Encode. Decode.
Practice.

Use a steady single tone in a quiet room. Move the source closer, avoid speaker distortion, and reduce competing tones. The decoder is designed for approximately 5–40 WPM.

On a second device, prepare one clearly visible Screen Flash or Flashlight source at 5–7 WPM. In MorseScope, open Decoder → Light, tap Start Camera, allow camera access, and wait for camera preparation to finish before sending. Keep the source inside the target and move the target if needed. Review the decoded text and pending Morse; Stop leaves the result ready to Copy. Clear or a new camera session replaces it.

Keep the device steady and use one bright source against a darker background. Try a closer distance and avoid reflections, camera motion, direct glare, or flickering room lights. Ambient flicker, exposure, missed frames, and device temperature can affect results. Start with 5–7 WPM; higher speeds and long-range operation are not guaranteed. Capture stops when you leave the mode, background the app, reach the free allowance, or encounter an interruption or protective shutdown. Start again when the camera is available. Light Decoder is intended for learning and demonstrations, and must not be relied on for emergency or safety-critical communication.

No. Version 2.3 requests camera permission only after you tap Start Camera. Preview frames and brightness measurements are processed on your device; no images or video are saved, uploaded, or exported. Optical Morse and text stay in app memory and are not saved to the Session Library. Copy places decoded text on the system clipboard. Clear removes the current result, and starting another camera session replaces it.

Version 2.3 allows 30 seconds per session after the first light-signal lock. Initial camera preparation and calibration do not consume that allowance. Once it starts, elapsed capture time counts across gaps and reacquisition; moving the target or recalibrating does not reset it. At the limit, capture stops and the result remains ready to copy. Premium removes this commercial limit while retaining interruption, thermal, and frame-stream protections.

In Decoder, enter dots and dashes under Written Morse. Separate letters with spaces and words with /. For example, .... . .-.. .--. / -- . becomes HELP ME.

No. Live microphone analysis happens on your device. The App Store version does not upload, save, or export live microphone audio.

MorseScope accepts uncompressed mono/stereo PCM WAV; CBR/VBR MP3; unprotected AAC-LC, HE-AAC, or HE-AAC v2 in M4A; and raw ADTS AAC. Protected audio, ALAC, and unlisted codecs are not supported. WAV gives the most predictable result. Imported recordings may be up to 10 minutes and 128 MB.

Begin keying naturally. After several marks, Practice estimates your dot duration and WPM, then uses that timing to distinguish dots and dashes.

Open Practice and choose Build Custom Practice. A one-off selected-character receive drill is free. Premium can save and resume presets; use pasted text, locally measured weak characters, callsigns, prosigns, Q-codes, or QSO material; simulate receive conditions; emphasize weak characters; and run automatic WPM ladders with explicit accuracy goals.

Visual text-to-Morse, Morse Copy, written Morse decoding, decoded-text Copy, Morse foundations, the complete Koch path and standard scoring, Today’s Practice, adaptive sending, Callsign Practice, one-off selected-character Custom Practice drills, and all signal controls are free. Free audio use includes Encoder playback up to 60 seconds, microphone decoding for 30 seconds after carrier lock, and imported files up to 30 seconds. Version 2.3 adds 30 seconds of Light Decoder capture after the first light-signal lock. Screen Flash and Flashlight are free with no app-imposed duration cap in Version 2.3; Haptics stays free with a 60-second limit.

Premium enables longer Encoder audio playback, WAV and M4A export, longer live microphone sessions, longer Light Decoder sessions in Version 2.3, longer supported audio recordings, Decoder Pro spectrogram and signal-refinement controls, the complete local Decoder Session Library, advanced Practice coaching and operator drills, saved Custom Practice presets, advanced content and targeting, receive conditions, and resumable WPM ladders. The weekly subscription and lifetime purchase unlock the same features. Current localized prices are shown by the App Store and may change. An active weekly subscriber can choose Upgrade to Lifetime from the Premium screen.

No. Encoder Flashlight output only changes the rear torch state; it does not start camera capture or request camera permission. Camera-based decoding is a separate optional Light Decoder workflow in Version 2.3. Screen Flash and Flashlight retain the flashing-light warning, a maximum speed of 7 WPM, and immediate Stop/background cleanup. Version 2.3 removes their app-imposed duration cap for Free and Premium users. Haptics retains its 60-second limit.

Open the Premium screen and choose Restore Purchases after reinstalling or changing devices. If a weekly subscription is active, choose Manage Subscription to review or cancel it through Apple.