Use this tag for questions related to issues with sensors equipped in devices, such as: Ambient light (ALS), Accelerometer, Back-illuminated sensor (Backside Illumination, BSI or BI), etc. Note that 'compass', 'gps', 'gyroscope', and 'proximity-sensor' have their own tags.
What are sensors?
Android devices come equipped with several sensors -- a term explained by Wikipedia as follows:
A sensor (also called detector) is a converter that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an (today mostly electronic) instrument.
The word derives from the Latin sentire, which means as much as "to feel".
What sensors do Android devices provide?
This might differ between devices (e.g. not all tablets ship with GPS). But some examples include:
- Accelerometer or gyroscope (Gyroscopes)
- Ambient Light Sensor (ALS)
- Back-illuminated sensor (Backside Illumination, BSI or BI)
- compass: well, a compass for navigation
- gps: sensor (or rather "reception system") for the Global Positioning System
- proximity-sensor for sensing objects close to the phone through changes in the electro-magnetic field surrounding it
