Comparison

Argus vs GPS Bug Detector

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Argus

Features
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Argus checks an unfamiliar room for hidden cameras with four scans that all run on your iPhone: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a lens-reflection camera finder and a magnetometer. The camera finder is free, with no scan limit and no account. Hotel rooms, Airbnbs and holiday rentals, changing rooms, gym lockers, bathrooms, rental cars. No single method finds every camera: one in a smoke detector might sit on the room's Wi-Fi, or record to a memory card and touch no network at all. WI-FI SCANNER Finds the devices on the network you joined that answer a scan. Argus Pro lists each one with how fast it answered, which known camera and DVR ports are open and, when a port answers, what the service says about itself โ€” often the firmware. Blind spot: hotel guest Wi-Fi often isolates devices from each other, so an empty result there does not mean the room is clean. BLUETOOTH SCANNER Finds nearby Bluetooth LE devices that are advertising โ€” trackers and battery-powered gadgets โ€” and needs no network. Argus Pro lists each one with its signal strength. Blind spot: a device that is paired and silent does not advertise. CAMERA FINDER โ€” LENS REFLECTION Turns the camera into a lens finder: it watches for the tight bright glint a lens returns when light hits it. Lights off, torch on, then sweep smoke detectors, clocks, chargers, vents, the TV and mirrors slowly and close. This is the scan most people mean by a hidden camera detector. Blind spot: it needs a dark room by design, and any shiny point can glint โ€” a flag means look closer. MAGNET SCANNER Reads the magnetometer for the change in magnetic field that electronics and magnets hidden inside everyday objects cause โ€” the check for something with no radio at all. Blind spot: plumbing, screws and structural metal move the needle too โ€” a reading means look closer. A FIVE-MINUTE SWEEP Join the room's Wi-Fi and scan it. Run Bluetooth from the bed, then the bathroom. Lights off, torch on, sweep everything facing the bed with the camera finder. Pass the magnet scanner over whatever stood out. One signal is a question; if two checks point at the same object, inspect it closely. HONEST ABOUT THE LIMITS No app can guarantee every hidden device is found. A phone has no thermal camera and no RF detector, so a camera that is off, records locally or uses its own SIM is the hard case โ€” which is exactly why Argus runs four scans instead of one. PRIVACY No account, no ads. What a scan finds โ€” device names, addresses, readings โ€” stays on your iPhone. Camera frames and magnetometer readings are never recorded; only Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scans are saved, on your phone, where you can delete them. Apple and RevenueCat handle subscriptions; crash reports and usage analytics (screens, scans, purchases) are not linked to you. No advertising identifier, no tracking across apps. FREE, AND ARGUS PRO Free, in full: the Camera Finder, with no scan limit. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth also run free and report how many devices answered and how many of them are unidentified. Argus Pro adds: the full device list with addresses and names where a device sends one; for Bluetooth, signal and safety score; for Wi-Fi, response time, open ports and the service reply; and the Magnet Scanner. Requires iOS 16 or later. Scanner-by-scanner limits and a step-by-step hotel sweep: 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. You can manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Terms of Use: https://tatrom.github.io/privacy-terms/terms-of-use.html Privacy Policy: https://tatrom.github.io/privacy-terms/privacy-policy.html Questions or feedback? Write to us, we read every message.

About

GPS Bug Detector

Features
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Someone can hide a tracker in a car in under a minute. Finding it takes longer. GPS Bug Detector gives you four different ways to search, because no single sensor catches everything. Scan a room, a rental car, a hotel or an office, and see what is actually around you before you settle in. BUG DETECTOR The magnetometer reads changes in the magnetic field around electronics tucked inside seats, bumpers, panels and furniture. Watch the gauge climb as you move the phone closer. This is the layer that finds hardware with no radio at all, which is exactly what a passive GPS logger is. SPY CAMERA Three ways to hunt for a lens, because hidden cameras hide differently depending on the room. Flash lights the surface and holds the exposure so glass gives itself away. Sweep walks you across a wall or ceiling in a slow pass so nothing gets skipped. Retro-reflect catches the bright pinpoint bounce a lens sends straight back at your light source. This is the one that finds cameras behind smoke detectors, mirrors, vents and clock faces. The camera view also picks up infrared emitters that night vision setups use, which your eye cannot see in a dark room. BLUETOOTH SCAN The Bluetooth scanner lists every BLE device broadcasting nearby, sorted by signal strength in dBm. Known hardware gets labelled, so your neighbour's laptop reads as a laptop and an unknown tag reads as unknown. Walk toward a device and watch the number climb until you are standing on top of it. Tap any result to open the device inspector for advertised services and full signal history. WI-FI SCAN See every device sitting on the network you are connected to, with its IP address and manufacturer. Routers, phones, laptops and smart TVs get identified. So does an IP camera. If you are staying somewhere and a Hikvision or Reolink device shows up on the house Wi-Fi that nobody mentioned, you will know in about ten seconds. HISTORY Every scan is saved. Run one when you check into a room and another the next day, and compare. A device that appeared overnight is worth a second look. WHO USES IT Travellers checking an unfamiliar room before unpacking. Drivers who share a car, sell a car, or just got one back from a shop. Hosts and guests who want a quick privacy pass on a rental. Anyone with a reason to believe a device followed them home. WHAT THIS APP IS NOT This is not a radio frequency sweeper. Your iPhone has no RF antenna a developer can reach, and any app claiming to sweep RF is guessing. GPS Bug Detector works only with sensors your phone actually has: the magnetometer, the camera, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Every reading you see is a real reading. It cannot detect an audio bug or a listening device that transmits over cellular, and it cannot find a passive GPS logger over the air, since a device that only records and never broadcasts has no signal to catch. The magnetometer pass is your best tool in that case, and a physical search is still worth doing. EULA:https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy & EULA: https://www.appsera.net/app-store-privacy-policy-gps-bug-detector/

Screenshots

Argus4 screens
GPS Bug Detector4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: GPS Bug Detector at 3 against Argus's 1. On price, ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Argus sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days and GPS Bug Detector sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Argus versus GPS Bug Detector: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterArgusGPS Bug Detector
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightlyโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS16.015.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size35 MB49 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperRoman HadiievRamazan Tugay Kahraman

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Argus

Subscriptions2
  • Weekly$7.997 Days
  • Yearly3 Days trial$49.991 Year
3 purchases

GPS Bug Detector

Subscriptions2
  • Bug Detector Pro$2.997 Days
  • Bug Detector Pro$39.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$69.99

Questions

Is Argus free?
Argus is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is GPS Bug Detector free?
GPS Bug Detector is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Argus or GPS Bug Detector have ads?
Neither Argus nor GPS Bug Detector shows ads.

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