Prey gives you peace of mind by helping you track and locate your laptop, mobile phone, and tablet if they are ever stolen or missing. This powerful, lightweight, and open-source software provides complete remote control over all your devices from a single, convenient platform, 24/7.
The software allows you to quickly identify the culprit (via webcam photos), monitor their device activity (through screenshots), and track their exact location using GPS or Wi-Fi geopositioning. This empowers effective device recovery.
Here's how it functions: You'll install a small agent on your PC or mobile phone. After entering a dormant state, it activates upon receiving a remote signal to complete critical operations.
This signal can be sent either from the internet or via an SMS message. Upon activation, it allows you to gather vital information such as the device’s location, hardware, and network status, and to optionally trigger specific actions on the device.
You can quickly find out where your computer is located, who’s using it, and what they’re doing on it, thanks to Prey’s powerful reports system. By marking your device as missing, Prey will gather all the requested evidence and send it either to your Control Panel account or directly to your mailbox, depending on the reporting method you choose. Once requested, Prey sends the information either to your Control Panel account or directly to your mailbox, depending on the reporting method you choose.
In addition to collecting data, Prey allows you to execute critical remote actions. You can trigger a loud alarm or display a custom message on the device. Crucially, the software enables you to remotely wipe sensitive stored passwords, safeguard your data, and secure your PC, effectively preventing further unauthorized use. These features ensure you remain in full command.
Prey Software Features:
- 100% geolocation aware. The software determines the device's position using GPS data or surrounding Wi-Fi hotspots. It’s shockingly accurate.
- WiFi Auto-Connect. If enabled, Prey will attempt to connect to the nearest open WiFi hotspot when no internet connection is available.
- Light as a feather. Prey has very few dependencies and doesn’t even leave a memory footprint until activated. We care as much as you do.
- Know your enemy. Capture a photo of the thief using your laptop’s webcam to identify their appearance and possible location. Powerful evidence.
- Watch their movements. Grab a screenshot of the active session. If you're lucky, you might catch the person logged into their email or Facebook account.
- Keep your data safe. Hide your Outlook or Thunderbird data and optionally delete stored passwords to prevent unauthorized access to your personal information.
- No unauthorized access. Lock down your PC completely, preventing use until the correct password is provided. The guy won’t be able to do a thing!
- Scan your hardware. View detailed hardware specifications for your PC, including the CPU, motherboard, RAM, and BIOS. Works great when used with Active Mode.
- Full auto updater. Prey checks itself and auto-updates itself, saving you from manually reinstalling every time a new release is available.
Prey – Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✓ Helps locate, track, and recover lost or stolen laptops, smartphones, and tablets from a centralized dashboard. | ✗ Many advanced features, such as enhanced automation, fleet management, and forensic reporting, require a paid subscription. |
| ✓ Supports Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and ChromeOS for cross-platform device management. | ✗ Location accuracy depends on GPS availability, Wi-Fi, and internet connectivity. |
| ✓ Provides location tracking, remote locking, device alerts, and detailed reports to improve recovery chances. | ✗ Remote actions are effective only when the missing device is powered on and connected to the internet. |
| ✓ Allows organizations to monitor and manage multiple devices with inventory and security features. | ✗ Continuous tracking and reporting can affect battery life on mobile devices. |
| ✓ Offers a free plan for basic device tracking, with premium plans adding advanced monitoring and automation. | ✗ Device recovery is not guaranteed, especially if the device is reset, disconnected, or location services are disabled. |
What's New in 1.13.38:
- Fix: Fixed a crash on macOS where permissionFile.getData() could return a raw boolean (written by the macOS native location helper without string coercion) instead of the expected string, causing an uncaught .localeCompare is not a function TypeError. Improved data integrity by normalizing permissionfile.js during read and write operations, allowing corrupted SQLite data to self-repair. Also strengthened listeners.js comparisons and macOS error handling for improved reliability.
- Fix: Fixed two startup crashes on Windows: countLinesLoggerRestarts now wraps its file read in a try-catch to prevent an uncaught EPERM when prey_restarts.log is locked or has missing permissions; the storage_fns.set check-then-insert pattern is replaced with a single INSERT OR REPLACE to eliminate the TOCTOU race that produced “Already registered” errors for preyconf and shouldPreyCFile during concurrent agent initialization.
- Fix: Fixed a TypeError crash when daemon.set_watcher is invoked through the CLI run helper: run always calls commands as command(values, cb), but set_watcher only accepts (cb), so the parsed CLI values object landed in the callback slot. Because the object is truthy, the !cb guard was bypassed, and the object propagated through the full call chain, crashing as “done/cb is not a function” at the upgrade and fresh-install paths in prey_owl.js. The CLI registration now wraps the call to forward only the real callback. Callback guards in prey_owl.js are also standardised from cb && cb(…) to typeof cb === ‘function' && cb(…) for consistency.
- Fix: Fixed a double-callback crash in the macOS geolocation socket layer: tryToSendNew could fire cbAttached on already-completed messages, causing a second callback invocation after the socket response was processed. The optional time parameter is now forwarded through writeMessage to addAndWait so callers can override the default 7 s timeout (the Darwin provider passes 65 s). Added a null guard for inFlightCallbacks in callSocket to enhance stability and prevent unexpected errors.
Official Homepage – https://preyproject.com
Size: 90.9 MB
