Fieldwatch

# Fieldwatch

I built Fieldwatch as a personal tool to see which Wi-Fi access points and Bluetooth LE devices my phone could detect, so I could better understand what was operating around me. It is entirely passive and only listens. There is no dongle, no account, and no backend server. It works offline in the field.

My goals were a modern, easy-to-use interface; flexible, customizable views; a filtering engine so I only see what matters; an extensible signature library so I can identify as many radio sources as possible and add new ones on the fly; and the ability to generate reports of what was observed.

I have been using it and iterating on it for a while now, and it has been useful enough that I thought I would share it.

This is a hobby — something I do for fun in my spare time. There is no Fieldwatch backend. There are no ads. Everything lives on the phone. Source and sideload files are in this repository (`dist/` for the APK, instruction card, and manual).

If you spot an error, something stupid, or have a feature idea — in the app or the documentation — please [open an issue on this repository](https://github.com/OffGridPete/Fieldwatch/issues). This is how we make it better. I hope you find it as useful as I have. I look forward to hearing how it goes.

**Just want to install it?** Download [Fieldwatch.apk](https://github.com/OffGridPete/Fieldwatch/raw/main/dist/Fieldwatch.apk). Instruction card and manual: [instruction.txt](https://github.com/OffGridPete/Fieldwatch/raw/main/dist/instruction.txt), [Fieldwatch_User_Manual.pdf](https://github.com/OffGridPete/Fieldwatch/raw/main/dist/Fieldwatch_User_Manual.pdf). [What’s new](CHANGELOG.md) is the changelog for each build. Leave the APK named `Fieldwatch.apk`. GitHub may say the file is too big to preview — that is their viewer; use Download.

There is a lot of functionality in Fieldwatch. I wrote a comprehensive user guide, and I encourage you to [download it](https://github.com/OffGridPete/Fieldwatch/raw/main/dist/Fieldwatch_User_Manual.pdf) so you can get the most out of the app.

**Stay updated.** Fieldwatch isn't on the Play Store. Once it is installed, opening the app while the phone is online checks GitHub for a newer build. If there is one, Fieldwatch shows the release notes. Update now downloads it. Android still asks you to confirm the install. Later sets that build aside until a newer one is published. Settings has Check for an update if you want to look yourself. [Obtainium](https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium) can still watch https://github.com/OffGridPete/Fieldwatch.

**Official builds.** The only official Fieldwatch builds are the releases in this repo. Other builds and translations are not made or reviewed by Off Grid Pete LLC.

## On the phone

<table>
  <tr>
    <td align="center" valign="top" width="33%">
      <img src="docs/readme/signatures.png" width="200" alt="Signature library grouped by class">
      <br><strong>Signatures</strong>
      <br>More than 250 signatur