A hall sensor in phones detects magnetic fields. It’s commonly used to determine when a phone case with a magnetic flap is closed, enabling the device to automatically lock or turn off the screen, conserving power and protecting privacy. Essentially, it helps enhance user experience and phone functionality by making certain actions more intuitive and efficient.
It’s “Hall effect sensor”. They’re called that because they use the [Hall effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_effect), discovered by Edwin Hall in 1879, to detect magnetic fields.
Being able to detect magnetic fields is useful for all sorts of things. If you put a magnet on one part and a Hall effect sensor on another, you can use the sensor to detect how far apart they are from the strength of the field. Game controllers are starting to use this as a robust way of detecting the position of the thumbsticks, for example.
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