How to weigh an item using your phone

Smartphones are constantly coming up with new uses: not so long ago we told you about how to turn your phone into a speaker for your computer. It turns out that’s not all: a smartphone can be turned into a scale! This is not just a stupid request to Google, but a working method: it may seem that this is another hype application, but if so, then its developers did a good job by releasing really useful software that turns a smartphone into a scale, but also gives a fairly accurate result . In this article, we will talk about how to make scales from a smartphone and how accurate the results are.

How to weigh using your phone

In 2022, software makers are making apps for every taste. For example, take the same Akinator: a wonderful application guesses the word that you have guessed. At first it seemed that the program was just eavesdropping on you, but then it turns out that even in complete silence it guesses the name of an object or person.

The thing is that the algorithm builds a “question-answer” system, gradually collecting answers from other users. Not without errors, of course, but still in 7 out of 10 cases, Akinator guesses the correct answer by asking fairly general questions.

It is much more difficult for a smartphone to measure some exact data: for example, the height of an object by scanning it with a camera.

There are inaccuracies and the phone must be held as evenly as possible in order to get a result close to the truth. Approximately the same scales work on a smartphone: when measuring, a gyroscope is used, which determines the orientation of the device in space and performs some function. For example, it changes the screen layout or cancels text input by shaking.

But one application is not enough:

You need to create the right conditions. The smartphone must be placed on an elastic object, which will be a counterweight – a kind of spring. For this, two sheets of paper folded in several layers are suitable for us. And we also need an object whose weight we know.

Lay the sheets on top of each other.
Fold them in half horizontally.
Then again in half vertically.

Then we fold the resulting sheet horizontally into an accordion into three equal parts, slightly bending them.
Downloading Weight Scale Estimator: The app is no longer on Google Play, so you’ll have to take the risk by downloading from a third party source .
After installing the application in the Measurement Unit, select kilograms.

Then we go to the Calibration weight item to do the calibration: we set the weight to 0.5 kg. The app asks you to do this twice.

To prevent the object from slipping, you can put paper under it. Never touch the smartphone screen.

After “Success” appears on the screen, you can weigh different items.

Of course, the weight is displayed inaccurately: sometimes the indicators vary from 3 grams to 5-10, but with an increase in the mass of the object, the error increases. Naturally, you can’t really weigh anything with this method, since it’s not very convenient, there is no application on Google Play, and paper has yet to be found: I personally had to dig to find a couple of A4 sheets in the house.

In addition, it is simply not recommended to weigh a load of more than 500 g on the smartphone screen, so the method is suitable for the most extreme cases: for example, in order not to overdo it with seasonings in the soup.