Sensors Of Your Phone..All You Need To Know

     Smartphones these days are superfluously smart. But, how do they get all of our tasks done? They take help of both hardware and software. Many of these tasks utilize several Sensors that are present in your phone. To get started with we will look at the sensors which are visible to us and then move onto the internal sensors. There are several sensors in this list you may be familiar with but not all know these exist.

     The first sensor is Ambient Light Sensor- It helps your phone know the amount of light you are currently in and adjust your screen brightness If the auto-brightness function is running. It can also be accessed by apps for various reasons. 

     Gyroscope- Have you ever watched a 360° video or Virtual Reality, If you have it was by the virtue of Gyroscope or Gyro Sensor. The Gyroscope helps your phone know the exact orientation of your phone with The X, Y and Z axis and accordingly know which part of the video you are looking at.

     Do you know how your phone's screen goes off while talking on the on the phone and avoids accidental cut-offs? It is due to Proximity Sensor- Proximity Sensor is situated near your earpiece and calculates the distance between your ear or any other object and the surface of your smartphone. You can also use the proximity sensor to wake your phone whenever you want with certain apps or inbuilt settings.

     Do you know how your phone automatically switches the display from portrait mode to landscape mode when you are watching a video? It does so with the help of Orientation Sensor- It functions just like the Gyroscope but does not calculate the Z-axis.

      Fingerprint Sensor- All of us know about it and use it daily to unlock our phones. But, There are two major types of Finger Print Sensor- Optical Reader and Capacitive Reader. The Optical Readers use a camera to acquire a visual image of a fingerprint and can be fooled easily. Capacitive are the ones which use a capacitor and electric current to form a image of a fingerprint.

     Barometer- Is a sensor mostly seen in High-End Phones. The barometer measures the atmospheric pressure and helps in finding sea-level which helps in better GPS Navigation.

     The digital compass that's usually based on a sensor called magnetometer gives mobile phones with orientation in relation to the Earth's magnetic field. So, your phone always knows which way is North so it can auto rotate your digital maps depending on physical orientation.

     Infrared Sensor is the sensor which helps the Phone act as a Remote Control and can be programmed for several devices.

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