Aachen University's Phyphox app turns your phone into a 35-tool science lab
Measure incline, sound spectrum, magnetic fields, and more using built-in sensors
Phyphox (short for 'physical phone experiments') is a free, open-source Android app created by researchers at Aachen University. It taps into your phone's built-in sensors—accelerometer, gyroscope, microphone, magnetometer, light sensor, GPS, and barometer—to run 35 different experiments. The app displays real-time data, allows analysis, and supports exporting results to files. This makes sophisticated measurements accessible without expensive dedicated hardware.
Practical examples include measuring the incline of stairs (−32 degrees in one test), finding audio peak frequency (93.75 Hz), checking barometric pressure (999.524 hPa), and using sonar to measure distance. You can also compare magnetic fields from different devices—like guitar pickups—or capture color HSV values for matching paint. With four stopwatch types (acoustic, motion, optical, proximity) and tools like Audio Spectrum for musical note detection, Phyphox turns your phone into a versatile scientific instrument.
- Free open-source app from Aachen University with 35 built-in experiments
- Accesses accelerometer, gyroscope, microphone, magnetometer, light sensor, GPS, and barometer
- Measures incline, audio frequency, magnetic field strength, color HSV, sonar distance, and more
Why It Matters
Turns any Android phone into a portable lab, enabling science experiments without costly equipment.