Needs your review: a free check for known stalkerware
A free stalkerware check for Android. Needs your review compares the apps on your phone with a reviewed list of known stalkerware and flags apps that behave like hidden monitoring apps. It runs on your phone, shows no ads, and tells you what it cannot see.
Free on Google Play · Android 8.0 and up
What Needs your review does
Needs your review is Applore’s free stalkerware check for Android. It looks at the apps installed on your phone in two ways.
- It checks for known stalkerware. Applore compares each app’s package name and signing certificate with a bundled, reviewed list of known stalkerware indicators from Echap, licensed under CC BY 4.0. The list is updated with app releases.
- It flags apps that behave like hidden monitoring apps. An app installed from outside an app store that hides its icon, or that has accessibility, notification or device admin access, is flagged for your review. A name that looks like a system app counts as a warning sign too.
- It keeps monitoring apps separate from stalkerware. Family, parental control and employee tracking apps from an app store are labelled monitoring apps, not spyware.
- It shows why an app was flagged. Each flagged app has a plain-language explanation: what it can see or do, where it came from, when it was installed and whether it is hidden.
- It keeps a separate list of apps removed from Google Play. Apps removed for policy reasons, such as adware or fraud, appear under Removed from Play. That list is not a spyware check and does not count towards Needs your review.
What the levels mean
Each flagged app gets one of these warning levels. They describe how strong the signs are, not what an app has actually done.
- Known monitoring app The app matches a known stalkerware app on the indicator list, by package name or signing certificate. This is the strongest sign.
- High The app was installed from outside an app store and shows strong monitoring signs, such as a hidden icon or powerful access.
- Worth a look The app shows some signs worth checking. Remote access, automation and call recording tools can look like this too.
- Not flagged Applore found no warning signs for the app.
A Not flagged result does not prove the phone is clean. No single sign proves an app is spying, and you know best who has had access to your phone. If you installed a flagged app yourself and trust it, you can mark it as trusted.
How it works
- The first time you open Applore, a consent screen explains what the check reads. Applore does not read your app list until you allow it.
- Open Needs your review from the Security section of the Home screen.
- Applore reads information about each installed app on your phone: who installed it, whether its icon is hidden, which special access it has, the permissions it asks for and its signing certificate.
- It compares that information with the indicator list and scores the warning signs. Nothing is sent off the phone for this.
- Review each flagged app. Open the details to see why it was flagged, then decide what to do.
Applore also checks again on a schedule. If it finds something serious, it reminds you later, and again, until you review it. The alert on the lock screen never names the app.
The check relies on one special permission that Google Play reviews: the ability to see all installed apps. It needs it because stalkerware tries to hide from ordinary app lists. The permissions page explains every permission Applore uses.
What Applore cannot see
This is also why Applore does not claim to protect your phone or block anything. It is a check that flags apps for your review. Read how detection works for the full explanation.
What stays on your phone
The check runs on your phone against a bundled indicator list, so your apps are never looked up online. Findings and the apps you mark as trusted stay on the device, and neither your list of apps nor the results go to analytics or advertising services. One separate feature works differently: App Category sends package names to Applore’s server, and only when you open it. See what stays on your phone and the privacy policy.
Safe removal and evidence
When you tap Remove on a flagged app, Applore walks you through five steps: check that you are safe to look now, understand why removing it at once can alert the installer, save a report as a PDF and a data file on the phone, open the support hotlines, and finally remove or trust the app after confirming with your App Lock PIN or pattern. Nothing is uploaded: you choose where the report goes through Android’s share sheet.
Our guide before you remove a suspicious app goes through each step in more detail.
Free and Pro
Needs your review is free in Applore Free and Applore Pro, and the safety screens show no ads in either. Applore Free shows ads outside the safety screens. Compare Free and Pro.
Good to know
- The check looks at apps. It does not read your messages, and it cannot see what an app has done.
- Many normal apps are installed from outside an app store or use accessibility access. A flag is a reason to look, not proof.
- Someone who changed settings on your phone may not have installed an app at all. Safety Check helps you review accounts and settings too.
- Applore’s safety screens are hidden from screenshots and the Recents preview.
- If you want to know what a term means, the glossary explains stalkerware. All our safety guides are in phone safety guides.
Questions
Does Applore find every spy app?
No. Applore checks installed apps against a list of known stalkerware and looks for warning signs, such as a hidden icon combined with accessibility or notification access. New or unknown apps, apps in a work profile and tools that need a rooted phone may not be detected. A result that finds nothing does not prove the phone is clean, so treat it as one check among several. How detection works.
What does the Needs your review check look at?
Applore looks for known stalkerware and hidden monitoring apps, and for warning signs such as a hidden app icon or access to your notifications, accessibility or screen. It cannot detect every monitoring app, so review anything it flags. How detection works.
Why is a parental control app labelled a monitoring app?
Family, parental control and employee tracking apps can be installed openly and for good reasons, but they can also be misused. When Applore matches one from an app store, it calls it a monitoring app and lists it separately, rather than calling it spyware. If you or your employer installed it knowingly, you can mark it as trusted. Monitoring apps and stalkerware.
Does the check send my list of apps anywhere?
No. The check runs on your phone, and findings and your trust list are stored only on the device. The list of installed apps is not sent to analytics or advertisers. One separate feature, App Category, sends app package names to Applore's server to sort apps into categories, and only when you open it. Privacy policy.
What should I do if an app is flagged?
Take your time. Removing a monitoring app can alert the person who installed it, so think about your safety first. Tap Remove to see five steps: check you are safe to look now, why not to remove it straight away, save a report, talk to someone, then remove or trust the app. Before you remove a suspicious app.
Sources
- Stalkerware indicators, Echap. Checked 2026-09-15.
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), Creative Commons. Checked 2026-09-15.
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