# Nearby Glasses

18 Hacker News commenters recommended Nearby Glasses and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free open-source Android app that detects nearby Meta glasses, with no trackers. Common caveat: reports of freezing and a Start Scanning button that does nothing.

## Why people recommend it

- Free and open source (4 comments): "a hand coded, opensource equivalent with no trackers or in-app purchases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49798211)) "the same thing that's open source and existed for a while" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49786068)) "cross platform open source and free" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49732298))
- Better data safety than alternatives (3 comments): "Thank you for pointing us to the better alternative." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49735034)) "Nearby Glasses wins from a data safety perspective." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49786891)) "probably less sketchy app" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49786440))
- Detects Meta glasses (2 comments): "a lovingly hand coded tool to detect Meta glasses" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49786174)) "Nearby Glasses on Play Store does this" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48405228))
- Hand coded, not AI-generated (2 comments): "a hand coded, opensource equivalent with no trackers or in-app purchases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49798211)) "a lovingly hand coded tool to detect Meta glasses" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49786174))

## What people warn about

- Freezes or fails to start (2 comments): "When I first granted permission the app seemed to just lock up and wouldn't do anything until I restarted it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47149876)) "I'm having the same problem on a Pixel 7" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47144677))

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Nearby Glasses", https://hackerapproved.com/p/nearby-glasses/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).