I have never taken a selfie in my entire life. The feature is entirely pointless for me. Are there any smartphones that don’t have a front facing camera?

      • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        It’s often also used to detect if you’re holding it to your ear, which allows the phone to switch off the screen when you’re in a call.

          • onepinksheep@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Not always. More and more phones in the budget range utilize a “virtual” proximity sensor which actually uses the camera for the same function.

          • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            Painting a small black dot over the front facing camera caused me issues on my previous phone, so I suspect some cameras cheap out on the proximity sensor and use the camera instead.

        • stebo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          1 year ago

          i thought that was just the gravity sensor (holding the phone vertically vs slightly tilted)

          • onepinksheep@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            You’re thinking of the gyroscope, but no. Some phones have a dedicated proximity sensor for things like detecting if you’re in a call and have the phone up to your ear, but more and more phones (especially the budget ones) these days use a “virtual” proximity sensor which utilizes the front camera to perform the same function.

            • stebo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              1 year ago

              that’s interesting… wouldn’t that kind of sensor consume a lot of battery? turning the camera on and off every time you use it, and to determine the distance I assume it’s autofocus?