Guide — blep

🐾 Find a lost thing #

Open blep and pick the device from the nearby list — keys with a tag, earbuds, a speaker, a watch, your car, anything that advertises Bluetooth. Tap the ✎ to give it a friendly name, or the ★ to keep a favourite handy. Paired devices that aren't advertising live sit under the Paired button.

A phone's Bluetooth antenna is roughly omnidirectional, so raw signal tells you how far but not which way. blep makes it directional using your own body:

1.Calibrate. Hold the phone flat against your chest and stand still for a moment. Your torso absorbs the signal from behind, so it reads strongest toward what's in front of you.
2.Sweep. Turn slowly in place. blep warms up as you face the device and cools as you turn away — stop where it's warmest.
3.Walk. Walk forward in that direction. The big arrow and the background colour (cool → warm) track every step; a trail shows where you've already searched.
4.Pinpoint. Up close, slow down and search low. Optional sound and haptics pulse faster as you close in — like a Geiger counter — and blep celebrates when you've found it.

🛡 Is something tracking you? #

Tap "Is something tracking you?" on the main screen. blep scans the same Bluetooth advertisements for a tracker travelling with you — an AirTag, Tile, Samsung SmartTag, or a Find My / Google Find My Device beacon someone may have slipped into your bag, coat or car. Keep the screen open for a minute while you move around.

It looks for a few things at once:

•Known trackers advertising in "separated from owner" mode close to you.
•Rotating IDs. A privacy tracker changes its Bluetooth ID to stay anonymous — but it gives itself away by reappearing at the same close range again and again.
•Following across contexts. With "remember across sessions" on, a tag that keeps turning up as your surroundings change (home, then transit, then somewhere new) is flagged — a device you merely pass daily on the same commute is not.

When something is flagged you'll see a card with two actions:

•Find it — because blep is a finder, it doesn't just warn: it walks you to the tracker with the same warm/cold guidance so you can locate and remove it.
•It's mine — mark your own tag so it stops being flagged.

Sensitivity

Relaxed, Balanced or Strict — how eagerly it flags. Relaxed in crowds, Strict somewhere unfamiliar.

Background watch

Optionally keep an eye out while blep is closed and get a notification — on a battery-friendly schedule.

Location-aware

Off by default. A coarse on-device place helps tell a real follower from your daily crowd — never leaves your phone.

🔎 Found a tracker — what to do #

First, don't panic. Most flagged trackers are harmless — your own tag, a family member's, a borrowed bag, a rental car. blep flags a possibility so you can check; it isn't an accusation. Take a breath and work through it.

Identify it

•Use Find it in blep to walk to the tracker and physically locate it. Check pockets, bag linings, your coat, and the car (wheel wells, seat pockets, under mats).
•If it's an AirTag or Find My tag, hold the top of your phone to it (NFC) — a separated tag opens a page with its serial number and the last 4 digits of the owner's phone, which police can use.

Disable it (when you're safe to)

•AirTag: twist the steel back counter-clockwise and remove the coin battery.
•Tile / SmartTag / others: open the case and pull the battery, or wrap it in several layers of foil to block the signal until you can.

If you feel unsafe, consider leaving the tracker active and in place until you've reached somewhere safe or contacted help — disabling it can alert whoever placed it. Your safety comes first.

Get help

If this isn't a forgotten tag — if you think someone may be deliberately stalking you — you're not overreacting, and you don't have to handle it alone:

•Coalition Against Stalkerware — survivor resources and guidance.
•US: National Domestic Violence Hotline — 1-800-799-7233 (or text START to 88788). Elsewhere, search your local domestic-violence or victim-support hotline.
•In immediate danger: contact local police / emergency services (911 in the US). Bring the tracker's serial number if you have it.

⚙ Settings #

Open Settings from the ⚙ on the main screen. Everything is optional and on-device:

•Connected-device signal — show live signal bars for already-paired devices (uses a little more battery).
•Tracking sound — the audible warmer/colder tone while hunting.
•Show unnamed devices — include devices that don't advertise a name.
•Remember across sessions — the on-device log that powers "following across contexts" (no identity, no raw location).
•Location-aware detection — opt-in coarse location for the safety scan only (never the finder).
•Detection sensitivity and background scanning (Off / Interval / Continuous — a timed check or a live scan).

FAQ #

Can blep find something across town?: No. It works within Bluetooth range — roughly a room, a floor, or a parking lot. It's not a GPS/cloud network like Find My; it guides you the last stretch by signal.
Does it need the internet or an account?: No accounts, no ads, no analytics, no internet. Your Bluetooth scans and motion sensing never leave the phone. See the privacy policy.
Why didn't it flag a tracker I know is there?: Give it a minute and move around — detection relies on seeing a device persist as you go. Try the Strict sensitivity. Some trackers only enter "separated" mode after they've been away from their owner for a while.
It flagged my own tag.: Tap It's mine on the alert — it won't bother you about that one again.
I got a tracker notification — now what?: Tapping it opens that device's panel directly. Suspected trackers are also highlighted in your device list (a pink wash) and stay pinned even when they go silent; if one turns out to be harmless, hit Dismiss on its panel to unmark it.
Is my phone supported?: Android and iPhone, plus companion apps for Apple Watch and Wear OS. blep is free and open source.