DroneScoutIs there a drone over your house?
Most new drones broadcast who and where they are. With a free app, your phone shows you a drone flying near your home on a map — its height, its serial number and often where the pilot is standing.
Free to download. Optional Silver, Gold and Platinum subscriptions. · Last updated: 2026-10-10
See the drone on your phone
Since 2023–2024, the US, the EU, the UK, Japan, China and more countries require drones to broadcast Remote ID: a digital licence plate that the drone sends over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, once per second, for anyone nearby to receive. See Remote ID rules per region for where it's mandatory.
DroneScout turns your phone into a receiver for those broadcasts. Install it, allow Bluetooth and Location when it asks, and open the map. A broadcasting drone near your home shows up within a second or two, with:
- its position, live, and the track it has flown;
- its height above the take-off point, and its speed;
- its serial number, and in the EU and the UK the operator registration number;
- where the pilot is standing, or where the drone took off — in the US and the EU most drones must broadcast this;
- the drone's brand, recognised from its serial number.
All of this is free. Step by step: Detect your first drone.
Can you find out who is flying it?
Partly. The broadcast says which drone it is and where the pilot is, but not the pilot's name. In the EU and the UK, the operator registration number identifies the operator in the national register — but only the authorities can look up who is behind it. That's by design: Remote ID lets anyone see that a drone is identifiable, and lets the police and aviation authorities find out who flies it.
Where the pilot stands is often the most useful part: many "mystery drones" turn out to be a neighbour, a roofer inspecting a roof, or an estate agent filming a house.
Is it allowed to fly over your house?
That depends on your country. In many countries a drone may fly over private property as long as it follows the general rules — height limits, distance from people, no-fly zones. Filming or photographing you is usually covered by privacy law, which is separate from aviation rules. Your national aviation authority's website explains the local rules; DroneScout's Remote ID rules per region show which drones have to broadcast.
Keep a record if it happens again
If the same drone keeps coming back, a record helps when you report it:
- Flight history (Silver, Gold or Platinum) stores every drone DroneScout has seen, with its track, on your phone.
- A warning when a drone appears (Silver, Gold or Platinum): DroneScout keeps scanning in the background and notifies you, so you don't have to watch the map. See Keep scanning in the background.
- Labels and notes (Gold or Platinum): name a drone — "Mavic over the garden" — and DroneScout shows that name the next time it flies. See Label drones and add notes.
- Export the track to GPX, also in the free version: tap the share icon in the drone's details.
What to do — and what not to do
- Don't confront the pilot and don't try to bring the drone down, block it or jam it. In most countries interfering with an aircraft or its radio link is a criminal offence, whatever the drone is doing.
- Note the details the app shows: date and time, the drone's position and height, its serial number or operator ID, and where the pilot was.
- Report it to the police or your aviation authority if you think the drone is flying illegally or invading your privacy. The serial number and operator ID let them trace the owner.
Why you may not see the drone
DroneScout only sees drones that broadcast Remote ID. You won't see older drones without a Remote ID module, many small drones under 250 g, or a drone whose broadcast is switched off. DJI drones only broadcast once they're in the air, and only in a country where Remote ID is mandatory.
An iPhone receives only Bluetooth Legacy, which leaves out every DJI drone; many Android phones miss some signals too. DroneScout Bridge, a small receiver you place near your phone, receives every Remote ID signal and passes it to your phone — on iPhone and Android, up to about 2 km. More: Remote ID on iPhone and Why some drones show up late or with missing details.