Argus vs Dowse
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Argus
Detect hidden cameras and trackers in any room using multiple scanning methods. It offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, lens, infrared, and magnet detection to ensure privacy in various locations like hotels and rentals. The app prioritizes user privacy with no account required and local data storage.
- Wi-Fi scanner for network devices
- Bluetooth tracker locator
- Lens camera finder mode
- Infrared mode for night-vision cameras
- Magnet check for hidden electronics
- Privacy-focused with no account needed
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Argus checks any room for hidden cameras and trackers with four scanners on your iPhone: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with a tracker locator, a camera finder with Lens and Infrared modes, and a magnet check. The Lens camera finder is free with no scan limit and no account, and so is finding a tracker. Hotel rooms, Airbnbs and holiday rentals, changing rooms, gym lockers, rental cars. No app finds every camera, and no single method does: one in a smoke detector may sit on the room's Wi-Fi, or record to a memory card and touch no network. That is why Argus checks four ways. WI-FI SCANNER Finds the devices on the network you joined and flags those answering on camera ports: RTSP video streams, ONVIF, Hikvision, Dahua, XMEye, V380, Ezviz, Tapo, Reolink. Printers, routers and TVs that name themselves are set aside. Free: the device count, camera alerts and identified devices by name. Argus Pro shows which device it is: address, open ports and what its service says about itself, often the firmware. Blind spot: hotel guest Wi-Fi often keeps devices apart; Argus says so instead of calling the room clean. BLUETOOTH AND FIND IT Lists nearby Bluetooth devices and recognises item trackers: Tile, Samsung SmartTag, Chipolo, Pebblebee, Google Find My Device tags. Find it walks you to one: a ring fills as you get closer, ticks quicken, an optional beep helps. Free: the count, possible trackers and finding them. Argus Pro: every device by name and signal, and Find it for any of them. Blind spot: a paired, silent device doesn't advertise, and iPhone may hide Apple's Find My tags from apps (iOS warns about those itself). CAMERA FINDER: LENS AND INFRARED Lens mode, free: lights off, torch on, sweep slowly. A lens returns a tight bright glint; a red, green or blue filter makes it stand out. Infrared mode, Argus Pro: night-vision cameras light a room with infrared your eyes can't see, and an iPhone camera often can. Argus looks for that light and beeps when it spots one. Blind spot: both need a dark room, and a shiny point or ordinary light can trigger them. A flag means look closer. MAGNET CHECK, ARGUS PRO Hold the phone close to a smoke detector, clock or charger: the dial jumps at the metal and magnets of hidden electronics, with a buzz and a beep. Screws and pipes move it too, so compare with a similar object you trust. A FIVE-MINUTE SWEEP Scan the Wi-Fi. Run Bluetooth from the bed and follow any tracker with Find it. Lights off: sweep everything facing the bed in Lens, then Infrared. Pass the magnet over whatever stood out. Two checks pointing at one object: inspect it. PRIVACY No account, no ads. What a scan finds stays on your iPhone. Camera frames and sensor readings are never recorded; only Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scans are saved, on your phone. Subscriptions run through Apple and RevenueCat; crash reports and usage analytics are not linked to you. No tracking. In 13 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Turkish, Korean, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Hindi, German. FREE AND ARGUS PRO Free: the Lens camera finder; Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scans with their counts, camera and tracker alerts; identified Wi-Fi devices; finding a tracker. Argus Pro: which Wi-Fi device it is and its details; every Bluetooth device by name; Find it for any device; Infrared mode; the magnet check. Requires iOS 16 or later. Hotel sweep guide: https://tatrom.github.io/ Argus Pro is a weekly or yearly auto-renewable subscription. The price is shown in the app before you subscribe. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://tatrom.github.io/privacy-terms/terms-of-use.html Privacy Policy: https://tatrom.github.io/privacy-terms/privacy-policy.html
Dowse
Detect hidden cameras and trackers in your surroundings using your phone's sensors. It scans Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices, guides you through a physical inspection, and helps locate lost Bluetooth items. The app also alerts you to persistent unknown trackers.
- Wi-Fi device scanning
- Bluetooth tracker detection
- Guided physical inspection
- Lens glint scanner
- Infrared scope
- Lost Bluetooth item finder
- Persistent tracker alerts
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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/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Dowse at every 4 days against Argus's every 3 weeks. On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. Argus sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days and Dowse sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Argus against 5.0 for Dowse. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.
Argus ships an update every 3 weeks, Dowse every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Argus | Dowse |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 35 MB | 20 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Roman Hadiiev | Redjan Hysa |
Customer experience
Argus
Dowse
In-app purchases
Argus
- Weekly$7.997 Days
- Yearly3 Days trial$49.991 Year
Dowse
- Monthly$3.991 Month
- Yearly$19.991 Year
- Lifetime$39.99








