In the spy movies when someone bugs a room by placing a hidden microphone somewhere, the professional sleuths use electromagnet detectors to find them. The hidden microphones and cameras interfere with the magnetic field produced by the detectors and therefore get caught. These detectors are similar to the electromagnetic metal detectors that some people use to find metallic objects buried deep in the ground.
But if you have an Android smartphone with the magnetic sensor then you can use it to detect the hidden devices like microphones or cameras in a room. This is useful if you suspect that someone has installed a hidden camera in your room or other place. Here is how it can be done using the free Detectify app for Android:
- First of all, we have to install the Detectify app on our Android smartphone.
- Launch Detectify and we can choose either the magnetometer or the infrared camera to find the hidden device.
- In the case of infrared camera, we have to turn off all the lights of the room and make it completely dark. Then using the infrared filter on the Detectify app, we can go through the entire room and look for some lights. Any lights that can be seen through the infrared camera but not when the room lights are on, could be a possible hidden camera.
- In the case of the magnetometer, you have to bring your smartphone closer to the suspected area where you think someone has hidden a camera. The magnetic field in the Detectify app should show fluctuation when you bring the smartphone close to the hidden camera.
While the Detectify is useful, it is not very accurate. For example, the magnetic flux could change even when you bring your device close to a metallic object like the door bolt. This does not necessarily mean that there is a hidden camera inside the door bolt.
You can get the Detectify app for Android from https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wondertechstudio.hiddendevicedetectorandcameradetector.