In today’s time, smartphone has become an important part of our life. Apart from functions like calling, messaging, social media and online payment, there are many such features present in mobile phones, about which most of the users are not aware. One such interesting feature is the metal detector. It may sound strange, but the truth is that there is a sensor in your phone with the help of which metal present nearby can be detected.

Actually, most smartphones have a magnetometer sensor. The main function of this sensor is to tell the direction to the phone, i.e. to work like a compass. When you look for directions in Google Maps or any navigation app, the same magnetometer sensor helps you. However, the same sensor can also be used for metal detection.

The magnetometer sensor detects changes in the Earth’s magnetic field. When any metal comes near the phone, there is a slight change in the magnetic field. This change is recorded by the sensor. On this principle the mobile phone starts working like a metal detector.

Users do not need any special hardware to detect metal from the phone. For this, many metal detector apps available on Play Store can be used. These apps read the data from the phone’s magnetometer sensor and give signals on the screen. As you move the phone closer to metal, the graph or sound seen in the app starts getting louder.

However, experts also say that the metal detector of a smartphone is not as powerful as a professional device. It may be limited in detecting deeply hidden or very small metal. Still, this feature can prove useful in estimating the metal present around small metal objects hidden in the house, nails in the wall, pipes or electric wires.

Using this feature can be especially helpful in household tasks. Like locating a metal frame before drilling into a wall or identifying metal parts present in children’s toys. Apart from this, this technique is also considered interesting for educational purposes.

The thing to note is that magnetometer sensor is not necessary in all smartphones. Some cheap or old phones may not have this feature. In such a situation, the metal detector app will not work properly.

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