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The neighborhood group chat is full of guesses about the fire truck that just raced by, and nobody actually knows. What if you could hear the dispatcher yourself, from the couch?
Dispatch radio from many U.S. towns is already online, put there by volunteers or, now and then, by the agencies themselves. A few apps gather those streams, and one turns the audio into a map.
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Below, CrimeRadar, Scanner Radio and Squawster compared: what each one does, what you pay for, where the ads show up and when the radio goes quiet.
Start with CrimeRadar 👇
6 min read
📋 What you’ll find here
- Read this first: the radio is not a call to action
- CrimeRadar: start with a map, not a channel list
- Scanner Radio: the most downloaded, for live channels
- Squawster: the newcomer from the Broadcastify team
- Which one fits which listener
- What you pay and where the ads show up
Key Takeaways
- CrimeRadar, Scanner Radio and Squawster cost nothing to download, and all three show ads
- CrimeRadar maps incidents with AI summaries, while the other two play live radio channels
- Squawster is new and has few ratings, and CrimeRadar works in the United States only
- No app can open an encrypted channel; if you need help, call 911
Read this first: the radio is not a call to action
If the emergency is yours, call 911, not an app. If it is someone else’s, a scanner stream is a reason to stay away, not to drive over: let officers and firefighters do their work.
A broadcast must never be used to slip past officers or to set up a crime, and doing so is illegal. Everything below assumes plain curiosity about your own neighborhood.
CrimeRadar: start with a map, not a channel list
If your question is simply what that siren was, CrimeRadar is the shortest path. Scoopz built it around a map: the app turns live dispatch audio into pins, writes a short AI summary for each incident and lets you play the original communication.
It covers the United States only and has no list of radio channels, so it will not replace a scanner if you want to follow one agency all night. Scoopz is upfront on the App Store: ‘Content is not an official report or verified information.’ A Google Play review from September reports a highway number mixed up and a phrase that came out with a different meaning, so treat each summary as a lead.
Getting it costs nothing and ads come with it; the paid tier, Premium, is US$9.99 a month or US$79.99 a year. Neither store listing says what the free version holds back, so look inside the app before you pay. A call sometimes carries a name or an address, one more reason to keep what you hear to yourself.
Scanner Radio: the most downloaded, for live channels
Scanner Radio, from GordonEdwards.net LLC, has more than 10 million installs on Google Play and is the one to open when you want a live channel. It lists feeds near you and popular ones, lets you star favorites and can alert you when a feed passes a listener threshold.
The audio does not originate in the app. Its description credits volunteers and many police and fire departments themselves with supplying it, and names Broadcastify.com and a few other sites as the places it goes. On the App Store the app appears as Police Scanner Radio & Fire, so match the developer name when you search.
Installing it is free but comes with ads and in-app purchases; Pro is the upgrade that removes the ads. U.S. App Store reviewers often bring up renewals and ads, so read each price screen to the end.
Squawster: the newcomer from the Broadcastify team
Squawster is made by RadioReference.com LLC, the team behind Broadcastify, and arrived on September 17, 2026. It offers thousands of live police, fire, EMS, aviation, rail and weather feeds. You can browse by county, state or metro, search by name or jump to what is active near you, and the audio keeps playing with the screen locked.
It is free to browse and listen, with ads. Pro costs US$4.99 a month on iOS and adds playlists, cloud sync, archived recordings and an ad-free experience.
The catch is age. On October 26 it had 77 ratings on Google Play and 159 on the App Store, at 4.3 and 4.5, so those scores are early signals, not a track record.
Which one fits which listener
Pick by the question you are asking, not by the star rating.
| You want to | Start with | Keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Know what that siren was about | CrimeRadar | United States only; AI summaries can be wrong |
| Open a live channel for your city | Scanner Radio | The free version has ads |
| Browse by county in the newest app | Squawster | Very few ratings so far |
What you pay and where the ads show up
All three apps cost nothing to download, and all three show ads. Each also sells an upgrade. Prices below were read on Google Play and the U.S. App Store on October 26, 2026.
Watch for any offer that opens with an introductory price: the full charge normally begins when it ends, so find that date before you confirm and set a reminder.
- Scanner Radio: Pro removes the ads; check the price in your store
- Squawster: Pro is US$4.99 a month on iOS
- CrimeRadar: Premium is US$9.99 a month or US$79.99 a year
If your town’s channel is silent
Don’t be surprised if your own town sounds empty. The City of Fairfax, Virginia, posted a notice on its website in July 2026: from July 13 the police department’s primary dispatch channel would be gone from the apps and the online streams, because the radio was being encrypted. An encrypted channel cannot be opened by any app.
Before blaming the app, try the local fire and rescue channels or a neighboring county’s, which can stay open when police radio does not. And when nobody streams your area, there is simply nothing to play.
Radio codes in plain English
Many agencies still use numeric 10-codes. The meanings are not the same everywhere, but you will often hear these:
- 10-20: where a unit is
- 10-4: acknowledged
- 10-8: ready for calls again
- 10-9: say it again
Before you listen in a vehicle
Listening at home is the typical use, and the vehicle is where the law gets specific. Some states regulate a radio that picks up police frequencies in a car, often in connection with a crime, a weapon or drugs, so look up yours, and keep your phone out of your hands while you drive.
The short version
For a quick answer about a siren, open CrimeRadar. For a live channel, Scanner Radio is the most downloaded of the three, with more than 10 million installs on Google Play, and Squawster is worth a look if you like to browse by county and do not mind that it is new.
This guide is informative and independent. Ratings, prices and downloads were read on Google Play and the U.S. App Store on October 26, 2026. We have no connection with the developers or with any police agency, and we are not responsible for how the apps work, for the accuracy of what you hear or read, or for changes in price.
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FAQ
Is any extra gear required?
No. Streams do the work, so a phone and a connection are all it takes.
Which app gives the quickest answer?
CrimeRadar maps incidents with a short summary, so it is the quickest way to read what happened. It is not an official report, so treat it as a lead.
Can I hear a channel from another state?
Yes. You can pick a feed in any state, as long as someone is streaming it.
Why is my city’s channel silent?
The department may have encrypted it, or nobody streams it. No app can open an encrypted channel, but fire and rescue feeds may still play.
Will they run on my phone?
If it is an Android phone or an iPhone, yes: all three are on Google Play and the App Store.
Can I share the audio I hear?
Better not. A call can carry a name or an address, and reposting it can put the people involved at risk.
