Is my Android phone being tracked or spied on?
Check four things: apps with accessibility or device-administrator access, apps allowed to install other apps, apps you do not recognise, and unusual battery, data or heat. These show how most spyware and stalkerware gets its power, but no check can prove a phone is clean.
Signs worth a look
None of these proves anything on its own. Several together are a reason to check.
- The battery drains faster than before, or the phone is warm when idle.
- Mobile data use jumps with no change in how you use the phone.
- An app you do not remember, or one with a bland name such as "System Service".
- Play Protect has been switched off, or "install unknown apps" has been allowed for an app.
- Someone knows things they should only know from your messages or location.
Four checks in Settings
- Accessibility: open Settings > Accessibility and look at installed or downloaded apps that are switched on. An accessibility service can read the screen and tap for you.
- Device administrators: search Settings for Device admin apps. An unfamiliar admin app can lock or wipe the phone, and must be deactivated before it can be uninstalled.
- Special app access: open Settings > Apps > Special app access and review Install unknown apps, Notification access, Display over other apps, Usage access and All files access.
- Play Protect: in the Play Store, tap your profile, open Play Protect and run a scan.
The same checks in one view
Connect the phone to the slimdroid tool and open the Privacy screen. It lists, in one place, the apps with accessibility, device-admin, notification, overlay, install-unknown, all-files, usage-access and VPN rights, the apps installed from outside a store, and when each app last used the camera, microphone and location. Package names, not just labels, are shown, so a disguised app is easier to spot. See how to check camera, microphone and location use.
If you find something
- Think about safety before acting. Removing a monitoring app can alert the person who installed it.
- Switch off its accessibility service and deactivate its device-admin rights, then uninstall it.
- From a different, clean device, change the passwords for your Google account and key services, and review the devices signed in to them.
- If you still doubt the phone, back up only what you need, factory reset it and set it up as new rather than restoring a full backup.
What this cannot tell you
slimdroid does not scan for malware signatures and does not watch network traffic. It shows who holds powerful access. A clean result is encouraging, not proof, and advanced targeted spyware may not show up in these lists at all.
Can slimdroid detect spyware?
It can show the access that spyware depends on: accessibility services, device administrators, apps installed outside a store and special permissions. It is not an antivirus and cannot confirm that a phone is clean.
Does a factory reset remove spyware?
A reset removes apps installed on the phone. Spyware can come back if you restore a full backup or sign in to a compromised account, so change your account passwords from a clean device and set the phone up as new.
Is a green dot always a sign of spying?
No. The dot shows that an app is using the camera or microphone right now, including apps you opened on purpose. Tap it to see which app.