Dowse vs Hidden Camera Detector Spot
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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/
Hidden Camera Detector Spot
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You check into a hotel room, a holiday rental or a changing room, and the thought arrives: is anything watching? Spot gives you five real instruments and a checklist so you look everywhere. It is deliberately honest about what a phone can and cannot do — see the list below of what no app can find, including this one. INFRARED SWEEP Almost every hidden camera that works in the dark floods the room with infrared at 850 or 940 nanometres. Your eyes cannot see it; the front camera nearly can, because its infrared filter is far weaker than the rear camera's, so that light lands on the sensor as a pale violet-white dot. Turn the lights off, open the infrared sweep, and move slowly around the room. Spot lifts the shadows so a faint infrared source separates from a dark room instead of vanishing into it, and rings anything abnormally bright. LENS GLINT SWEEP A camera lens is a retroreflector: shine light at it and it sends light straight back, which is why animal eyes flash in a photograph. Spot lights the torch and looks for that signature — a small, very bright point that appears from one angle and vanishes from another. Glass and polished metal do the same, so every ring is a prompt to walk over and look, never a verdict. THE ROOM CHECKLIST Most hidden cameras are found by looking carefully, not by waving a phone around. Spot walks you through the places they are actually installed — smoke detectors and vents, anything facing the bed, sockets and USB bricks, shelves, bathroom fittings, and mirrors, including the fingertip test that tells a normal mirror from two-way glass. SAVE WHAT YOU FIND Anything that looks wrong, capture it. The photo and your note stay on your phone, so you have a record if you need to raise it with a host, a hotel or the police. EVERYTHING STAYS ON YOUR PHONE The camera feed is analysed live, in memory, and discarded. Nothing is recorded or uploaded, and there is no account. WHAT SPOT CANNOT DO It cannot find a camera that is powered off. It cannot find one with no infrared that is hidden behind an object, and it cannot see through walls. It reads your own Wi-Fi and nearby Bluetooth advertisements, but it does not decode radio transmissions — no phone app can, whatever the category claims. A ring on screen means "brighter than its surroundings", which is a reason to go and look. FREE • The full room checklist for hotels, rentals, your own home, changing rooms, offices and cars • Run the network scan and see how many devices answered • The complete, honest list of what no phone app can find Charging for a written checklist would be taking money for nothing, so it is free — and it is the only thing that finds a daylight camera, a powered-off one, or a two-way mirror. SPOT PRO UNLOCKS THE INSTRUMENTS • Infrared sweep: the LEDs a night-vision camera gives off in a dark room • Lens glint sweep: the reflection an uncovered lens returns to your torch • The network scan results: which device is which, and the ports each answered on • Bluetooth scan: what is broadcasting around you, with signal strength • Sensor scan: a magnetometer that reacts to concealed metal and magnets • Unlimited saved findings with photos and notes • Adjustable glint sensitivity and infrared view profiles SUBSCRIPTION Pro is available as an auto-renewing subscription: • Weekly — $3.99 per week, with a 3-day free trial. • Yearly — $17.99 per year. Prices are shown in the app and may vary by region. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you buy a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://leomarston.github.io/manycode-legal/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Check the room before you settle in.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Dowse at none against Hidden Camera Detector Spot's shown. Hidden Camera Detector Spot's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 days). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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. Dowse sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Hidden Camera Detector Spot sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Dowse ships an update every 4 days, Hidden Camera Detector Spot every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Dowse | Hidden Camera Detector Spot |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 20 MB | 19 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Redjan Hysa | Emine Saridogan |
In-app purchases
Dowse
- Monthly$3.991 Month
- Yearly$19.991 Year
- Lifetime$39.99
Hidden Camera Detector Spot
- Weekly3 Days trial$3.997 Days
- Yearly$17.991 Year
Questions
Is Dowse free?
Is Hidden Camera Detector Spot free?
Do Dowse or Hidden Camera Detector Spot have ads?
Which is updated more often, Dowse or Hidden Camera Detector Spot?
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