Bluetooth scanner
Findy lists the Bluetooth Low Energy devices advertising around you, with an approximate signal strength that strengthens as you move closer to the source — and watches, in the background, for a device that keeps reappearing near you across different places.
The Bluetooth scanner and the background item-tracker detection are free. No subscription is required for anything on this page.
What it shows
- Bluetooth Low Energy devices currently advertising within radio range
- The name a device broadcasts, where it broadcasts one
- An approximate signal strength indicator that rises as you get closer
- Whether a device has kept turning up near you across separate places and times
It finds devices that are
- Powered on and actively advertising
- Within radio range
- Visible under iOS's rules for third-party apps
It cannot find devices that are
- Powered off, or not broadcasting
- Using rotating or proprietary identifiers that prevent them being followed between scans
- Out of range, shielded, or behind dense material
- Restricted from third-party apps by the operating system
- Connected by Wi-Fi or a cellular link instead of Bluetooth
Distance and direction are estimates, not measurements
Findy estimates a distance and shows a direction arrow, but both are derived from signal strength alone. The distance comes from a generic path-loss model applied to the received signal level, not from any measurement of where the device is. Walls, furniture, your own body, the device's orientation and its transmit power all distort it, often severely, so the figure can be wrong by a large margin. Treat it as warmer or colder while you move, never as the device's actual position.
In practice this is still useful: walk slowly, watch the estimate, and move in whichever direction makes it fall. That works because you are comparing readings to each other as you move, not trusting an absolute number.
Background item-tracker detection
A tracker hidden in a bag or a car behaves differently from a neighbour's headphones. The headphones are near you in one place; the tracker is near you in several places, over time. Findy watches in the background for that pattern — the same device reappearing near you as you move between locations — and tells you when it sees it.
Where this falls short
- Trackers that rotate their identifiers can appear as a series of unrelated devices rather than one persistent one.
- Devices you legitimately carry — your own accessories, a partner's tag, a shared car's electronics — produce the same pattern and will be reported.
- A tracker that is powered off, out of range, or not advertising during your journeys will not be seen.
- Findy cannot tell you who placed a device or why. It can only tell you the pattern occurred.
Reading a Bluetooth result
Unidentified device
Advertising nearby, with nothing about it indicating what it is. This describes most devices in most places — offices, flats and cafés are full of them.
Keeps appearing near you
The same device has turned up across separate places. Worth checking your bag, coat and vehicle. It is not proof that anyone is following you.
Using the scanner well
- Scan from the middle of the room first, to see the full list of what is advertising.
- Identify the obvious: your own devices, a television, a speaker, a smart bulb, a fitness band.
- For anything you cannot place, walk slowly and watch whether the signal strengthens in a particular direction.
- Follow the strengthening reading to the area, then search that area with your eyes and hands.
- Repeat from a different starting point — one walk can be misled by a reflected signal.
- Remember an empty list means nothing was advertising, not that nothing is there.
Related
The magnetic field scanner is the other free tool for narrowing down a specific object. How Findy works covers all five methods together.
Last reviewed 2026-07-23 · Written and reviewed by the Findy developer.