Nearby Glasses
Hacker ApprovedSmart glasses detector in Privacy & security
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.
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.
25 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 18
- criticize it
- 7
- approval share
- 72%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 18 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Free and open source
“a hand coded, opensource equivalent with no trackers or in-app purchases”
Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “ZuckOff Know when a camera is in the room” “the same thing that's open source and existed for a while”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “ZuckOff is a free app that sees Meta glasses before they see you” “cross platform open source and free”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “ZuckOff Is a Free App That Sees Meta Glasses Before They See You” - Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “ZuckOff is a free app that sees Meta glasses before they see you”
Better data safety than alternatives
“Thank you for pointing us to the better alternative.”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “ZuckOff Is a Free App That Sees Meta Glasses Before They See You” “Nearby Glasses wins from a data safety perspective.”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “ZuckOff is a free app that sees Meta glasses before they see you” “probably less sketchy app”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “ZuckOff is a free app that sees Meta glasses before they see you” Detects Meta glasses
“a lovingly hand coded tool to detect Meta glasses”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “ZuckOff is a free app that sees Meta glasses before they see you” “Nearby Glasses on Play Store does this”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Meta's ships facial recognition on smart glasses” Hand coded, not AI-generated
“a hand coded, opensource equivalent with no trackers or in-app purchases”
Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “ZuckOff Know when a camera is in the room” “a lovingly hand coded tool to detect Meta glasses”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “ZuckOff is a free app that sees Meta glasses before they see you”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Freezes or fails to start
“When I first granted permission the app seemed to just lock up and wouldn't do anything until I restarted it.”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Nearby Glasses” “I'm having the same problem on a Pixel 7”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “Nearby Glasses”
What people said
24 of the 25 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“a hand coded, opensource equivalent with no trackers or in-app purchases”
“A non-slop and non-freemium variant”
“Nearby Glasses wins from a data safety perspective.”
“They don't have a clue that there might be already better solution.”
“probably less sketchy app”
“nobody says yj_nearbyclasses or "Nearby Glasses"”
“a lovingly hand coded tool to detect Meta glasses”
“the same thing that's open source and existed for a while”
“Thank you for pointing us to the better alternative.”
“cross platform open source and free”
“I think that would be very valuable indeed.”
“Nearby Glasses on Play Store does this”
“Never managed to make it work in background.”
“I really should start keepin running this all the time”
“Maybe the app doesn't work, but at least no humans wrote it”
“using a Google Pixel 8 I have exactly the same issues”
“When I first granted permission the app seemed to just lock up and wouldn't do anything until I restarted it.”
“Quality is iffy and framing is hard, but I'd rather have a OK photo taken while playing”
“It's great because your hands are free and you can remain an active participant in play/safety/feeding.”
“I'm having the same problem on a Pixel 7”
“They are great just for that and many instances you want to quickly take a pic and not interupt a moment.”
“On my Pixel 9 this overlaps the status bar, and can't be clicked.”
“This is really neat, I gotta find an android device to try it.”
“the Start Scanning button does nothing”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.