DroneSpotterAR Support

Why isn't the app finding any drones?

DroneSpotterAR receives Remote ID broadcasts over Bluetooth 5. A few common reasons you might not see any drones:

• No Remote ID-equipped drones are flying within range. Remote ID is a short-range signal — typical detection is well under 2 km, often closer.
• Bluetooth is turned off in iOS Control Center.
• DroneSpotterAR was denied Bluetooth access. Open Settings → DroneSpotterAR → Bluetoothand ensure it's enabled.
• Scanning is paused. Open the Remote ID tab and tap Start.

Why does my map not show range rings?

Range rings are drawn around your device's current GPS position. If you denied location access, the rings won't appear. Open Settings → DroneSpotterAR → Location and choose "While Using the App".

Why isn't AR view working?

AR view requires Camera and Motion & Orientation access (both prompted on first use), and a physical device with a rear camera and gyroscope. The iOS Simulator cannot run AR view. If you previously denied either permission, open Settings → DroneSpotterAR and re-enable them, then relaunch.

What does the red color mean?

DroneSpotterAR alerts on every detected drone. A red color — on the map icon, AR overlay tag, or drone list entry — means a drone broadcasting Remote ID is currently detected nearby.

What are the range rings?

The four dashed rings centered on your blue dot are at 0.5 km, 1.0 km, 1.5 km, and 2.0 km. They are a visual reference for how close a drone is.

What does "No GPS" mean on a drone?

The drone's broadcast did not include a valid GPS fix when it was received. The drone is detected but its position is unknown.

What does "Operator loc" or "Takeoff loc" mean?

Remote ID broadcasts can include the operator's current position or the takeoff position of the drone. When available, DroneSpotterAR draws a dashed orange line from the drone to that location on the map.

What does the AR view show?

A live camera feed from your device's rear camera. Floating tags identify each Remote ID drone with its serial number (or session ID), altitude, distance, speed, heading, and coordinates. Tags off-screen are indicated by arrows at the edge of the view.

How do I save what I see in AR?

The capture button (circle icon) takes a screenshot. The record button (red circle) starts and stops a screen recording. Both are saved directly to your iOS Photo Library.

Why didn't I get a notification when a drone was detected nearby?

• Background Notifications is off. Enable it on the Alerts tab.
• iOS denied notifications. Open Settings → DroneSpotterAR → Notifications and enable "Allow Notifications".
• The drone was already detected by the app within the last 60 seconds. To avoid spam, DroneSpotterAR cools down per-drone notifications for 60 seconds.
• The app was force-quit. Background scanning only works while the app is running in the background, not when fully terminated.

Does DroneSpotterAR send my data anywhere?

No. See the Privacy Policy for full details. DroneSpotterAR is fully on-device; the only network request is an anonymous map-tile authentication fetch.

What about the drone data I see — is that uploaded anywhere?

No. Drone Remote ID broadcasts are received on your device, parsed on your device, and shown to you. Nothing is uploaded.