A paid iPhone app designed to detect nearby smart glasses recently climbed to No. 3 among paid U.S. apps — an unusual sign that as AI-powered eyewear spreads, a market is emerging for technology designed to help people know when it may be around them.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
A $3 iPhone app called AntiZuck has gained attention for doing something few people would have expected to become a consumer need: detecting nearby smart glasses.
The app scans for Bluetooth signals associated with certain models of connected eyewear, including some glasses from Meta, Snap, RayNeo and Amazon.
It then displays detected devices on a radar-style interface and provides an estimated distance range.
The technology is far from perfect.
Detection depends on whether the glasses are actively broadcasting a recognizable Bluetooth signal, distance estimates can be imprecise, and the app cannot identify the person wearing the glasses or determine whether the camera is actually recording.
But the more interesting development may be the demand itself.
AntiZuck recently climbed to No. 3 among paid U.S. iPhone apps, suggesting that concern about increasingly discreet wearable cameras is beginning to produce a market of its own.
WHY IT MATTERS
Smartphones changed public recording, but they usually provide an obvious visual cue.
Someone has to pull out a phone and point it.
Smart glasses change that equation.
A camera can sit directly on someone’s face while the wearer appears to be looking normally at the world around them.
That creates a new visibility problem.
People may no longer know when a device capable of recording them is nearby.
AntiZuck is an early attempt to close that gap.
Its popularity suggests that as wearable AI becomes more common, consumers may increasingly want technology that tells them when those devices are present.
That could become especially important in environments where privacy expectations are higher — including gyms, locker rooms, spas, medical facilities, workplaces and schools.
WHO BENEFITS
Privacy-focused technology companies could benefit from an entirely new category of detection products.
Businesses and institutions may also gain tools for enforcing policies around recording devices in sensitive environments.
Consumers who are uncomfortable around wearable cameras could gain another layer of awareness.
Even smart-glasses manufacturers could ultimately benefit if better transparency and recording indicators help reduce public distrust.
WHO LOSES
Smart-glasses manufacturers could face resistance if consumers begin viewing wearable cameras as something they need protection from.
Businesses built around making smart glasses smaller, less noticeable and more seamlessly integrated into everyday life may encounter an uncomfortable tradeoff:
The more invisible the technology becomes, the more suspicious some people may become of it.
Wearers could also face increased scrutiny even when they are not recording anything.
Simply wearing smart glasses may eventually cause people nearby to wonder what the device is doing.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
AntiZuck itself may remain a niche tool.
But the category it represents could become much larger.
As Meta and other major technology companies push toward more capable AI glasses, expect growing demand for clearer recording indicators, stronger venue policies and better ways to identify connected wearable devices.
Detection technology could also improve.
Future systems may attempt to recognize a wider range of Bluetooth signatures, identify wearable-camera activity more accurately or integrate directly into security systems used by businesses and institutions.
That could create an entirely new technological dynamic:
AI wearables on one side — and technology designed to detect them on the other.
The smartphone made digital surveillance easier.
Smart glasses could make it harder to notice.
And the rise of apps like AntiZuck suggests consumers are already looking for ways to restore that visibility.
