Dowse: Hidden Camera Detector

Someone found a camera in an Airbnb once, and the whole internet remembers. You still have to sleep somewhere tonight.

Dowse checks a room in one walk. You go from place to place while the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth checks run underneath, and the room seals into one report you can keep or share.

THE WALK
Eight places cameras actually hide, one at a time: the smoke detector, the alarm clock, the USB charger charging nothing, the air vent, the shelf, the bathroom, the TV and the mirror. At each one, hold to look. Dowse strobes your flashlight and watches for the tiny glint a lens sends back, with night vision built in for cameras that light the room in infrared. If something flashes back, its photo stays in your report. If it turns out to be a screw, tap It was nothing.

THE WI-FI AND BLUETOOTH
While you walk, Dowse knocks on the room's Wi-Fi address by address and flags anything that behaves like a camera, quoting the device's own words when it gives any. Bluetooth listens for 20 seconds for trackers and gadgets that have no business in a rented bedroom.

PULL THE PLUG
Found a camera-like device on the Wi-Fi but can't see it? Unplug things in the room one at a time. Your phone buzzes the moment it drops off the network, so you know which object it was.

THE HONEST PART
Every room also says what it couldn't check. A camera that records to a memory card and never joins a network is invisible to every phone app, ours included, which is why the eight places exist. If Bluetooth is off or you're on mobile data, Dowse tells you before you start, and a room that couldn't check anything doesn't use up your free check.

FIND YOUR LOST STUFF
Earbuds under the couch again. Pick the device and walk. The number climbs as you get closer and the Geiger clicks speed up. 60... 74... 91. There they are. Tap Found it. Works with anything that speaks Bluetooth.

WATCHING YOUR BACK
Dowse notices when the same unknown tracker keeps turning up around you in different places, and stays silent otherwise. No alerts about your neighbor's speaker.

Your first room is free. After that, Dowse needs an active subscription.

TERMS: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/