Bluewex scans for hidden lenses, BLE camera trackers, and unknown WiFi cameras on your network — in seconds.
Download FreeiOS · Android · Free to download
Lens-glint optical scan
Sweep your camera and flashlight across the room. Reflections from hidden lenses inside clocks, vents, or décor light up clearly on screen.
Optical · IRBLE camera scanner
Many modern hidden cameras broadcast over Bluetooth. Bluewex picks up nearby BLE devices with live RSSI signal strength.
BLE · RSSIWiFi network scan
Discover every device on the local network via mDNS/Bonjour. Spot IP cameras and unrecognized hardware at a glance.
mDNS · BonjourStart your sweep here.
Smoke detectors
A 1mm pinhole lens is invisible from 3 meters. Sweep the lens-glint scanner at ceiling level first.
USB wall chargers
Common dual-function devices: charge a phone, record the room. Check any charger that wasn't there on a previous stay.
Alarm clocks and clock radios
Angled toward beds in hotels and rentals worldwide. The BLE scan often picks these up before the optical scan does.
Air purifiers
Large housings hide cameras and battery packs. Check with the magnetic scanner for powered electronics behind the casing.
Picture frames
Front-facing lenses sit flush with the frame surface. The lens-glint scan reflects off them clearly even in low light.
TV equipment and cable boxes
Positioned for a natural view of the living area and rarely questioned. Cross-check with the WiFi network scan.
Pinhole cameras
A lens under 1mm, embedded in everyday objects. Found with the lens-glint optical scan — light reflects off the lens surface.
IP cameras on WiFi
Transmit video over the local network. The WiFi scan surfaces them as unrecognized devices alongside phones and laptops.
BLE-enabled cameras
Broadcast over Bluetooth Low Energy for remote control or configuration. The BLE scanner detects them by live signal strength.
Yes, for most of the cameras people actually plant — and no, not for all of them. That distinction is worth more to you than any app store rating, so here it is plainly.
What a phone genuinely detects. A camera lens is glass, and glass throws back a tight pinpoint reflection when light hits it along its line of sight. That is physics, not software, and it works whether the camera is networked, battery-powered or recording to a card. On top of that, your phone can list the devices on a WiFi network, scan for Bluetooth Low Energy broadcasts, and read magnetic fields through its compass sensor. Four independent signals, none of which needs extra hardware.
What no phone app can do. None of them performs a true radio-frequency sweep — that needs a dedicated RF detector with its own antenna. A wired camera on a building's own network never touches the guest WiFi, and a camera that is powered down while you scan will not show up electronically. Any app claiming to find "all hidden cameras" is overselling; the lens-glint check is what still catches those, because a camera positioned to film you is positioned to reflect your light back.
The infrared claim. A lot of apps promise to reveal cameras by their infrared LEDs. Most rear phone cameras have an IR filter that blocks exactly this, so it only works through the front-facing camera, and only on cameras using active IR at night. Useful as a bonus check. Not a feature to choose an app for.
The detection methods above are available to any app on the platform — none of them is licensed technology. So a paid app is not buying you better physics; it is buying you presentation. Bluewex runs all four scans free, with no scan limit and no account, because gating a safety check behind a payment screen is the wrong shape for the problem. What paid apps typically add is a subscription, not a fifth sensor.
The optical, magnetic and Bluetooth scans behave the same on both. The WiFi device list is where the platforms diverge: iOS restricts what an app may enumerate on the local network more tightly than Android, so an Android device will often surface a longer list. Neither restriction affects the lens-glint sweep, which is the check that catches the widest range of cameras. On both platforms you will be asked for local network and Bluetooth permission — a scanner that never asks is not scanning.
New to checking a room? Walk through how to detect hidden cameras: 10 ways that actually work, or learn how to tell if a mirror is two-way.
Checking into a hotel tonight? Our room-by-room walkthrough covers how to check a hotel room for hidden cameras with your phone — the four-step sweep, the five spots to look first, and what to say at the front desk if you find something.
Judge one on whether it runs all four checks a phone is capable of - lens-glint optical, WiFi device list, Bluetooth Low Energy, and magnetic field - and whether it is honest about the limits. No phone app can do a true radio-frequency sweep. Bluewex runs all four free, with no scan limit and no account.
Yes. Bluewex is free on iOS and Android. The optical, Bluetooth and magnetic scans work identically on both; iOS limits what any app may enumerate on a local network, so the WiFi device list is usually shorter on iPhone than on Android. The lens-glint sweep, which catches the widest range of cameras, is unaffected.
The detection methods are the same - none of them is licensed technology, so a paid app is not buying better physics. What a subscription usually adds is presentation, not a fifth sensor. Judge an app on how many of the four checks it runs and how clearly it states what it cannot find.
Bluewex uses three methods: an optical lens-glint scanner that reflects light off hidden lenses, a Bluetooth (BLE) scanner that finds nearby camera trackers, and a WiFi network scanner that lists every device on the local network.
Yes. The lens-glint scan works in any room. For WiFi-based detection, join the local network first — most hotels and Airbnbs provide guest WiFi.
The lens-glint and Bluetooth scans work entirely offline. Only the WiFi network scan needs an active connection to detect IP cameras on the network.
Yes. Bluewex runs entirely on your device. No scan results are uploaded or shared.
Yes — free to download on iOS and Android with no subscription required.
The smallest pinhole lenses are under 1mm in diameter — smaller than the head of a pin. They're invisible to the naked eye at normal distances, which is why an optical lens-glint scan is more reliable than a visual check.
Not reliably. A phone camera can sometimes pick up infrared light from IR-illuminated cameras in a completely dark room, but it won't detect BLE cameras, IP cameras on WiFi, or modern pinhole lenses. Bluewex combines all three detection methods in one scan.
Run the BLE scan first (30 seconds), then a WiFi network scan if you're on the hotel network, then walk the room with the lens-glint scanner at eye and bed level. Total time under two minutes.
It depends on the method. Optical lens-glint is reliable for any lens-based camera. WiFi detection requires joining the local network. BLE detection works within Bluetooth range (~10m). No app can detect a camera that is powered off and uses no wireless transmission — but most consumer spy cameras use at least one of these signals.