The Thermal Master P3 is incredibly easy to use for spotting problems at home or away. / Tyler Lacoma/CNET Art

Pros & Cons

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  A simple add-on that plugs into a phone and works within a couple of minutes
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  Supports iPhones and Android phones
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  Effective heat mapping and pinpoint temperature measurement
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  Can zoom in and isolate areas for more focused analysis
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  Effective at detecting hidden cameras, insulation issues, water leaks and more in my tests
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  Comes with its own secure case for traveling
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  High-quality design
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  Tons of customization options, even a birdwatching mode

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  Expensive
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  Struggles with accuracy near reflective, metallic surfaces

Thermal imaging once belonged to the professionals and pricey equipment only. Now, a new type of device allows anyone to access surprisingly advanced thermal imaging directly on their phone. I tested out one of the latest models, the Thermal Master P3, and came away amazed at how much it can do, both around the home and on vacation.

Not only did the Thermal Master P3 ($279) prove capable of detecting hidden cameras, like the ones that many have found in vacation rentals, it could also help spot insulation issues, detect certain kinds of water leaks and more.

Read more: Fast Tricks to Spot Hidden Cameras in Your Vacation Airbnb

While the thermal detector add-on is around $300, that’s still less than most would pay for a home inspection, and it can be used repeatedly during different seasons, on multiple trips and more. The design quality is superb, it supports both iPhone and Android phones, and the camera comes in a case small enough to store in a pocket when not in use. Plus, setup only took me a couple of minutes in total.

Here’s how I used this little thermal masterpiece and the many problems it can address. While it does have some classic thermal imaging baggage, like struggling with reflective metal surfaces, you’ll be surprised by just how useful the P3 can be for the average person.

A compact, quality design for any phone, plus effortless setup

The Thermal Master P3 offers top-notch quality with a metal framework and its own carrying case, which you’ll want to use to keep the cam add-on undamaged when not in use. It has a 25Hz refresh rate and can detect anywhere between -4 degrees and 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit, with plus/minus 3.6 degrees accuracy and plenty of calibration options.

The Thermal Master app, which is entirely free to use, is packed with features. The good news is you don’t need most of them to get started: I downloaded the app, plugged the camera into my phone port, switched it to Fahrenheit and was looking at heat maps within a couple of minutes.

You can adjust magnification, switch temperature color palettes, adjust measurement distance and ambient temperature, set emissivity and plenty more (even a bird watching mode), but none of it is really necessary when standard settings work so well. Unless you’re a pro that needs very specific readings, this thermal cam works right out of the box. That box also includes a Lightning adapter and 19.7-inch extension cable, if you need them.

How thermal imaging worked to track down hidden cameras

Thermal imaging is one ward against hidden cameras in vacation settings, which are unhappily common in Airbnbs around the world. I have a guide on several tricks you can use to spot these cameras when first entering an Airbnb, and one of the most effective is using a thermal camera. With the P3, you don’t need to lug around an extra device, either.

But how well does it work? I tried hiding both an Onn wired and a Eufy wireless camera at home to see how well the camera picked them up with a scan. As you can see, the wired camera is basically invisible when it’s tucked behind books in a bookshelf, even though it can see through the gap. But the thermal imaging picked up its heat at once, warning that there’s something back there to find.

The wireless camera was a bit more difficult to detect, since it doesn’t heat up much unless in use for an extended period of time. However, the camera still noticed something odd in the dark closet when it registered a spot that was a couple of degrees higher than the surrounding area, pinpointing it for investigation. Tricks like these can work with vents and many other spots where hidden cameras exist, as long as you’re scanning a foot or two away.

Note that wireless cameras like these often need a nearby hub to connect to. The Thermal Master cam immediately spotted the hub for this camera hidden behind a sofa, so that’s something else to watch for if you’re tracking down suspicious devices.

Also, the heat mapping features, complete with pinpointing temperature, are nice for spotting other problems with a vacation home, like drafts, leaks, pests and other issues I cover in this review.

Spotting insulation and AC issues around the home

A common purpose for these versatile phone add-ons is spotting places in a home where insulation is inadequate and the home may be leaking hot or cold air, wasting money on energy bills. Finding a spot like this could be the start of a DIY spray insulation project or similar work that will help save money for years to come.

Take a look at my window on a warm summer day to see just how much the plastic trim can heat up. That’s one reason updated weather stripping and keeping windows tightly closed is so important when keeping cool air inside. But weather stripping is only part of the problem.

Here are pictures of the vaulted ceilings in my living room and bedroom (I was holding the camera horizontally for these). Notice the clear heat spots on the corners of the first living room ceiling and wall image, a sign there are insulation issues warming my house up unnecessarily, which may be worth a future look. Then see the bedroom ceiling image, where insulation is much better and no heat spots exist.

Finally, here’s a shot of one of my main return air ducts in the ceiling. While some of this may be reflection from the ductwork, overall it looks like the air is passing through a hot zone here, which means my AC has to work harder, and could be an indication of ceiling crawlspace issues, as this video explains.

Accurately pinpointing complex insulation issues requires carefully comparing inside and outside readings at different times of day, plus spending time in your crawlspace looking for problems. It may be best to leave that up to the pros, but readings like this are an excellent starting place, or the beginning of a quick DIY project like replacing weather stripping or spraying extra insulation.

Looking for leaks

Thermal Master also mentions its cameras can to spot ongoing water leaks in walls or ceilings. The company says this works because the leak area is significantly cooler than its surrounding materials.

I didn’t have any drywall available to test a leak on (well, none I was going to damage), but I did have something similar: Thick cardboard. I trickled normal tap water on a section, then turned the camera on to see if I could tell a difference. The water immediately showed up as a significant cold spot, so as long as the leak hasn’t dried up, it looks like you really can spot them with the thermal camera.

However, tracking the source of leaks is difficult, so it’s important to do a slow, careful sweep when looking for the leak, and see where readings are coldest, which typically points the way to the origin of the leak — or at least lets you know you need to call a plumber, pronto.

What about detecting pests like bugs or rats?

Alas, I don’t have a pest infestation in my home to test thermal detection. I did some quick scouting for an ant hill to view, but couldn’t find any in time for the review. However, based on my other experiments, it should certainly be possible to spot large pest problems in a home, especially if you position the camera close to walls or vents.

You know those stories about people who discover they have an entire hive of bees hidden behind their walls? The P3 could definitely detect a problem of that size. The same may be true of a large rat nest in vents, or raccoons sleeping in the attic. But for additional action, you should probably arrange for a professional pest inspection.

Final thoughts on the Thermal Master P3

The Thermal Master P3 is part of a new wave of thermal imaging devices that snap onto your phone, and it’s one of the highest quality versions I’ve seen. At around $300, it’s pricey, but less expensive than many home inspections and an excellent starting point for identifying a problem, making future plans or even diagnosing circuit board issues.

Plus, if you travel or vacation frequently, you can keep using the attachment as an easy way to spot hidden cameras and surveillance devices whenever you need to. Just keep in mind its limitations. You will need to be within a couple feet for the most accurate results, and reflective or metallic surfaces can cause inaccuracies.

While a phone add-on like this may not be for everyone, I’m confident anyone could use it, with setup taking only minutes and results useful in numerous situations. Pros and more serious amateurs also have access to a wealth of adjustment and custom modes they can use for deeper analysis. Just keep that powerful lens in its case when not in use, so you don’t damage it.

Next up? I need to try that birdwatching mode and report back.

Tyler Lacoma

Editor / Home Security and Smart Home

Tyler has worked on, lived with and tested all types of smart home and security technology for over a dozen years, explaining the latest features, privacy tricks, and top recommendations.

With degrees in Business Management, Literature and Technical Writing, Tyler takes every opportunity to play with the latest AI technology, push smart devices to their limits and occasionally throw cameras off his roof, all to find the best devices to trust in your life. He always checks with the renters (and pets) in his life to see what smart products can work for everyone, in every living situation.

Living in beautiful Bend, Oregon gives Tyler plenty of opportunities to test the latest tech in every kind of weather and temperature. But when not at work, he can be found hiking the trails, trying out a new food recipe for his loved ones, keeping up on his favorite reading, or gaming with good friends.

See full bio

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Kids living at the bottom of the Nizhuhe Grand Canyon in Yunnan Province once faced a brutal path to school. Steep mountain trails and cliffside routes stretched more than three hours one way across a vertical drop measured in hundreds of meters. Guanzhai Village Primary School sat high above at roughly 1,650 meters elevation. The village of Nizhuhe rested far below. Roughly twenty children from nearby communities made the trip, often as boarding students. Round trips could consume six hours of hard walking on paths that left little room for error.

Fuyao Ladder, a 288-meter glass elevator hammered straight into the rock face, became operational at the end of July. It is approximately 20 meters taller than its neighbor, the Qingyun Ladder, which debuted in 2022 at 268 meters. That makes for quite a duo, which neighbors have affectionately named the Sky School Bus. The final section is a cable car, but you must first get to the base via shuttle bus. Then it’s a quick lift up in the glass cabin before getting into the cable car for the last 30-minute ride.

Fuyao travels at roughly 5 m/s, therefore the journey from base to upper level takes about 50 seconds. It can carry up to 81 passengers at once, nearly tripling the capacity of the previous elevator. When the two lifts are joined, they can now transport an amazing 1,200 people each hour, and the completely transparent glass walls allow passengers to see the canyon walls as they pass by. Ningbo Hongda Elevator developed Fuyao Ladder as part of the Nizhu River Grand Canyon tourism project, which commenced in 2017.

Local children and villages get access for free since a designated school path separates them from the tourist traffic. A reporter caught up with one local kid, Lei Xin, who had recently transferred from Guanzhai Primary School the previous year and was one of the first to arrive in the new cabin. He just shrugged, saying he thot it was faster and more spacious than Qingyun. Parents are also overjoyed because they no longer have to spend the entire day transporting their children down the canyon; instead, they can simply see them pop into a glass box and be at the top in under 60 seconds.

The word Qingyun is taken from the traditional Chinese for “ascending toward the clouds” or “toward opportunity,” and Fuyao comes from the phrase for a whirlwind that sweeps you up and carries you higher. The two elevators are side by side, two parallel shafts of glass and steel ready to convey passengers up and down the canyon walls. Building the thing was not an easy task, as remote settings like this frequently provide challenges like as limited space to build, humidity and fog to contend with, and the need to constantly check the steel structure. In terms of safety, they have redundant power sources and backup systems, as well as independent inspections before granting public access.

On the business side, visitor numbers increased from 4,000 to 15,000 per day when the second lift went active. This has reduced congestion and helped create additional jobs for locals in guiding, transportation, and hospitality. People may now travel up and down the canyon with ease.
[Source]

James Whomsley, better known as ProjectAir, has spent nearly a decade turning odd ideas into flying machines. His latest project takes one of the simplest shapes possible and asks whether it might outperform the wings we see every day. He built a giant radio-controlled plane whose main lifting surfaces form complete circles, then put the concept through the same cycle of prototypes, crashes, and rebuilds that defines so much of his work.

The idea began with a paper plane he made as a child. A small ring-shaped flier that flew farther and straighter than his normal dart creations. Several years later, he sought to apply the same techniques to something far larger. The first models were made of lightweight balsa and propelled by elastic bands. One had a standard straight wing, while the other had a circular wing of similar proportions. In a light breeze, the straight wing model fought for around seven seconds before wobbling and tumbling to the earth; in contrast, the circular version remained aloft for more over ten seconds, naturally correcting itself in the wind and landing with far less drama. That tiny triumph paved the way for something far bigger.

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The full-size plane was created in CAD so that the sections could be laser cut from balsa sheets and put together like a giant jigsaw puzzle. The two circular wing frames weighed little over 2 kg. A long box fuselage had bulkheads strong enough to hold the rings in place, and heat shrink film covered the whole surface. Before he ever considered power, early glide tests revealed that the plane required considerable weight in the front and a somewhat steep angle of attack to gain any usable lift from the symmetrical airfoils. After they figured out the balance, it floated fairly nicely.

Then they turned on the power, and two electric motors positioned high up on the aircraft formed a thrust line that pulled the nose down fairly hard, which is when everything began to go wrong. The first powered launches resulted in catastrophic collisions that snapped the main spars. Balsa is good for keeping things light, but it’s not very forgiving if you get the layout wrong. A second attempt used what remained of the rear circle as the primary wing and added a conventional tail for greater control, but the same propulsion problem reappeared, claiming another wing.

At this time, the crew opted to switch materials. A new circular wing made of foam and aluminum tube bent rather than breaking as the motors started up, a central strut protected the ring from expanding under strain, and the motors were anchored down much more securely this time. On the following launch, the plane lifted off cleanly, cruised smoothly thru gusts, and responded to control inputs like a normal plane, even displaying slightly more roll stability than expected. It flew until the batteries died, then returned to a safe landing with everything intact.

Circular wings, sometimes known as annular or ring wings, have appeared on numerous times throughout aviation history. Designers have experimented with them for structural efficiency and reducing those pesky tip vortices, and in the wind tunnel, they’ve discovered some instances where a ring can match or even outperform the efficiency of a conventional wing of the same size, but it’s never as simple as that, because extra drag and pitching behavior muddy the waters. Whomsley’s large-scale model never claimed to be a game changer in terms of aerodynamics. All it did was show that the design is functional, controlled, and controls wind far better than you may expect if you sort out the framework and how the motors are connected.

Having rejected Apple’s initial compromise proposals for App Tracking Transparency in the App Store, Germany says it has made a final agreement that will make the system fair to all developers.

Germany’s federal cartel office, the Bundeskartellamt, has been challenging Apple over its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature. This is the feature that requires users to confirm they allow data tracking by developers, and which is seen as favoring Apple’s own apps.

Apple has previously offered a compromise that chiefly consisted of rewording the warning dialogs displayed when a third-party app is first launched. That compromise was rejected but now the regulator says that it has agreed binding commitments with Apple and has concluded its case.

“Apple is allowed to provide for a level of protection for its users that exceeds the minimum legal requirements,” said Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt in a statement. “However, if Apple sets up additional rules within its ecosystem for the use of data, these rules must, under Germany’s special abuse provision for large digital companies, not treat its own offerings better than those of its competitors.”

“This is precisely where our competition concerns arose,” continued Mundt. “Apple will now align the consent requests much more closely and give third-party app providers more freedom to combine the necessary requests in a sensible way.”

What happens next

Apple now has four months to implement the agreed changes to how ATT works. Those changes are binding commitments that the regulator says run for the next seven years, and will be monitored by a trustee.

It’s not clear exactly what Apple has agreed to that is different to its compromise offerings, however. The new rules are again specifically about the wording of dialogs shown to users.

According to the regulator, the specifics of its ruling are that “Apple will align the consent prompts for its own offerings and for third-party apps much more closely. “

That means “removing possibly discouraging symbols and wording in Apple’s predefined requests for third-party providers.” These prompts must always now be “neutral in terms of content, wording and layout.”

The clearest difference is that developers will be allowed to add more detail about their proposed use of data tracking.

Apple does definitely use ATT to discourage users from granting permission for third-party apps to track them. It also does not do that with its own apps, but the company has previously argued that this is because none of its apps even attempt to track users.

At a lower cost, each of Raj’s delivery meals consistently tastes better than the (admittedly not great) Punjabi restaurant down the street from me—less sugary, more rich, with saffron-tinged basmati and chicken that remains juicy and plump, not overcooked. Raj’s Indian gravies offer the most compelling argument for me to order CookUnity, in a city (Portland) where the best Indian food is often a half-hour drive into the suburbs.

But, of course, Raj’s meals are available only to those served by the Seattle hub. Others, near Los Angeles or Atlanta, may have other local chefs who offer similarly compelling arguments. I wouldn’t know.

Local Mileage May Differ

CookUnity Beef Stroganoff with Truffle & Pappardelle from chef John DeLucie

Photograph: Matthew Korfhage

The strength of CookUnity is that each regional hub is basically local. But this is also a potential weakness: Each regional hub is different. Each hub has greater or lesser variety. Each also has a different selection of chefs and meals.

But my good experience with the Seattle hub might translate to what you’ll find in a different kitchen, with different cooks. This may be true even if the same chef’s name and face are on your meal box. Some chefs operate four or five kitchens at different hubs, and different kitchens may have different results, even with the same recipes. And heck, I’ve had different results even from the same chefs. I can only speak to my own good experience and the good experience of my colleague Louryn Strampe, who ordered out of the Chicago hub.

Note that while CookUnity offers a much bigger caloric range than most prepared meal kits, usually the big feasts are heavily carb-loaded: rice, noodles, pasta. Those looking for a focus on proteins and veggies can find them easily, but usually in more moderate portions. Food cost is food cost. Starches are cheap.

But I have reason to believe that CookUnity’s other hubs also offer good cooking—and that has a lot to do with CookUnity’s business model. The overall factor that I think makes CookUnity work is healthy competition.

Each CookUnity chef making prepared meals is, essentially, a competing food business within the same big commissary kitchen. Their name is on each box, and a good number of the chefs have restaurants and reputations to protect. There are many incentives to make each meal interesting and delicious. My experience bears this out.

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The cuts were made even after a preview model went rogue and hacked Hugging Face.