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rDetect supports Uniden R4, R8, and R9 radar detectors with Bluetooth enabled. The R8 is the primary tested device: 172 of the app's 182 known settings are mapped for it, and the built-in Highway, City and Stealth presets are R8-only. R4 and R9 support comes from shared protocol documentation, with about 75 settings mapped for the R4 and 68 for the R9 — settings we haven't mapped for your model simply don't appear. Make sure your detector's firmware is up to date for the best experience.

Uniden detectors don't pair through a pairing mode — rDetect finds them itself. Open Connect from the antenna icon in the Dashboard toolbar (the Connect row in the iPad sidebar) and tap Scan for Devices. If nothing appears after fifteen seconds the app offers Try Again. You don't need to quit other detector apps: rDetect finds your unit even when iOS has already connected it to another app, and recognises names like R8@E6, Uniden R8 and R8-E6.

Yes! rDetect communicates directly with your detector via Bluetooth. No internet connection is required for core functionality. iCloud sync is the only part that needs a connection, and it catches up on its own once you are back online.

First check the detector is connected — tap the antenna icon in the dashboard toolbar to open the Connect sheet. If it is connected and you're still hearing nothing, rDetect may be muting on purpose. Two things silence alerts out of the box: an auto-learned GPS lockout, which quietly mutes a K or X signal you've passed repeatedly at the same spot, and the Minimum Strength slider in Settings › Notifications, which defaults to 3. If you've turned any on, also check Settings › Auto-Mute Rules for Mute Below Speed, weak-signal suppression, per-band delays, rear K/X muting, the BSM filter and the ghost-vehicle filter. An alert rDetect has silenced shows as muted on your Apple Watch, and the Unmute button there lifts the suppression for that encounter.

Once connected, open Settings › Detector Settings. rDetect reads your detector's full configuration and groups it into categories; changing a control writes straight back over Bluetooth and confirms it against the detector's acknowledgement. Anything rDetect hasn't verified on your model is shown read-only with a warning symbol. rDetect doesn't poll in the background, so pull down to re-read after changing something on the detector itself.

Yes. rDetect includes a full Apple Watch companion app with real-time alerts, haptic feedback by band type, alert history, and mute controls. The Watch app requires watchOS 10.6 or later and a paired iPhone running rDetect; it receives alerts from the phone rather than connecting to the detector itself.

GPS lockouts automatically learn and suppress false alert locations (like automatic door openers). Encounters only count once per location per 24 hours, so several passes on one commute in an afternoon count as one — expect a spot to take two or three separate days to lock in. K and X learn out of the box; Ka is off by default. You can also create manual lockouts and export/import your lockout database.

No. iCloud sync uses your own private iCloud database to sync alert history, GPS lockouts, POIs, and settings profiles across your devices. It runs automatically whenever you are signed in to iCloud — there is no rDetect account and nothing to switch on. Trip history and GPS breadcrumb trails stay on the device. Nothing from iCloud sync reaches any third-party server.

Yes, with three exceptions. rDetect has no account and no cross-app tracking; alert history, lockouts, POIs and profiles sync automatically through your own private iCloud. Community camera and speed-limit lookups send your approximate position — rounded to about 110 m — to OpenStreetMap's public servers and are on by default; anonymized analytics are off unless you turn them on; and a diagnostic log is uploaded only when you tap Send. See our Privacy Policy for the full list.

rDetect requires iOS 17.0 or later for iPhone, iPadOS 17.0 or later for iPad, watchOS 10.6 or later for Apple Watch, and macOS 14.0 or later for rDetect for Mac. Home screen and Lock Screen widgets are included with the iPhone and iPad app.

POIs let you mark locations like speed traps, school zones, construction zones, cameras, plate readers, toll gantries, or any custom waypoint. rDetect alerts you with voice and visual warnings as you approach, and any POI can be told to speak only above a speed you choose. POIs sync automatically across your devices through your own private iCloud account.

The Analytics dashboard shows alert trends over time, breakdowns by band and time of day, corridor detection for frequently-alerted routes, and spatial pattern analysis. It is a sidebar section on iPad; on iPhone, tap the Alert Stats widget to open it, or use the Statistics screen behind the chart icon in Alert History.

Yes. GPS lockouts export and import in CSV, JSON, GPX and KML, and alert history exports in those same four formats from the alert map. POIs export and import as JSON. The Data Hygiene wizard helps identify and clean up duplicate or stale entries before you export.

The card dashboard is rDetect's default driving screen: a fixed four-zone stack — speed with the posted limit, the active alert, secondary threats, then the action buttons — so the band badge, radar scope and strength readout stay in the same place whether one bogey is up or three. During an alert the band and its measured frequency sit side by side at full size with a large strength-tinted arrow showing front, rear or side. It follows your iOS text size, and every band colour has a daylight variant so a windshield-mounted phone stays readable in bright sun. On iPad the HUD is a floating panel over the map you can drag to nine snap positions, resize, or swipe off the edge to stash.

Yes. rDetect for Mac is a companion app that lets you browse and edit lockouts and POIs, view alert history and analytics, manage settings profiles, and import/export data from your Mac. It does not connect to a detector itself — your iPhone does that, and the data reaches your Mac through your own private iCloud.

Yes. The Navigation tab plans a route and gives spoken turn-by-turn guidance with automatic rerouting. Before you set off, the route preview scans the corridor against your own alert history from the last 90 days and the community cameras loaded around you, and each alternate route carries its own threat rating so you can pick the quietest one.

Camera, enforcement-zone and posted-speed-limit data comes from OpenStreetMap's public Overpass servers. To fetch it, rDetect sends your approximate position — rounded to about 110 metres, with no name, account or device identifier — and nothing else. These lookups are on by default; you can switch them off, individually or entirely, in Settings › Community Data.

Radar detector legality varies by jurisdiction. It is your responsibility to understand and comply with local laws. rDetect does not encourage illegal use.