btscan

A minimal Bluetooth Low Energy scanner for macOS

What is this?

btscan is a small Python command-line app that scans the air for nearby Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices — phones, earbuds, watches, trackers, speakers — and reports what they are: manufacturer, a best-effort type guess, an estimated distance, and raw signal details. Radio range is roughly 25–30 yards.

Usage

python3 app.py                 # one ~10s scan, prints a table, exits
python3 app.py --watch         # live-updating table until Ctrl+C
python3 app.py --every 15      # a scan every 15 minutes until Ctrl+C
python3 app.py --radius 15     # only devices within ~15 yd (10/15/20/25)
python3 app.py --export        # also write the scan to scan.json (feeds this page)

Honest caveats

BLE only — very old classic-Bluetooth-only gear won't appear.
Distances are estimated from signal strength and can be off by several yards; walls and bodies make devices look farther away.
Most devices randomize their addresses, so the same phone can appear under different addresses across scans.
Device names are never included in published results, for privacy.

Latest published scan

Loading scan results…

Publishing a new scan

cd btscan && python3 app.py --export
git add btscan/scan.json
git commit -m "data: update published scan" && git push

Or keep this page current automatically — ./publish.sh 15 scans, exports, and pushes every 15 minutes until stopped.

This page shows a pushed snapshot, not live data.