Straight answers, including the awkward ones

DeepFind Hunter is a mobile companion app for metal detecting and related hobbies. It gives you a terrain map you can read, a hunt recorder that logs your track by GPS, a library of real detector models, a find log with statistics, guidance from a hunt coach, and a community feed. It is a planning and record-keeping tool — it does not detect metal and it does not grant you permission to search anywhere.

Metal detecting is the core. There are also dedicated Magnet Fishing and Gold Prospecting modes, both labeled Beta, each with their own guidance content and safety cards, and magnet finds get their own categories in your find log and on your map.

Not for the parts that matter in the field. Hunt-session recording runs on-device and keeps recording with no connection, then reconciles with your account when you reconnect. The Hunt Coach answers from a guidance library stored on your device. You can download map regions ahead of time for offline use. AI LiDAR Analysis needs a connection and a configured provider. Find Photo ID and Conditions — Weather & Tides are Coming Soon — not included in the current Android beta.

Yes, there is a real Free tier at $0 with no card required, and it does not expire. Free includes the Treasure Map, the basic detector library, up to 3 saved locations, and up to 10 find log entries. Pro adds unlimited entries and locations, the full detector library, full statistics with CSV export, and the Pro research tools.

No. DeepFind Hunter is in closed beta and there is no public App Store or Google Play listing yet. The store badges on this site are not links for that reason.

Not yet. The Android app passes its full automated test suite in our build environment, but a distributable release build has not been produced yet, so no tester has installed it. We are not going to describe a build as available to testers before it actually is. Join the invite list on the beta page and you will hear from us when there is something to install.

We are not giving a date. Publishing a launch date we cannot stand behind is exactly the kind of claim this site is built to avoid. The honest answer is that it launches when the closed beta has run on real devices and the remaining external dependencies — store listings, map keys, and provider accounts — are in place.

The app is built cross-platform from one codebase, and Android is the platform we are preparing for the closed beta first. iOS is part of the same build but has not been through beta preparation, so treat iOS as unconfirmed until we say otherwise.

Tell us about your detecting and the device you would test on via the beta page. We are looking for testers who will actually take the app into the field and tell us what breaks. Places are limited and we prioritise a spread of devices and terrain.

Live means the feature is built into the app, reachable in normal use, covered by automated tests, and able to work without waiting on an outside provider. Beta means it is present but not finished in practice — it may be waiting on a configured provider or real-device validation. Where a feature cannot produce a result yet, the app says so rather than guessing. Coming Soon means the feature is not included in the current Android beta.

Pro is $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year. Annual works out cheaper than twelve monthly payments. Prices are in US dollars.

Yes — a one-time 30-day Pro trial. It is one trial per account, not one per billing period.

Up to 3 saved locations and up to 10 find log entries, plus the basic detector library. Pro removes both caps and unlocks the full library, custom detector profiles, full statistics with CSV export, and the Pro research tools.

Subscriptions are handled by the app store on the device you subscribe from, and you cancel there too — in your store account settings, not in the app. We do not sell subscriptions through this website and there is no web checkout.

Your account and your logged finds stay yours. What changes is access: Pro-only surfaces stop being available and the Free caps apply again to new entries and locations. We do not delete your history because a subscription ended.

No. Marketplace is Coming Soon — not included in the current Android beta.

Five working layers ship in the app: a standard worldwide OpenStreetMap base, three public-domain USGS layers (shaded relief, imagery with topographic detail, and topo), and Esri World Hillshade as the worldwide terrain fallback. Full attribution is on our Data Sources page.

Partly. The three USGS layers are United States only, because that is the extent of the source data. Outside the US you get the OpenStreetMap base worldwide plus Esri World Hillshade for terrain shading. That is a genuine limitation of the underlying public data, not a paywall.

Historical map overlays and parcel boundaries are Coming Soon — not included in the current Android beta. Production builds hide both placeholders until they have real data sources.

No. There is no parcel data provider connected, so the app cannot look up ownership and can never tell you a specific spot is legal to search. Permission and access details in the app are records you type in yourself so you are not relying on memory. Establishing who owns the ground and whether you may search it is always your responsibility.

It examines public-domain USGS bare-earth elevation data for terrain anomalies — possible cellar holes, foundations, ditches, old roads, disturbed ground — and flags them for you to investigate on the ground.

Because it runs as a server-side pipeline that has to be deployed and configured before it can return anything. Until that is done the feature reports that analysis is unavailable rather than inventing findings. Coverage is also limited to areas with USGS 3DEP elevation data, which in practice means the United States.

Because that is all elevation data can honestly support. A LiDAR anomaly is a shape in the ground surface. It might be a cellar hole; it might be a tree throw, a drainage cut, or a bulldozer from 1974. Labeling a candidate "confirmed" would be a lie dressed up as a feature. Where USGS has no data you get an honest "no LiDAR coverage here" instead of a guess.

No. It is a research aid for deciding where to spend your time. It is not evidence of buried objects, it is not an archaeological assessment, and it is not legal advice about whether you may dig.

You download map regions before you head out and the map keeps working without a connection. You manage and delete your downloaded regions yourself. Region size is capped per download, and the largest caps sit behind a higher plan than the Free and Pro tiers offered during this beta. Cached tiles stay subject to the terms of whoever publishes them.

Accuracy depends on your device, your view of the sky, and the conditions. Treat a recorded track as a good approximation of where you walked, not a survey. Recording works fully offline and syncs when a connection returns, so a dead zone costs you nothing.

No. Hunt-session recording, the map, pin-drop find logging, and session review are available on Free. Pro removes the caps on how much you can save and adds the research tools and full statistics.

A convenience control on the map screen for getting help quickly while you are out. It is not a substitute for calling emergency services and it is not a monitored service. In a real emergency, call your local emergency number.

A photograph, a category, depth in your preferred units, the date, the GPS location, and your own value estimate. Find Stats then builds a picture over time: category breakdown, a timeline, your most-used detector, and your best find. Pro exports the whole log to CSV.

No. Every value figure in the app is one you typed in yourself, for your own records. Nothing in DeepFind Hunter is an appraisal, an authentication, or a valuation by us. For anything you think might be significant or valuable, get a qualified opinion.

It is a curated set of real, published models from makers including Minelab, Garrett, Nokta, and Fisher, and it grows over time. It is not an index of every detector ever made. Free includes the basic library; Pro unlocks the full library and custom profiles.

Not in the current build. The coach answers from a guidance library built into the app, combined with your own logged finds and selected detector. That is why it works with no signal. Treat it as a knowledgeable checklist rather than an open-ended assistant — it will not answer questions outside its subject.

No. Find Photo ID is Coming Soon — not included in the current Android beta. If introduced later, any suggestion will be a research starting point, never an appraisal or authentication.

No. Conditions — Weather & Tides is Coming Soon — not included in the current Android beta.

No. Check a trusted local forecast and an official tide table before any water, beach, or coastal hunt. A future Conditions feature will be a planning aid, never a safety authority.

Both modes, their guidance content, and their find categories are implemented and covered by automated tests, but neither has completed validation on real devices in the field. Until it has, Beta is the honest label.

Real ones. Magnet fishing pulls up unexploded ordnance, weapons, and sharp or contaminated metal. If you raise something that looks dangerous, do not move it: leave the area and contact local authorities. The app pins a dangerous-find safety card ahead of any other guidance for this reason. Also check the rules for the water you are fishing — many waterways and canals require permission.

No. The prospecting coach is general, deterministic, offline guidance. There is no live geology or mining-claim data source connected, so it cannot tell you whether a specific spot is claimed, permitted, or legal to work. Verifying claims, permits, and access is always yours to do. Prospecting sites can also hide abandoned mine workings and mercury contamination.

A feed where you post finds, Find of the Day, a club directory you can search by region, and a progress system with XP, weekly challenges, and achievements. Report and block controls are available on posts and users.

Because it is a closed beta and early testers are the first people in it. The feed and the club directory are filled by people, not by us seeding them with invented content.

Share the find, not the coordinates. Anything you post is visible to other users, and publishing the precise location of a sensitive, protected, or productive historic site is how sites get stripped. Sensitive locations should stay in your private log.

No. Marketplace is Coming Soon — not included in the current Android beta.

Your find log, your saved locations, and your research notes are scoped to your account and are not public. Only what you deliberately post to the community feed is visible to other users.

Yes. You can request account and data deletion from within the app, and you can also email us to have it done. Our Privacy Policy sets out what we store, why, and how long for.

No. We do not sell your personal data or your find locations.

Location is used for the map, for pin-drop find logging, and for recording a hunt session while you are recording one. It is not there to build a profile of your movements.

No. Nothing in the app grants access to any land. Get the landowner's consent before you set foot on private ground — written is far better than verbal — and check the specific rules for any public land. Many parks, beaches, and reserves restrict or forbid detecting outright, and some places require a permit.

Stop, leave it exactly where it is, and contact the appropriate authority or heritage body. Archaeological and historic sites, war graves, and human remains are protected by law in most places. Some jurisdictions also require finds of a certain age or type to be reported. Report, never dig.

No. Nothing on this site or in the app is legal, archaeological, or safety advice. Laws vary enormously between countries, states, and even individual parks, and they change. Checking what applies where you are standing is on you.

Water and tides, night hunting, uneven and unstable ground, buried utilities, and sharp or contaminated metal. Magnet fishing can raise unexploded ordnance. Prospecting sites can hide mine workings and mercury. Tell someone where you are going, and do not treat any planning feature in the app as a substitute for a trusted local forecast, a tide table, or emergency services.

Email us — the address is on the support page and in the footer of every page. Tell us your device, your OS version, and what you were doing when it went wrong; that is what makes a report actionable.

The Data Sources page lists every map and elevation source with its attribution and coverage. The Features page carries the Live and Beta status of every current feature with the limits spelled out, and lists excluded future features as Coming Soon.

Tell us and we will correct it. This site is written to describe what the app actually does today, and a wrong claim is a bug like any other.