Fundamentals of Smartphone Ambient Light Sensor API & How It Works?

With the advancement in technology, we see new wonders every day. You can access internet anytime you want to, thanks to the invention of smartphones. Technology has been upgraded to a new level, and developers can now customize the smartphones in accordance to the interests and lifestyles of the users. API is a software-to-software interface and it is a relatively new yet promising addition in the technological world.

As mobile users, we are faced with a number of different environments every day. The intensity of light may vary from situation to situation. Our mobiles are not accustomed to adapting to these changes like the human eyes. This may make it awkward and uncomfortable for you to operate your device. Say, it’s a glorious sunny day and you are getting gorgeously tanned on a beach. And you want to do a quick research on your sun block. So you pick up your smartphone and begin typing. But you abruptly stop and squint. Why? Because your screen gets too dim in comparison to the bright sunlight. Even after adjusting the brightness and contrast of your mobile screen, it is still not comfortable to read the text.

Now let us imagine a different situation. It is 3 in the morning and you have woken up abruptly at the sound of your mobile ringing. Groggily, you pick up your phone to answer it, but you get half blinded in the entire process. Because your mobile screen is too bright and your eyes haven’t yet accustomed to such a sparkling object.

There can be a lot of similar scenarios. So the question is how can Ambient Light API be of any help to us? Let’s take a look at W3C Ambient Light API which can modify the levels of light of a mobile device according the environment surrounding the device.

How Ambient Light API Works?

Ambient Light API allows the developers to sense the intensity of light surrounding the device. The intensity is measured in lux, which is a globally known unit for measuring the intensity of light. If the intensity of light surrounding the device is 10-50 lux, the detector will detect it as dim environment, while for values 100-1000 lux and 10000 lux will be regarded as normal and bright environments respectively.

Author Jeniffer is the editor @Key Difference. Having a passion about SEO service, technology, email marketing services, mobile application development ,etc. She wishes to share her knowledge with others and jump into blogging.