What it finds · Certain

🚁Drone detector for Android: Remote ID decoded on your phone

Any aircraft broadcasting Remote ID, decoded in full: altitude, speed, heading, and where the operator is standing.

Remote ID is the drone telling the world where it is. Wavelens decodes the standard directly from the Bluetooth or Wi-Fi beacon, so the card shows the aircraft's and the pilot's distance from you, live.

What it is

An unmanned aircraft, or its controller, broadcasting Remote ID: a standard beacon that carries the aircraft's identity, position, altitude and often the operator's location.

Who uses it

Hobbyists, commercial operators (inspection, survey, delivery, filming) and public agencies. Most countries now require Remote ID for most drones.

What it can see

Depends on the payload. Many carry a camera; some carry sensors. The Remote ID beacon itself is a public disclosure, by design.

What it can't do

The beacon cannot see you; it is the drone telling the world where it is. A drone without Remote ID is not detected by this method.

How Wavelens finds it

ASTM F3411 Remote ID messages decoded from Bluetooth advertisements (legacy and long-range extended) and Wi-Fi beacons — plus Wi-Fi Aware (NAN) when you turn it on under Setup → Radios: UAS ID, aircraft type, position, altitude, speed, heading and operator location, accumulated across packets. A frame that arrives cut off still marks the drone, as a partial frame.

What to do when you see one

The card shows the aircraft's and operator's distance from you. Nothing is required; the data is broadcast so that bystanders can see it.

Phone or companion?

The phone alone detects this over its own Bluetooth and Wi-Fi; no extra hardware is needed. A Spotter companion ($64, ESP32) on the dash hears further and can park on single Wi-Fi channels a phone only visits briefly. Full Spectrum ($499, a Raspberry Pi with RTL-SDRs plus a Spotter) adds sub-GHz sensors and radio, which this kind does not need.

Questions

Can my phone detect drones nearby?

It can detect drones that broadcast Remote ID over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, which most drones sold today do because most countries now require it. Wavelens decodes those broadcasts on the phone and shows the aircraft and the operator on the card, with their distance from you.

Will it detect a drone without Remote ID?

No. Wavelens does not use radar, cameras or acoustic detection, and it does not identify drones from their control link. A drone that is not broadcasting Remote ID is not detected by this method.

Does every Android phone hear every Remote ID broadcast?

Not always. Standard Bluetooth Remote ID works on any phone. The long-range Bluetooth variant needs a phone whose Bluetooth supports LE Coded PHY, and Wi-Fi NAN broadcasts need Wi-Fi Aware support, which varies by model. A Spotter companion listens on Wi-Fi channels a phone does not scan continuously.

Is it legal to read Remote ID?

Remote ID exists so that people on the ground can see who is flying overhead; the broadcast is public by design. Wavelens only receives it and never transmits to the aircraft.

Related: What a phone can detect, and what needs an SDR

Classification is a best-effort guess from public signature data. Check before you act on it. None of this is a claim about who owns a device, why it is there, or whether it is lawful.

Where this comes from

• ASTM F3411 Remote ID standard; Open Drone ID reference implementation
• Bluetooth SIG / ASD-STAN EN 4709-002 service data format

Other kinds

• 🏷 Item trackers
• 📷 Plate readers
• 🎥 Body cams
• 📱 Following you
• 🎙 Acoustic sensors
• 🛠 RF and pentest tools
• 🚦 Traffic sensors
• 🚌 Fleet vehicles
• 📹 Cameras and doorbells
• 🚗 Vehicles
• 📞 Phones
• ⌚ Wearables

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