How Smartphones interact with your Pocket

Hello readers !

Smartphones are widely used today and with its awesome and user friendly features, become an integral part of your existence. Today’s smartphones have many smart sensors that sense its environment and reacts to changes in its surroundings automatically.

Sensors in smartphone: Image from https://www.movisens.com/

This small article just answers one simple question that may be of interest to you, if you are a curious and a techno-savvy person. The question is “what happens technically when you keep in or take out a smartphone from your pocket”. Particularly what happens to sensor hardware and smart phone software in these two situations is described below:

What happens when you keep the smart phone in your pocket ?

• Proximity sensor: The proximity sensor is a small sensor that is located near the top of the smartphone. It uses an infrared LED and a light detector to determine when the smartphone is near something. When the smartphone is in your pocket, the proximity sensor detects the close proximity of your body and turns off the screen to prevent accidental touches.
• Ambient light sensor: The ambient light sensor is a small sensor that measures the amount of light in the environment. This sensor is used to adjust the brightness of the smartphone’s screen so that it is easy to see in different lighting conditions. When you put your smartphone in your pocket, the ambient light sensor detects the change in lighting and reduces the brightness of the screen to save power.
• Gyroscope: The gyroscope is a sensor that measures the rotation of the smartphone. This sensor is used to track the orientation of the smartphone, which is important for features such as auto-rotate and motion-based gaming. When you put your smartphone in your pocket, the gyroscope detects that the smartphone is not moving and stops tracking its orientation.
• Accelerometer: The accelerometer is a sensor that measures the acceleration of the smartphone. This sensor is used to track the movement of the smartphone, which is important for features such as step counting and shake to undo. When you put your smartphone in your pocket, the accelerometer detects that the smartphone is not moving and stops tracking its movement.

In addition to these sensors, there are also a number of software features that are activated when you put your smartphone in your pocket. These features include:

• Screen lock: The screen lock prevents unauthorized access to the smartphone when it is in your pocket.
• Do not disturb mode: Do not disturb mode silences all notifications and alerts when the smartphone is in your pocket.
• Power saving mode: Power saving mode reduces the power consumption of the smartphone when it is in your pocket.

These sensor hardware and software features work together to ensure that your smartphone is protected and power efficient when you keep it in your pocket.

What happens when you take out the smart phone form your pocket ?

When you take out your smartphone from your pocket, the following things happen:

• The proximity sensor detects that the smartphone is no longer near your body and turns on the screen.
• The ambient light sensor detects the change in lighting and adjusts the brightness of the screen accordingly.
• The gyroscope and accelerometer start tracking the movement and orientation of the smartphone.
• The screen lock is disabled, so you can access the smartphone’s features.
• Any notifications or alerts that were silenced while the smartphone was in your pocket will be re-enabled.
• If the smartphone was in power saving mode, it will exit power saving mode.

These things happen automatically, so you don’t have to do anything. However, if you want to disable any of these features, you can do so in the settings of your smartphone.

Here are some additional things that may happen when you take out your smartphone from your pocket:

• If you have any apps that are running in the background, they may be automatically refreshed.
• If you have any notifications that were waiting to be displayed, they may be displayed.
• If you have any music or videos playing, they may resume playing.

The specific things that happen when you take out your smartphone from your pocket will vary depending on the make and model of your smartphone and the settings that you have configured.

Lastly for your safety, it's not advisable to keep your smartphone in your pocket for a long time due to its ill effects on your body parts near the pocket.

Hope this article is a useful technical read for you and will help you in using your smartphone more smartly.

Thanks for reading this article.