How to find out if someone is spying on you?

How to find out if someone is spying on you?

Technology

Are you worried that all your activities are being watched? If so, this article will help you to find out if someone is spying on you or not and get rid of spy apps. Though all spy apps are hidden and track all device activities without your knowledge, it does give you some signs of being spied. Most spy software is used on children to know what they are doing on their phones, while some might be installed from phishing sites, unknown email links, and advertisements to steal your information.

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What do spy apps do to your phone?

Table of Contents

Online monitoring applications or spyware are used to get all your device reports from phone calls, messages, browser history to all social media applications. Everything you type on your device is easily detected through spy apps. Parents mostly use it, but some people with the wrong intentions might use it to know your private information, such as bank information, company credentials, images, and videos.

 

Spy applications record the phone calls and video calls, display all the chat messages of both parties, and a timestamp and call duration. These applications also display your current location and all the places you visited. Not only that it controls your camera and takes photos of your surroundings and you without your consent.

 

How to find out if someone is spying on you?

If you feel like your phone is being spied on or get signs of anything unusual with your phone, then definitely you are being spied. Here I have mentioned a few issues that your phone might face in case of being spied on.

 

Unusual battery drainage

Even if your phone is in idle mode, your phone drains a battery. All spyware apps run in the background, so it is always in working mode. It tends to decrease the battery power. It might not always be a spy app that drains your battery, so make sure that your battery is working properly.

 

Slow phone performance

High-end smartphones developed with the latest technology rarely show any sign of slow performance during daily use. When a spy app or spyware is running in the background continuously, it might slow down your mobile performance. Suppose your phone is lagging in between normal activities, performing slower than usual, or suddenly your memory is running out of space storage. In that case, there might be a chance that your device is infected with spyware or spy apps.

 

Unfamiliar applications, pop-ups, and text messages

During the installation process of apps, it creates related files and folders on your phone. It is another way to find out whether you are being spied on or not. Search for new folders created if you find any suspicious files, then your phone is spied. Pop-up ads and messages that redirect you to unusual web pages. Incoming text messages with codes and symbols may be another sign of spyware.

 

Unexpected reboots

If you are experiencing unexpected reboots or you didn’t manually reboot your device. It may be that someone has unauthorized access to your mobile phone. Or it could be some bug on your operating system. So, updating your device to the latest operating system might help to remove some spyware. On Android, you can install anti-virus software to find out any spyware on your device.

 

Increasing battery temperature in idle mode

Though increasing battery temperature can be a sign of various technical issues, it can also be because of spy applications running in the background.

Increased time in shutting down the phone

Smartphones are just like PC and laptops; they all terminate the programs running before shutting down the device. Spyware and spy apps might interfere with the device shut down process so that the device takes a long time than usual or won’t turn off properly.

Noises during phone calls

Spyware can record and monitor your phone calls. When installed on your phone to track calls, they will emit some noises during your phone conversation. If you ever hear such sounds or feel like a voice is not of a person you called, there is a probability your calls are being traced. Sometimes, such noise might be because of bad networks, but it is always best to never take a chance. So make sure to check for suspicious activity or spy apps.

Cell phone lights up on standby mode.

Unless it is messages and phone calls, your phone should not be lighting up or making noises in standby mode. Most people avoid such problems, but it could put you and your information at risk to third parties.

 

What can you do if you are being spied on?

If your device shows any of the above issues, probably someone might be monitoring and collecting all your information. Now that you know that your device is infected with spyware, all you need to do is remove them. Here is what you could do to remove spyware from your device.

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Remove the app manually

When you install an app, it creates an app file and folder on your device. If you find any files that you didn’t install, you could remove those apps manually. There are different ways to remove apps on Android and iOS.

For Android users

All the installed apps are stored in Application Manager; search and delete them. This process is similar for all Android phones.

  • Go to phone
  • Tap on Apps & notifications
  • Click on “See all apps”, “App Management.” After that, you will see all installed apps on the screen. Manually search for the files you didn’t install yourself or search by names like spy, stealth, trojan, and many more.
  • Delete all suspicious apps that you didn’t install.

However, all spy apps do not use their actual names; instead, they use a fake name such as Flexispy uses SyncManager, and mSpy uses UpdateService. You can also find some information online and be careful with what you delete. Alternatively, you can also block apps from installing from unknown sources in the Google Play store.

 

 

For iOS users

IOS devices are built differently from Android, and it is significantly hard to get infected with spyware and viruses. To install any app from other sources than the App Store, you need to jailbreak your device, which means it is quite difficult to install spy apps. However, Apple does allow some apps in their App Store that can be used as spyware. MobileSpy, Spyera and mSpy are spy apps that work without jailbreaking your device. You can change your iCloud password if you’re afraid that someone has installed spyware on your iOS device. In most cases, changing the iCloud password stops the app’s monitoring. To remove apps manually by following the steps listed below:

  • Go to your phone’s Settings
  • Scroll down to view the General and tap on iPhone Storage
  • View all installed apps or Search for any spy apps like mSpy, Spy phone tracker.
  • To remove them, tap on Delete App.

 

Factory reset

Factory reset is the last option to remove all third-party apps from your Android and iPhones. It will delete everything from your phone, including your data, and restore it to its default settings. Before resetting your mobile phone, make sure to backup all your important data and files.

Factory reset on Android

  • Go to the phone’s Settings and select System.
  • Now, tap on Reset Options.
  • Select Erase all data (factory reset), or Factory reset Data; options names might vary depending on your phone.
  • Click on RESET PHONE. Now, all your apps and data are erased.

Factory reset on iOS.

There are two different methods to factory reset your iOS device.

  • The first method is to reset through Settings. Open phone Settings and go to General to select the Reset option. Now, select Erase all contents and settings; you will require to enter your device passcode to reset.
  • The second method is via iTunes. Connect your iOS device to a computer. Open the iTunes app and click on Restore iPhone. It can restore data from a backup that removes all unauthorized apps, but some authorized parental control apps may remain.

Conclusion

In general, most of the time, people have no idea that someone is spying on them. Figuring out spy apps on your device is not an easy task. Some spy apps need physical access to your device, while some might be installed through phishing sites, pop-up ads, corrupted messages. So it is better to take precautions to prevent spyware apps from being installed.

 

If you ever find out your phone shows any of the signs mentioned earlier, someone might be spying on you. So, we recommend you use spyware remove tools or manually remove spy apps from your Android or iOS smartphone.

 

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Author: Simon RobertEasyInfoBlog is a multi-author blog. We have experts and professionals in various fields who share their ideas and expert knowledge to help you with your daily information needs. Thanks for reading!

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