Report updated Jun 21, 2026
Police Scanner: Fire Radio
For individuals seeking real-time information on local public safety, emergency services, and breaking news events.
Police Scanner: Fire Radio is an established news app that is free with in-app purchases. With a 4.7/5 rating from 159.9K reviews, it shows polarized user reception.
What is Police Scanner: Fire Radio?
Police Scanner: Fire Radio is a news-category app providing global live emergency radio feeds and public safety alerts on iOS.
Users hire this app to maintain situational awareness of local emergencies, wildfires, and public safety events via real-time audio monitoring.
Current Momentum
v2.39 · 4mo ago
Steady- Ships regular bug fixes and improvements.
- Maintains high chart visibility in US.
Active Nemesis
Police Scanner Radio & Fire
By GordonEdwards.net
Other Rivals
7-Day Rank Pulse 🇺🇸
NewsRating Pulse 🇺🇸
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
How Is The App's Momentum Right Now?
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What Are The Key Features?
Access to thousands of live police, fire, and emergency radio feeds categorized by location and popularity
In-app library of police, fire, and emergency codes for interpreting scanner audio without prior training
Push notifications for major events, fire department updates, and breaking news based on user-selected regions
Visual display of feed locations to identify the geographic source of emergency broadcasts
Subscription tier that removes advertisements from the listening experience
How much does it cost?
- Free tier with ad-supported access
- Premium tier at $9.99/month for ad removal
Freemium model anchored at $9.99/month, utilizing ad-supported access to monetize the free user base.
Who Built It?
Guru Network Limited
Providing real-time situational awareness through live emergency and public safety radio broadcasts.
Portfolio
2
Apps
Who is Guru Network Limited?
Guru Network Limited Inc. maintains a highly specialized position by focusing on real-time public safety data aggregation rather than general news reporting. Their moat is built on the reliability and breadth of their live feed network, which serves as a critical utility during localized emergencies. A key strategic tension exists between their high-performing mobile flagship and their underperforming wearable extension, suggesting difficulty in translating their core utility to secondary platforms.
Who is Guru Network Limited for?
- Individuals seeking real-time local emergency updates
- Hobbyists
- Residents in disaster-prone areas
Portfolio momentum
The publisher has released 1 update in the last 6 months, focusing resources on maintaining their primary flagship app while the secondary title remains unmaintained.
What other apps does Guru Network Limited make?
What do users think recently?
Analysis in progress, available soon
What is the competitive landscape for Police Scanner: Fire Radio?
How's The News Market?
How does it evolve in the News market?
The app maintains a strong presence in the News category, currently holding #15 Free in the US. The gap between its high free-tier visibility and the $9.99/month premium price point suggests a need to better convert casual listeners into long-term subscribers.
| Country | Category | Chart | Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 US | News | iOSFree | #12 | ▲3 |
| 🇰🇪 Kenya | News | iOSFree | #82 | ▼16 |
The rivals identified
The Nemesis
Head to Head
The target app must pivot toward specialized, high-value emergency data like wildfire mapping to differentiate from the broad, legacy-heavy radio dominance of this nemesis.
What sets Police Scanner: Fire Radio apart
Target app offers a more modern, streamlined interface focused on wildfire and emergency alert specificity.
Target app's feature set is more curated toward public safety and wildfire awareness rather than general radio.
What's Police Scanner Radio & Fire's Edge
Offers a vastly larger library of live radio feeds due to a decade of community growth.
Proven stability and reliability across millions of sessions provides a trust advantage for emergency monitoring.
Contenders
Uses a 'Lite' branding strategy that likely serves as a funnel for a premium, paid version.
Focuses on a simplified, lightweight radio interface that appeals to users who dislike feature-heavy bloat.
5-0 Radio Pro Police Scanner
★4.6 (82.3K)Smartest Apps LLC
⚡A direct niche competitor with a long history and consistent update cycle that maintains strong user engagement.
Provides a dedicated 'Pro' tier that likely captures power users willing to pay for ad-free experiences.
Long-standing market presence since 2009 builds significant trust for users seeking reliable emergency radio access.
Peers
Provides professional-grade wildfire mapping and real-time incident reporting that radio apps cannot replicate.
High-frequency updates and specialized focus on wildfire data create a strong, defensible niche moat.
Uses AI-driven content aggregation to deliver hyper-local news alerts that go beyond just emergency radio.
Aggressive release cadence of 22 updates in six months shows a focus on rapid feature experimentation.
PulsePoint Respond
★4.8 (258.5K)PulsePoint Foundation
⚡An adjacent medical and public safety app that competes for the same 'emergency awareness' user intent.
Integrates directly with local emergency dispatch systems to provide verified, life-saving alerts to citizens.
Focuses on community-based CPR and medical response rather than passive monitoring of police radio traffic.
The outtake for Police Scanner: Fire Radio
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Integrated map view provides geographic context to audio feeds.
- Emergency code library lowers the barrier for non-expert users.
Critical Frictions
- Premium tier at $9.99/month exceeds category median.
- Ad-supported free tier disrupts high-stakes emergency listening.
Growth Levers
- Integration of professional-grade wildfire mapping data.
- Partnerships with local dispatch for verified alerts.
Market Threats
- Watch Duty's specialized wildfire mapping captures high-utility users.
- NewsBreak's AI-driven aggregation competes for local news attention.
What are the next best moves?
Pivot premium pricing to a lower tier because $9.99/month is above category median → increase conversion rate
Premium tier at $9.99/month exceeds category median, creating a barrier to paid conversion.
Trade-off: Pause the ad-inventory expansion sprint — conversion volume has higher revenue impact.
Ship integrated wildfire mapping because Watch Duty's specialized data is a high-utility threat → defend market share
Watch Duty's specialized wildfire mapping creates a high-utility alternative that radio-only apps cannot match.
Trade-off: Deprioritize the UI refresh for the feed directory — mapping utility is the primary competitive gap.
A counter-intuitive read
The app's #15 chart rank is a liability, as it forces the product into a mass-market ad-supported model that actively degrades the emergency-monitoring experience for power users.
Feature Gaps vs Competitors
- Professional-grade wildfire mapping (available in Watch Duty)
- Verified dispatch-level emergency alerts (available in PulsePoint Respond)
Key Takeaways
The app maintains a strong category lead through broad feed access, but the high premium price point and ad-friction during emergencies drive users to specialized competitors, so the PM should prioritize mapping integration and pricing adjustments.
Where Is It Heading?
Mixed Signals
The public safety monitoring market is shifting toward high-utility, verified data as users move away from passive radio listening. This app remains exposed due to its reliance on ad-supported audio, so the PM must prioritize mapping and verified alerts to retain the user base.
Ad-supported listening during critical events creates user frustration, which drives churn toward subscription-first, ad-free emergency information competitors.
High chart visibility in the US market provides a massive top-of-funnel advantage for testing new high-utility features.