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Fixing the Light Sensor’s Limitation

Your device's built-in light sensor might reach its peak measurement, but you can fix it

Your measurements won't go any higher even though the light is getting brighter or you’re moving closer to it? Most likely, your device's built-in light sensor has reached its limit and won’t measure more than this. Most sensors are designed to measure up to a certain limit (e.g. the speedometer of a car). The same applies to light sensors. For some use cases, that won’t be a problem, but if you measure high-intensity grow lights, this could be an issue.

A sensor that reaches a peak will affect only some, mainly lower-end, device models. There's no way to change the hardware of the sensor, but there is a workaround that still allows you to measure high light intensities. If you're affected by a limiting sensor, read along and follow the steps below to fix this issue.

Step 1: Apply a Diffuser

To block some of the light entering your device's built-in light sensor, apply a diffuser over the built-in light sensor. You can easily build a diffuser yourself in less than a minute by attaching a piece of printer paper to the top of your smartphone.

Check out how we build a diffuser in our video:

Disable the Diffuser Detection

Our app will recognize the attached paper strip and show you a "Remove Diffuser"-warning as it usually shouldn't be used with a diffuser. A diffuser is required on some devices, but if you're following this guide, yours doesn't.

However, as you know what you're doing, you can disable the diffuser detection in the "Danger Zone" at the bottom of the settings screen. When disabled, no warning will be shown and you can use the diffuser without any issues.

Step 2: Calibrate

As some of the light is now blocked by the diffuser – which is a good thing as it allows your built-in light sensor to read higher – you must recalibrate your device to counteract the loss in light transmission.

To do so, create stable lighting conditions in a range where your device's built-in light sensor doesn't hit its peak without the diffuser. Make sure the lamp is sufficiently warmed-up for the light output to stabilize. This may take a few minutes. Detach the previously built diffuser and then take a reference measurement and write it down. After doing so, reapply the diffuser and perform a calibration using your previous measurement as the reference.

The calibration process is shown in our following video:

Still Having Issues?

If you're still experiencing issues with maximum measurements on your device, please contact our support so we can help you troubleshoot the issue.