Smartphones are an extraordinary piece of technology. It is a combination of various gadgets. Much of its remarkable features are accomplished with the help of a wide range of sensors. These smartphone sensors are hidden beneath the cloak of every Android and Apple iOS mobile. We use the smartphones for varied uses, unknown to what goes behind the curtains.
It is intriguing to understand how GPS updates your data, how the fitness tracker works and so on. All the popular latest mobiles are equipped with these sensors.
Know more about the smartphone sensors before you buy your next handset.
- Accelerometers handle axis-based motion sensing.
- They can be found in fitness trackers and phones.
- An accelerometer informs the phone’s software which direction the handset is pointing.
- It switches the apps from portrait to landscape.
- It shows the current speed in a driving app.
- The sensor includes microscopic crystal structures that become stressed due to accelerative forces. The voltage from the crystals is interpreted so as to figure out the speed and direction of the phone.
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- It acts as an aid to the accelerometer.
- It is more precise in explaining the orientation of the phone.
- A gyroscope is extremely helpful when you play games. The small turns or tilt is sensed by a gyroscope.
- Gyroscopes inside the phones are Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems gyroscope.
- MEMS gyroscopes first became famous with the Apple iPhone 4 in the year 2010.
- GPS gets a notification from a satellite up in the space to know which part of the planet you are.
- In addition, it does not use any of your mobile data.
- You can see your location even when the phone has lost signal.
- Its use can drain down the battery.
- The process involves communication with multiple satellites and then the results are calculated on the basis of the angle of intersection.
- The satellite cannot be found because either it is cloudy or you are indoors.
- These days, the modern-day GPS units inside smartphones combine the GPS signals with cell signal strength to get more accurate results.
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- It measures the magnetic fields and hence tells us the north direction by varying its voltage output to the phone.
- Also, it powers standalone compass apps.
- Magnetometers are found in metal detectors and can detect magnetic metals.
- The orientation of maps in Google maps or Apple maps is due to the magnetometer.
- It works in tandem with the data from phone’s accelerometer and GPS unit.