How to check an Android phone for stalkerware

Before you change anything

Looking is different from changing. Opening Settings and reading lists does not remove anything. Turning off access, deactivating an admin app or uninstalling an app is a change, and it can be noticed. You can do the checks below, write down what you find, and decide later.

Signs worth checking

Stalkerware is software sold to secretly monitor another person’s phone. It usually needs special access, and Android shows that access in Settings. These signs are worth a closer look. None of them proves that a phone is being monitored, and a phone can be monitored with none of them.

• An app you do not recognise has accessibility access.
• An app you did not add is listed as a device admin app.
• An unfamiliar app can read your notifications.
• An app has no icon on your home screen or in the app drawer, but appears in Settings › Apps.
• An app came from outside an app store, and you did not install it.
• Your Google account shows a signed-in device you do not recognise.
• Someone knows things about your messages, location or photos that they had no other way to know.

Battery drain, heat and data use are listed on many sites, but they are weak signs with many everyday causes. Signs a phone may be monitored explains which signs matter more.

How to check without Applore

Menu names differ between phone makers and Android versions. If you cannot find a screen, use the search bar at the top of Settings and type the name in bold below.

Write down anything unfamiliar before you change it: the app name, the screen where you saw it, and the date. See keep a record of what you found.

How to check with Applore

Applore’s safety tools are free, run on your phone and show no ads. Before the first check, Applore asks for your consent to read the list of installed apps.

Each flagged app shows a level, using the app’s own words:

Known monitoring appHighWorth a lookNot flagged

A Known monitoring app matches the public list. High means strong warning signs. Worth a look means some signs, or a family or parental app from an app store. A Not flagged result does not prove that the phone is clean. How Applore’s check works explains each level and signal.

What a result means

If something is flagged

A flag means an app matched the known list or showed warning signs. It is a reason to look closer, not proof that someone is monitoring you. Many normal apps, such as password managers or apps you installed from a file yourself, share some signs.

• Read About this app and ask: do I recognise this app, and do I remember installing it and giving it this access?
• Look at the install date. Was that around a time someone else had the phone?
• If you installed it and trust it, you can mark it as trusted. Applore asks for your App Lock PIN or pattern first.
• If you do not recognise it, do not remove it yet. Keep a record first and read the steps below.

Applore reminds you about Known monitoring app and High results until you review them. The reminder never names the app on the lock screen.

If nothing is flagged

That is useful, but it is not the end of the check. New or unknown apps can be missed, and some access does not need an app at all. Someone who knows your Google account password, shares your location or has a linked messaging device can see information without anything installed. Work through the account items in Safety Check too, and trust your own sense of what has changed.

What Applore cannot do

Saving evidence and safe removal

When Applore flags an app, tap Remove to see five steps before anything is removed:

1. Are you safe to look at this now? With a Quick exit button.
2. Why not remove it right away? Removal can alert the installer and deletes evidence.
3. Save evidence. Create a report as a PDF and a data file. It is made on your phone, nothing is uploaded, and you choose where to send or save it.
4. Talk to someone. A link to support contacts.
5. Remove or trust the app. Confirm with your App Lock PIN or pattern, then Android asks you to uninstall the app. If you installed it yourself and trust it, you can mark it as trusted instead.

Before you remove a suspicious app explains each step. The privacy policy explains how the report is shared.

Get support

The Applore app includes support contacts for India, the United States and the United Kingdom, plus global options, such as the Coalition Against Stalkerware’s list of support organisations. If you live somewhere else, search for a domestic abuse helpline in your country. Support hotlines lists where to start. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency number.

More guides are on the safety hub.