AirGuard vs btSWARM
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AirGuard
Detects and alerts you to unknown Bluetooth trackers like Samsung SmartTags and Tiles that may be following you. Scan your surroundings to find hidden devices and receive notifications if a tracker is detected multiple times in different locations, ensuring your privacy.
- Detects unknown trackers
- Real-time notifications
- Scan surroundings for hidden devices
- Tracker proximity detection
- Local data storage
- Privacy-focused research participation
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AirGuard identifies tiny-trackers, like Samsung SmartTags or Tiles, that are following you and forwarding your location to a third-party. If a tracker is detected will get a notification. The iPhone is able to warn you if someone uses an AirTag to track you, but there is no such protection against Samsung SmartTags or Tile trackers. AirGuard adds this layer of protection so you can feel safe in your daily-life. With the scan option, you can always scan your surroundings and discover hidden trackers. You can search for a specific tracker and it tells you how close you get to it. When you reach 100% you found the device. If no one is trying to track you, the app will never bother you. How does it work? AirGuard uses Bluetooth scans of your iPhone to find Samsung SmartTags and Tile trackers. Every tracker that is found will be saved locally on your device. Whenever a tracker gets detected multiple times the app will recognize this. It compares the locations where the tracker has been detected. If a tracker is detected at least 3 times at different locations (to make sure its not your neighbour) the app sends you a notification. All this happens locally on your device and the private information, like location, tracker ids, etc will never leave your device. Who are we? We are part of the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany. This project is part of a scientific research from the Secure Mobile Networking Lab. Our goal is to protect privacy and to find out how many people are opposed to tracking. In this app you can voluntarily participate in a research study that will share anonymized data with us. This app will never get monetized by showing ads, in-app purchases or anything else. It's free and open-source. Our privacy policy can be found here: https://tpe.seemoo.tu-darmstadt.de/privacy-policy.html This app is open-source: https://github.com/seemoo-lab/AirGuard Disclaimer AirTag, FindMy and iOS are trademarks of Apple Inc. We are not working together with Apple Inc. Samsung SmartTag is a trademark of Samsung Electronic
btSWARM
This utility app helps locate proprietary beacons within shipments sent to retailers. It provides a specialized tool for tracking goods in transit.
- Locate proprietary beacons
- Track shipments to retailers
- Specialized utility tool
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The SWARM application is customized to locate proprietary beacons placed inside shipments sent to retailers.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: AirGuard at 6.5K against btSWARM's 1. btSWARM's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
btSWARM holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AirGuard has 6.5K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
AirGuard ships an update every 3 months, btSWARM every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AirGuard | btSWARM |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (6.5K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 6.5K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Technische Universität Darmstadt | Bluepixel Technologies LLP |
Customer experience
AirGuard
btSWARM
Bugs and requests
AirGuard
Reported bugs
2 issues- Cannot open app past initial usage message
- No display of detected AirTags
Requested features
2 requests- Ability to mark detected trackers as 'safe'
- Option to assign names to detected trackers
btSWARM
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
AirGuard
No in-app purchases
btSWARM
No in-app purchases
