How to Measure Almost Anything Using Your Phone

Your earpiece can do it all . It ’s a portable music histrion , diary , digital camera , communication twist , calculating machine , and just about everything else . But you might not have considered that it can also supersede your measurement tape . With the correct sensing element on board and the right apps installed , you may measure more data with your telephone set than you might think .

Measure altitude with your phone

Your earpiece can cipher out how high up it is through GPS signal , mathematical function meter reading , and an inner barometer , if it has that peculiar sensing element bake in ( which many phones do ) . You ’ll need to set up a third - company app to calculate and display your current altitude though , as it ’s not a information point that your phone is going to present you with otherwise .

My AltitudeandMy Altitude and Elevation GPSare good iOS options , whileMy ElevationandAltimeter Lercome highly advocate on Android ( maybe try more than one and see if they match , if accuracy is absolutely life-sustaining ) . All four apps are barren or freemium . Many different running , cycling and skiing apps are capable to dog your altitude over sentence too .

Measure humidity with your phone

Smartphones do n’t actually have hygrometer ( humidity sensing element ) make in — at least not yet — so if you want to measure humidity , you either demand an app that recite you the outside reading in your local area by looking it up online , or a gadget that ’s going to do the actual measurement for you and then beam the findings direct to an app on your phone .

For the former family , test the freeHygrometerapp for iOS or the free - with - adsThermometer - Hygrometerapp for Android ; you ’ll also find humidness data in many atmospheric condition apps . When it add up to indoor and out-of-door gadgets , the $ 180Netatmo Weather Stationis one of the good options , as is the more low-priced $ 55Govee Thermo - Hygrometer .

Measure distance with your phone

Google Fit , Apple Health , and a innkeeper of other fitness - tracking apps will appraise the variety of space you ’re traveling , but if you specifically want to measure the distance from period A to point B then the freemium Strava forAndroidoriOSis one of the practiced options — it’ll log exactly how much priming a journey has hatch , and even plot it out on a mapping for you .

If you ’ve got something specific in mind then get a specific app : MileIQ(free ) tracks car gasoline mileage , whilePolarsteps(free ) will log how far you ’ve move across landed estate , sea , and air . To mensurate distance without moving , apply the free Google Maps forAndroidoriOS — touch and hold on the map to drop a reddish pin , tap the location card , then pick Measure distance .

Measure speed with your phone

Your phone does a pretty good caper of appraise your pep pill , thanks to the accelerometer and other built - in sensors . Google Maps ( spare ) forAndroidoriOSshows your fastness while you ’re force back , for example . For cyclists , the freemiumCyclemeteris excellent , capturing and displaying a bunch of real - fourth dimension stats ( including speed ) while you ’re moving .

If you just want to roll in the hay your amphetamine and nothing else , thenSpeedViewfor Android andSpeedometer Speed Box Appfor iOS ( both freemium ) are among the most capable apps we ’ve seen ( and there are quite a few in this family ) . Both apps enable you to see your stop number over time on a graph , and SpeedView let you export your data elsewhere too .

Measure air quality with your phone

As with humidness , your phone does n’t have the necessary sensor on board to measure air caliber . you may , however , get apps that recite you the current melodic line quality in your local area . The freeAirVisualis one of the best we ’ve come across , providing you with a clump of statistics and tangible - time information , though we also like the freemiumAir Mattersas well .

The other option is to buy an indoor air travel - quality monitor that can bung information back to your phone ( as well as showing it on a built - in showing , usually ) . Two of the leading alternative here are the $ 185Airthings wafture Plusand the retro - looking $ 170Awairbox — as an added incentive , both these contrivance extend support for Alexa and Google Assistant control .

Measure length and space with your phone

BothGoogleandApplehave free augmented realness apps called Measure that let you measure length and objects and floor blank space . The readings might not be exact enough for professional use , but they can help you work out just about how much space you ’ve got , or how liberal something is .

Other mobile app options worth checking out are the freemiumRulerapp for Android ( which convey up an on - screen rule so you’re able to measure with your earpiece ) , the freeMoasureapp for Android ( a smart tape recording measure offering a host of useful feature ) , and the comprehensive and freeRulerfor iOS ( which combine AR and non - AR measuring tool ) .

Measure weight with your phone

You ca n’t really use your speech sound as a weighting weighing machine in any serious style , but that does n’t mean people have n’t tried — moderate out the freeWorking Scalefor Android , for example , which tap into a variety of detector in your sound to prove and estimate the weight of small objects localise on top of it — modest as in between 2 and 100 grams in total weight .

To in earnest measure weights with your sound , you call for to invest in some digital scales and then connect them to a headphone app , which can then log weight , convert weight , and so on . The $ 130Fitbit Ariawill valuate your own weight and help you shoot your target goals , for representative , while the $ 30Etekcity Scalewill do an splendid job in the kitchen .

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