Today’s smartphones come with a whole assortment of sensors with which we can do truly incredible things thanks to the apps that make use of them. No one imagines a phone that cannot locate you with GPS , or the multiple functionalities provided by other tools such as the gyroscope, the accelerometer or the light sensor .
The downside is that we usually only see the practical use of these sensors, and not the actual values and data they collect. Sometimes, even if they do not offer accurate information, it is necessary to recalibrate them so that they work correctly .
Do you want to know how to identify the sensors that our terminal brings and see the data that they record in real time?
Detecting and identifying sensors in Android with Sensors Multitool
In Android we have a historical app, a classic from Google Play that is capable of determining the sensors included in a terminal, in addition to showing Hw components and other data. We’re talking about CPU-Z , a truly essential app (and it’s not the app I wanted to talk about today, but since we’re here I’ll leave the link here).
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CPU-Z
Developer: Unknown
Price: Free
The problem is that CPU-Z is a more general tool and does not show many details of our sensors. As you can see in the screenshots below, it lists them and shows some value, but little else.
For this reason, if we want to see the values recorded by our accelerometer, the gravity sensor or the GPS itself with a much higher level of detail and with a graph of evolution or data history , we can use another app that is also free and is very good valued by the Android community, called Sensors Multitool (or Sensors Multiherramienta in Spanish).
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Sensors Multitool
Developer: Unknown
Price: Free
What data does this app collect?
Sensors Multitool (or Sensors Multitool ) has a clear layout based on Material Design that helps a lot with navigation. In the side menu we have a list with all the metrics that our phone or tablet is collecting in real time:
- Battery: Indicates the remaining battery percentage, battery voltage and temperature.
- GPS: Shows the status (activated/deactivated), the latitude, longitude and altitude and a graph with the evolution of the last measurements.
- Wi-Fi: Shows the connection status and other related data such as speed, signal strength or IP.
- Accelerometer: It shows the m/s2 in the x,y,z coordinates in real time, technical details of the accelerometer (manufacturer, power, precision and maximum range) and a graph with the data that we are recording.
- Magnetic sensor: Like the previous ones, it shows the magnetic data (the strength and direction of the magnetic field) in the x,y,z axes, as well as the details of the manufacturer, power, precision and range together with a graph of evolution in real time.
- Pressure: Barometric sensor that shows atmospheric pressure as well as the altitude at which the device is located.
- Gyroscope: In this case the gyroscope allows us to measure the orientation of the terminal in space. Collect data in real time, graph and manufacturing details.
- Light: Measures the level of illumination or illuminance. It shows evolution graph and details such as the power and precision of the sensor.
- Proximity sensor: Idem, to detect the level of proximity of an object.
- Step counter: This is the sensor that is responsible for detecting the steps we take when we carry the mobile phone with us.
- Gravity: Shows the data collected by the gravity sensor in real time, along with manufacturer data, details of power, accuracy and range.
- Linear acceleration: Like the rest of the sensors, it shows data in real time, details and a graph of evolution.
- Vector Rotation: Measures the rotation about the x,y,z and axes.
- Orientation: This is the compass function that our smartphone incorporates, the orientation sensor.
As you can see, it is a very complete application that will help us to feel much more closely and obtain all the information collected by all the sensors that our mobile phone or tablet is equipped with in a simple and accessible way.
