select the channel and then select “view frequency.” There is ample room on all pages to show freqs, requiring extra click-throughs is just bad UI.
Second, there is SIGNIFICANT delay on the app vs. the website. The website is typically within a few seconds of real-time, whereas the app takes a very long time to load a channel and consistently has delays of 30 seconds or more. If you’re listening to ATC in conjunction with plane spotting, such a delay makes the app practically unusable. I’m still a huge LiveATC supporter and the website is still an excellent resource, unfortunately this app is poorly built with too much lag to be useful.
Not up to standard
As this app seems to be a major player and live audio from ATC and other aeronautical sources. It seems that this app should be a better quality looking at the ratings at a 3.6. It is obvious to me that more effort could be put into this app to make it a number one top notch, but it just seems like it’s just getting by it constantly crashes you claim that you’re automatically monitoring each time it crashes, so why can’t we have fixes to these crashes and better streaming solid streaming better volunteers to monitor airports, clearer, and louder audio from airports sometimes they’re real scratchy When they’re not crashing the app is pretty good. Please try to improve the app and have a catch up to 2025 standards.
Thumbs down
I paid the $4.99 plus tax and have changed from one channel to another at Major airports that I know stay busy and surely have plenty of radio traffic in the towers. So far after 20 minutes I cannot hear one word. The app buffers over and over with no transmissions. Thumbs down.
Delayed audio
LiveATC is a great service, but the app itself seems very underdeveloped. It does have some cool things like the ability to mix audio on top of other audio sources, although I wish it would attenuate or mute other audio sources whenever the radio stream goes active so you can actually tell what they’re saying. The biggest dealbreaker though is the large delay compared to the website
Terrible transmission.
Full of static and terrible audio. Most airports don't even have many of the frequencies working. So far it's been useless
Price misrepresented
I just downloaded the app and it was listed at $3.99 in my feed. When I clicked on the $3.99 button and downloaded it, I was charged $9.99 through Apple Pay immediately. I haven’t opened it yet, so I can’t report to the quality of the app, but I’m very disappointed in the additional charge that wasn’t stated.
Something happened
The app doesn’t play more than 4.5 min before turning off. The same player will work with no issues on the web page. Version History shows 2 years since last update. Maybe some cleanup is in order
Stop working after a few minutes
The reason I downloaded the e app was because the web version keeps stopping after a few minutes of transmission and for my (bad) surprise the app is the same . Very frustrated.
No specific frequencies
The app will not allow you to listen to a specific frequency , it groups multiple grounds , ramps and departures .
No RST in Minnesota
For some reason RST in Minnesota disappeared. Major city not listed!
+ 4 more in the clipboard copy
Sentiment summary
62%
Positive (4-5★)
9%
Neutral (3★)
29%
Negative (1-2★)