A lot of people complain about their partners, family members, or random people tracking their moves with the help of secret tracking devices. This is an invasion of privacy that makes everyone uncomfortable.
With technology advancing so fast, it has become very easy now to put a tracking app on someone’s phone. But this can be quite the hassle for the person being tracked.
So, how to find hidden tracking apps on your phone? Don’t worry; there are a few ways for sure. You can easily identify these apps and get rid of them to protect your privacy.
How to Find Hidden Tracking Apps on Phone?
If you feel like you are being tracked, there are many ways to check your phone to see if you have any hidden GPS tracking apps on your phone.
Here are a few things that you need to look out for –
Look for Jail Breaking Apps
If you have an iOS, it’s going to be harder for someone to install a spying app on your phone. You can only download apps from the app store on your phone. A person has to jailbreak your phone to install any sketchy apps. Apple has quite a strict security.
It can be a bit tough to notice when your phone has gone through this process. A good way to find out or get a hint is by checking for jailbreaking apps such as Installer, Cydia, Installous or Icy.
If the person trying to track you is not a professional, there is a possibility that they have left the apps on your phone.
So, if you find these apps on your home screen but have not downloaded them yourselves, you can get a hint that someone has tried to tamper with your phone.
Check Your Phone Bills
Check your phone bills at the end of the month. The bill should have a section that shows you how much data you have used.
If this is too high, a tracking app might be installed on your phone. These tracking apps use GPS systems that use a lot of data.
So, if you notice a spike in your telephone bill, you need to check your phone for suspicious apps.
Check for Weird Messages
The remote controller from the app will sometimes send you peculiar messages on your phone. These are commands that help the app send back data about your location.
Check your inbox for messages that don’t really make sense. This could be a series of random numbers, letters, or characters.
So when you see these messages in your inbox, you need to give your phone a quick scan and look for any suspicious app folders.
Other Things That Indicate That You Have a Tracking Device Installed in Your Phone
Here are some other small changes that might occur in your phone once a spying or tracking app is installed.
Fast Battery Draining
Now, this is not a very clear indicator that something fishy has been done to your phone. Sometimes the battery health of a phone deteriorates on its own with time.
But if the change in battery percentage happens overnight, there might be something sketchy with your phone.
Let’s say your phone used to lose about 20% of its charge in an hour yesterday. But now you see that your phone is losing 30 to 40% charge in an hour today. This is a very drastic change.
You can give your phone a quick scan to see whether there are any suspicious apps in the folders.
Screen Keeps Lighting
Let’s say that you are not using your phone and so want to keep the screen off. No matter how often you push the power off button to shut the screen off, the screen keeps lighting up.
But you have no notification or calls coming in. The screen is just randomly lighting up. Then you might need to check the folders on your phone to see if these are any hidden apps.
Apps Running Slow
Sometimes these sketchy GPS tracking apps make all your other apps work slowly. If you notice a sudden change in the speed of your phone’s apps, there might be something fishy on your phone.
See if your antivirus software picks up anything. If it doesn’t, you can manually check for unknown folders in the apps section.
Unknown Apps Running in the Background
We often close all the apps that are running in the background of our phones. When doing so, you might have come across an app that you do not recognize.
Click on the app and check out what it is. If you did not download it, it could very easily be a tracking app. Sometimes tracking apps are disguised to look like normal apps that we use daily, like the calendar or calculator app. This is so that they cannot be caught.
But if an app looked different and was not installed by you, delete it immediately.
How to Remove Spying Apps
If you have found a tracking or spying app on your phone, here is what you need to do.
Firstly, you have to ensure that your antivirus software is updated. Then, go and check the folders on your phone for files that you do not recognize. You might also come across apk files of apps that you have not installed.
Once found, you have to delete the files and remove the app.
If you want to be extra safe, you can back up all the data you need to your computer or a cloud folder. Then you can reset your phone completely. This will get rid of any installed apps and files. After resetting your phone, you can add back the data you need from the cloud folder and download the apps you need.
If you are an iOS user and are sure that your phone has been jailbroken, you can upgrade to the latest version of iOS, and the problem will be fixed. In case you find a suspicious app, you will have to delete it as instructed above.
How to Prevent Getting Tracked Secretly?
Here are some things that you could do to prevent people from installing these apps on your phone in the first place.
Put in a Lock Code
For someone to put in a tracking app on your phone, they need to have direct access to your phone. You may be wondering how someone got access to your phone when you have it with you all the time.
The thing is, you might be on your phone all the time, but there are times when your phone is left unattended. This could be when you take a shower, cook, or even let someone borrow your phone.
It gives a person the opportunity to take your phone and install a secret tracking device in it.
Therefore, one of the main ways you can prevent people from putting in a tracking device on your phone is by adding a lock. Put in a pin code or a lock on your phone so that people don’t get access to it.
This is a proven way to prevent being tracked through apps on your phone.
Install an Antivirus
If you have an android, people will easily be able to install these spying apps on your phone. Therefore, if you want to protect your phone from being tracked, you need to download and install high-quality, high-performance antivirus software.
These apps will make installing spying software harder for a spy. The app might also be set to give you a notification if any suspicious apps are being installed on your phone.
Don’t Click on Suspicious Links
If someone sends you a message with a suspicious link, try not to click it. If the link does not look like it came from a trusted source, do not click it.
Sometimes the person trying to track you will send you links to downloading an app. You might not understand that the link is for downloading an app, but once you click on the link, the tracking app will automatically be installed on your phone.
Final Words
Being tracked against your will is never a good feeling. But sometimes, people go out of their way to try and track you.
With advances in technology, putting tracking devices in your phone has become too easy. But don’t worry; if you know how to find hidden tracking apps on your phone, you can easily get rid of these.
Just be sure not to give your phone to someone you do not trust. Also, put in a lock in your phone so that not everyone can get access to it!
If you reset your phone or just delete the files of the tracking app, you can set yourself free from being tracked very easily!
