phyphox
Price: Free
Rating: 
Android App Review by AndroidAppsReview.com
If you’re spending more time at home than you’d like, and you’re looking for something different to do, how about some home science? We’re sure we’re not the only ones curious about science and what you can do with everyday items found around the house.
From watching Watch Mr. Wizard in the 50’s and 60’s to more recent shows that you might be familiar with, like Science! KIDS, MythBusters and Outrageous Acts of Science, there seems to be quite an interest in “playing” with physics, chemistry, and science in general.
There have always been numerous ways to have fun with science at home but a total game changer is the phyphox app coupled with the sensor options available to you with your Android phone.
You can always go shopping for gear on Amazon or Ebay but why? Your Android phone, and smartphones more broadly, today contain an incredible array of sensors that would make a high school science lab of just 10 years ago very jealous.
Some approach this with great passion, some with great imagination, and some with just enough curiosity and lack of knowledge to be dangerous. Whatever bucket fits you best, we’re here to tell you about an app that will totally light things up.
Concept and Functionality:
phyphox is an incredible app that will bring all of the hidden power of all your phone’s amazing sensors to you. Crank it up and get started on a fantastic journey discovering the forces around you in ways you couldn’t otherwise be aware of.
Developed by RWTH Aachen University, phyphox is invaluable as an introduction to home science and provides the perfect balance of entertainment and education.
We’ve chosen to review this app on an Android phone rather than a tablet because we think that would be more typical of how our loyal reader would experience it. That said, if you have an Android tablet don’t hesitate to use it, you’ll appreciate the graphs and reports even more with the larger screen.
You may not be aware of all the sensors in your phone. Of course there’s GPS for mapping and driving directions, and there’s directional (i.e. compass direction) awareness using the magnetometer. But what about a gyroscope and a pressure sensor?
When you open the app you’ll see a list of 30 functions that the sensors give you access to. Not all phones have all possible sensors, and even if they do, access by the app to all sensors may not be possible. For example, on our LG 6 phone all 30 functions are usable.
The app leverages the sensors in your Android device to know quite a bit about the world and how your phone is experiencing it. What forces of acceleration are impinging on it? What is the orientation of the dominant magnetic field acting on it? What acoustic signals can it detect and the time span in between two sounds?
There is lots to play with here and we’re just getting started.
Features:
To begin with, phyphox features and dead-simple UI, which makes it a breeze to use.
That’s a good thing since after all, you want to focus on doing your experiments and protecting your phone from any damage due to flinging it across the room or exposing it to extreme magnetic fields.
If, for example, you want to see the acoustics of your favorite music, just fire up your sound system and select one of the six acoustic functions that relate to detecting sound.
For the audiophiles in the audience, it’s also a great way to gauge the actual characteristics of your system vs what the manufacturer indicates.
What about the weather? Did you know there’s a barometer? This lets you see the ambient pressure around you in hectopascals (hPa), which is equivalent to millibars and is commonly used to measure atmospheric pressure. To know if a storm is coming just take periodic measurements and see if it’s increasing (better weather) or decreasing (stormy weather).
Overall Value:
It has been a real pleasure reviewing this amazing app. Like many of you, we’ve always been fascinated by what can be detected without any special equipment.
If you’re at all curious about the ambient forces and environmental influences around you, as well as those you can generate yourself, we guarantee you’ll love this amazing free app.
phyphox requires Android 4.0+
AndroidAppsReview’s Rating:
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What do YOU think? We’d love to hear your comments, try it and let us know!
c’mon, are you serious?
Not sure I agree but appreciate the post.
great job!