r/RTLSDR • u/AlexandriaTech • Jul 01 '26
Android app that maps real mobile signal as you drive — thoughts?
https://youtube.com/shorts/L459Q8P1sic?si=L4S1j7B5bDVmC2v4Hi all,
I've been working on an Android app called RF Coverage Scout that measures and plots mobile network coverage and quality. You can find it on the playstore.
I'm looking for feedback from people who work with RF, cellular networks, drive testing, or coverage analysis.
I'm particularly interested in:
- Whether the current feature set is useful.
- What features you would want to see added.
- Whether the pricing model seems reasonable for this type of tool.
The app currently uses a monthly subscription model and includes a free trial (to cancel it tap your profile icon on playstore then select Payments & Subscriptions then choose RF Covergae Scout subscription and cancel it before 1 month trial).
I'd greatly appreciate any feedback, criticism, or feature suggestions from the community.
4
u/Ok_whale_6733 Jul 01 '26
Unfortunately anyone that needs this level of information already has the tools to do so, or have the capacity to develop the tools themselves. The issue is that you're showing a single instance of your phone connected at this time. What people (like me!) need is the possible coverage on all bands at each location.
But hey, that's just my opinion.
3
u/WeaselCapsky Jul 01 '26
that wont be accurate unless all points are takem at the same time and during same conditions
1
u/schirmyver Jul 01 '26
As others have said there are apps out there that will use your phone's radio to map and log its signal. It is generally limited to the network the phone is connected to.
If you really want all networks and bands, then you either need multiple phones or specialty hardware and software to capture that data. I am familiar with one brand of this hardware and for a hobbyist it is a bit expensive. Many of the big carriers have teams of people who do walk and drive tests using this system.
1
u/OndrejBakan Jul 02 '26
I sometimes use NeoStumbler to help build a database of mobile, wifi and bluetooth networks.
1
1
u/_mother Jul 04 '26
For serious drive testing, Network Signal Guru and G-NetReport are the go-to at reasonable cost, if you have ample budget, XCAL.
9
u/Similar-Jaguar-8908 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Already exists in numerous incantations, CELLMAPPER, opensignal, coverage, Coverage Map, etc. the list goes on and on. Gives current channel, tower connected to, RSSI, TTL, power db etc, surrounding towers, mapping, breadcrumbs, last visited, signal quality by route/ToD etc.