Keep an Eye on the Cops: The Best Police Scanner Apps (2023)

This unimaginatively but aptly named app comes with a high recommendation—from a retired NYPD sergeant who is an acquaintance of the writer. When you first run the app, it takes you through a short tour of its capabilities. Even the free app has an attractive dark mode, and you can browse nearby and popular police radio channels, designate favorites, and see alerts from around the country.

If you want to listen to police communications before you sleep, the app includes a timer similar to that in TuneIn Radio. It's 10- code page lets you filter by department and category, so it's better than a list that may or may not apply to the area you're listening to. The map feature just shows a pinpoint in the general area of the precinct you're listening to.

One unique feature in the Police Scanner app is walkie-talkie. No, it doesn’t let you join in on the police's radio conversation; it just lets you leave short voice messages in the channel for other users of the app. You may hear some salty language, so be warned!

Police Scanner Pro is one of the more pricy apps in its group. You have a choice of paying $2.99 per week, $9.99 per month, or $39.99 per year.

Platforms: iOS(Opens in a new window), Android(Opens in a new window)

The Pro version of this app was the top paid download in the Apple App Store on June 1 (Police scanner app catapults to the top of the App Store(Opens in a new window)), and it has a user rating of 4.6 in the store, both of which are no small feats. The app’s starting interface is quite basic, just a text list of top, local, and other feeds. Like the other apps here, it can show you a map of the region you're listening to, but it was zoomed out to the country level for NYPD—not especially informative. It also lets you designate favorites and can show police 10- codes. The app also can play HD music streams from internet radio stations around the world. Unfortunately, the free version has no search feature.

The paid version is cheaper than most, at just a $4.99 one-time fee. It removes ads, adds more feeds (according to the company, though users say it’s the same in the comments), and lets you record and share transmissions. It also adds a timer, siren noisemaker, and custom backgrounds. Another potential benefit of buying the app is that its developer has stated that the company will donate proceeds to anti-racist organizations(Opens in a new window).

Platforms: iOS(Opens in a new window), Windows(Opens in a new window)

This attractive and functional orange-toned app offers all of its radio listening free, but paying $2.99 per month for the Pro version removes ads, lets you apply themes and dark mode, and gets you widget functionality. You can sort channels by listener popularity or nearness, or filter by genre, area, source, and newest. The app lets you designate favorites for quick access. There’s a News tab, and the app can send you news alerts, but they're not filtered by area, which means they come from all over the country. It would be more useful if you could set some criteria for your news view. Speaking of Alerts, you can also set these up for events from individual, nearby, or favorited scanners, or for when a specified number of users are listening to a channel. Police Scanner Radio & Fire also has a page of police 10- codes, but its map feature just shows the area covered by the department you're listening to.

Platforms: iOS(Opens in a new window), Android(Opens in a new window)

There are multiple apps in the store sharing this name: The one we’re talking about is by Rego Apps and has the most high ratings in the store, with over 49 thousand and an average of 4.6. The app not only lets you search for scanners around the world and find local ones, but also lets you see Broadcastify events, play internet music radio, and record anything you’re listening to—even in the free app. You can fave streams and set a shutdown timer. If you know the URL of a broadcast, you can enter it manually. The app has one of the more appealing interfaces among the genre, with a big Stop button in the middle surrounded by other options. You can customize the nifty space-themed background with your own picture. The paid Pro version costs $4.99 one time; it removes ads, adds weather and railroad feeds, adds background choices, and lets you access archived recordings. On the downside, the app has no search feature.

Platforms: iOS(Opens in a new window)

While not technically a police radio scanner app, Citizen is such a terrific source of info on nearby police and emergency activity that we felt it worthy of inclusion. Not only does it show you what’s going on nearby (or in other covered areas), but it lets you report incidents as well. The app is free and covers most major cities, and the company is working on expanding coverage. Citizen alerts you of any activity in the areas you’re following (you can set it to only do so for major events) and includes video of events where available.

Platforms: Android(Opens in a new window), iOS(Opens in a new window), web(Opens in a new window)