Questions, answered.

Convenience and good karma. The Play Store build updates itself automatically in the background, installs in one tap with no "allow unknown sources" steps, and is Play Protect verified — which makes it the easy choice for a phone you don't want to fuss with. The purchase also directly funds continued development. The app itself is identical to the free GitHub build.

The Play Store listing is currently on an internal test track, so you may need to be added to the tester list before Google will let you install it. If the link doesn't work for you yet, download the free APK from the GitHub Releases page instead — it's exactly the same application.

Download the latest .apk from GitHub Releases, tap it, and approve the one-time "install from this source" prompt Android shows. Then open FT8AF and grant the USB and microphone permissions. Full step-by-step instructions are on the Download page.

Any CAT-capable HF radio that the underlying Hamlib-style control supports — including popular rigs like the Icom IC-7300 and Yaesu FT-891, with rig model, control mode, and audio device pickers in Settings. FT8AF includes specific fixes such as setting the FT-891 to 3000 Hz bandwidth in DATA-USB mode. If your rig isn't listed, open an issue and let us know.

A single USB connection from your phone to the rig's USB port handles both CAT control and audio on most modern radios. Newer phones connect with a USB-C cable directly; older phones need a USB-OTG adapter. Your device must support USB host (OTG) mode.

Yes. FT8AF can decode from the phone's microphone, so you can hold it up to a speaker or just explore the interface and watch the waterfall before wiring up CAT control. It's a good way to learn the layout first.

All the standard FT8 sub-bands from 160m through 6m are built in, with one tap to switch. The waterfall covers the full audio passband so you can see and work everything in the segment at once.

FT8AF is a fork of the excellent FT8CN that brings it forward: a full Jetpack Compose / Material 3 dark UI, complete English localization (the original was Chinese-only), an active QSO monitor with caller queue, Cloudlog and QRZ auto-logging, plus 58+ bug fixes across two "bug bash" passes. The core decoding heritage is FT8CN's — we modernized the experience around it.

It's built by Patrick Burns (K1AF) and Reid (N0RC) — much of it, famously, vibe-coded on I-70 on the way to Hamvention. Huge credit goes to BG7YOZ, the original author of FT8CN, and N0BOY, who hosts the original repository and did early translation work. None of this exists without them.

Please do. The code lives on GitHub — open an issue for bugs or feature ideas, send a pull request, or just star the repo to follow along. Field reports from real on-the-air use are especially welcome.

That's the plan. Development is active and ongoing. The fastest way to get new builds automatically is the Google Play version; otherwise watch the Releases page or the repo. Want a nudge when something ships? Join the update list on the home page.