Mochi NetProbe
NetProbe scans the network you're joined to and tells you what's on it. If something isn't working, or a result doesn't look right, there's a real person at the other end of the email link below.
It asked for permission to find devices on my local network.
That prompt is iOS asking on the app's behalf, and NetProbe cannot scan without it — finding local devices is the entire app. If you said no by accident, turn it back on in Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network → NetProbe. Nothing about that permission gives the app access to the internet or to your files.
A device I know is connected doesn't appear.
Usually one of three things. Phones and laptops sleep their Wi-Fi radios and genuinely stop answering — wake the device and scan again. Some devices are configured to ignore ping, which is why NetProbe also tries TCP, Bonjour and UPnP, but a device that answers none of those is invisible to any scanner. And some networks (most guest Wi-Fi, many hotels) deliberately isolate clients from each other, in which case nothing but the router will ever show up.
Why does it say "Local network" instead of my Wi-Fi name?
Reading the Wi-Fi network name is gated by Apple behind an entitlement and location access. Where it isn't available, NetProbe labels the network by its address range instead. Everything else works exactly the same — scan history is still kept per network, so "new device" still means new here.
A device shows a manufacturer that seems wrong.
The manufacturer comes from the hardware address, which identifies who registered the chip — not necessarily whose logo is on the box. A smart plug may report the maker of its wireless module. Separately, iPhones, iPads and modern Android phones deliberately randomise their hardware address for privacy; NetProbe detects that and says so rather than inventing a vendor.
What do "declared", "likely" and "possible" mean?
How much to trust a finding. Declared means the service named itself — it literally said "nginx" in its response. Likely means it was inferred from a side effect, like a session cookie that only one framework sets. Possible means a hint in the page content. Tap any finding to see the exact text it came from.
The scan is slow, or seems to miss things on a big network.
Wi-Fi drops probes when it's flooded, so scanning faster can find fewer devices, not more. If results look thin, try lowering Concurrency in Settings rather than raising it. On a network larger than a /24, NetProbe narrows to the range around your own address and says so — use a custom range to look elsewhere.
Is it safe to run this? Will it break anything?
It opens ordinary connections and reads what comes back, which is what every browser and printer driver on your network already does. It doesn't log in, doesn't send passwords, and doesn't change any setting on any device. Scan networks you're responsible for.
Can it kick a device off my network?
No, and no iOS app can — that has to happen on the router. NetProbe tells you what's there so you can go and do something about it; blocking is your router's job.
Email hello@ptk-studio.com — tell us your iPhone model and iOS version if something is broken, and roughly what the device is that isn't being identified properly. That's usually enough for us to work out why.
There's also a feedback page if you'd rather start there.
Short version: your scan results and the names you give devices never leave your phone, and the app sends us nothing at all. The full detail is in the privacy policy.