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Smart Phones

Smart Phones as category is not representing same type of categories like, e.g., Smart Cars or Smart Homes - which both eludes to Internet of Things - but a category of cellular phones with more capabilities and higher prices. Mobile phones nowadays can be classified into one of two categories:

  • Feature phones - simpler, less features, and cheaper, with unsubsidized costs more in area of USD 100+. More at wikipedia: Feature phone.
  • Smart phones - majority of phones sold nowadays in industrialized countries, with capabilities to for instance easily download and handle lots of applications, and usually with unsubsidized costs more up in the USD 600+ range. More at wikipedia: Smartphone.

This page focuses on possible use of phones in IoT applications and especially all the sensors such include.

Sensors

(Sensor: a device that detects or measures a physical property and records, indicates, or otherwise responds to it.)

As example of the huge number of sensors that may exist in modern mobile phones, sensors in different generations of Apple iPhone:

  iPhone Generations
Sensors (1) 3G 3GS 4 4S 5,5C 5S 6 6 Plus 6S 6S Plus SE 7 7 Plus
  '07 '08 '09 '10 '11 '12,'13 '13 '14 '14 '15 '15 '16 '16 '16
Accelerometer √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √  
Ambient light sensor √ -? √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √  
Camera [MP] 2 2 3.15 5 8 8 8 8 8 12 12 12 12 12 dual
Camera, face [MP]                            
Microphone √ (1) √ (1) √ (1) √ (2) √ (2) √ (2) √ (2) √ (2) √ (2) √ (2) √ (2) √ (2) √ (2)  
Proximity sensor √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √  
Magnetometer - Compass (Hall effect) - - √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √  
GPS - A-GPS     A-GPS +
GLONASS		 <- <- <- <- <- <- <- <-  
Gyroscope - - - √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √  
Touch ID fingerprint             √ √ √ √ √ √ √  
Barometer               √ √ √ √ - √  
NFC for Apple Pay               √ √ √ √ √ √  
Pressure sensitive display                   √ √ - √  
                             
Radios                            
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR <- <- <- 4.0 <- <- <- <- 4.2 <- <- <- <-
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g <- <- 802.11b/g/n <- 802.11a/b/g/n <- 802.11a/b/g/n/ac            
                             
                             
So far missing                            
Temperature*                            
                             

*) I.e., as part of displayed physical entities on phones themselves, as a measurement by the device itself
  - the device absolutely include temperature measurments, of internal components, but is not displayed in any standard applications
  - any display of any form of ambient temperature is typically retrieved from weather resources on the Internet, based on current location determined based on GPS/geographical location.

 

Apps

As one example of an application that uses some of sensors in a smart phone, Measures 2 (iOS and Android)

Function Sensor(s) Used Description including Units as applicable
(0. Flash light) (Flashlight, speaker) Send messages using morse code using flash light and microphone.
1. Protractor (screen) Tool for manually measuring angles in selectable units: Degree (°), Radian, Gradian, Revolution.
2. Ruler (screen) Tool for manually measuring distanceangles in selectable units: Centimeter, Inch, Pixel, Pica (PostScript).
3. Spirit Level Gyroscope In one direction - "A spirit level, bubble level or simply a level is an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal (level) or vertical (plumb)." [wikipedia].
Displays result, offset from leveled direction (°) both visually and in degrees (°).
4. Surface Level Gyroscope In two directions.
5. Plumb Bob Gyroscope Variant of Surface Level (how phone is held when used, vertically)
6. Seismometer Accelerometer Measures and displays motion of the ground (or rather the surface of which the phone is place upon).
7. Stopwatch (real-time clock/?) (In all honesty, a real-time clock is not required to simply record change of time.)
8. Timer (real-time clock/?) (In all honesty, a real-time clock is not required to simply record change of time.)
9. Metronome (speaker) Using speaker
10. Decibel Microphone dB
11. Teslameter Magnetometer µT (Micro Tesla), alt mG (Milli Gauss)
12. Compass Magnetometer
+ GPS		 Degree, 0-360° (compass direction)
Latitude and Longitude in ° m' nn.nn''.
(Does not show altitude, which Apple's own Compass does..)
13. Altimeter GPS Altitude in meters or feet, +/- error (e.g. +/- 4 meter)
Latitude and Longitude in ° m' nn.nn''.
(Does not show altitude, which Apple's own Compass does..)
14. Barometer Barometer Atmospheric pressure in a multiple of selectable units:
hPa, mbar, mmHg, Torr, psi, atm, inHg

skypaw.com/apps/multimeasures/

itunes.apple.com/us/app/multi-measures-2-all-in-1/id933528345?mt=8

google.com/search?q=measures+2+app