PrivacyScan: Room Detector
Check a hotel room, an Airbnb or a rental for devices that should not be there — and see, in plain words, what this app can and cannot find.
What it does
What It Actually Does
- Lists every device advertising a service on the Wi-Fi you are connected to, with its name, its IP address and the services it offers
- Scores each one on how much it looks like an IP camera (RTSP, ONVIF, NVR and camera-style names)
- Lists Bluetooth Low Energy devices nearby with signal strength and an estimated distance, and flags names used by cameras and recorders
- Walks you through a room inspection: 29 checkpoints in 5 groups — smoke detectors, sockets, USB chargers, alarm clocks, picture frames, vents
- Turns on the torch with a live camera preview so you can sweep surfaces for the small bright dot a lens reflects
- Exports the whole inspection as a PDF report
What It Cannot Do, Stated Plainly
An iPhone has no radio receiver for RF sweeping. Apps that animate a radar dial and call it RF detection are showing you an animation. This one does not. It cannot find a camera that records to a local card and never touches the network. It cannot find one on a different Wi-Fi network, or on a router with client isolation switched on. The torch sweep is you looking at a screen: it is a manual aid, not a detector, and it does not see infrared. A high camera score is not a camera. It means that device advertises services cameras commonly use — a network video recorder and a doorbell look alike from the outside. The number is a reason to walk over and look.
For
Hotel rooms, short-term rentals, changing rooms, offices, shared flats, and anyone who wants to check rather than assume.
Questions people ask about PrivacyScan
Can an iPhone detect a hidden camera?
Does it detect RF signals?
Does the infrared test work?
Does it need an account or internet?
What is behind the paywall?
What language is it in?
What's new in 1.3.0
The scan result told you what it found — in English, in every country. The paragraph under "What does this mean?", the risk labels and the honesty banners were plain strings that never reached the translation catalog. They are now translated in the eleven languages this app is sold in. One device could also be listed twice. A camera that advertises two services resolves twice, and if one of those resolutions came back without an IP address the two halves were filed separately: the same camera appeared as two rows, was scored twice, and counted twice against the room's security score. Devices are now matched by name. The store description also claimed manufacturer lookup for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices, which the app does not do, and recommended the front camera for the infrared test when the app uses the back one. Both corrected.
Privacy and support
PrivacyScan works offline and does not require an account. Read the privacy policy and the terms for this app, or write to us if something is wrong.