Can a smartphone like iPhone measure weight? Well, that’s the phenomenon we are going to see in this article. It’s good to know that big brands like Apple experiment with things from all aspects, no doubt that implementation is the tough part but without it how a brand will gain public attention?

And Apple has never failed us with their experiments, your iPhone is capable of measuring the weight of objects. This is done using 3D touch which allows the iPhone to measure the weight of objects up to 385 grams (approximately over 13 ounces and minutely less than a pound).

But let me tell you an interesting fact about measuring weight using iPhone. Apple has put an end to this feature, the company has literally given orders to developers not to create a “scale app”. This is because iPhone is one of the professional lineups of Apple, and they don’t want their users to use iPhone in such a manner.

But don’t worry about that, we have managed to provide you with some “scale apps”, that will help you to measure the weight of small objects on your iPhone. Also, we have mentioned some precautions that we consider necessary to read before attempting the action.

How 3D Touch works and what Apple devices is it available?

Inside the iPhone, a sensor is implanted known as a “Capacitive sensor” into a backlight of the iPhone’s Retina Display. When we apply pressure, the changes between the cover glass and the backlight are made. And these changes are measured, which are then combined with the touch sensor and accelerometer which provide accurate pressure response.

As mentioned above, Apple does not want to use its iPhone in such a way so they prevented the 3D touch technology. But here is the list of iPhones where you can be able to get 3D technology to measure weight on iPhone:

• iPhone 6S
• iPhone 6S Plus
• iPhone 7
• iPhone 7 Plus
• iPhone 8
• iPhone 8 Plus
• iPhone X
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XS Max

Scale Apps to Measure Weight of objects on iPhone

Mind you, there are limitations while measuring weight on iPhone.

Digital Scale+

Digital Scale+ app is developed by Wern Jie works on iPhone running iOS12 and above. The app is completely open sourced on GitHub and GitLab. But there are some criteria in order to use this tool, make sure the object you chose to measure weight is detected by touch screen, the pressure should be somewhere equal to the finger touch in order to register weight.

If it still doesn’t detect the weight of the object, you can put the spoon and place the small object on the spoon so pressure can be created. Mind you, the app is not available on App Store to download, but it is fully functional on the web.

TouchScale

Let me tell you that TouchScale is not an app, but it is a web-based application that is fully functional. The process of measuring the weight of an object is quite simple, just place the object on your iPhone screen and it will start showing weight in grams.

Besides this, you can be able to set 3D touch sensitivity as light, medium, and firm. It will show you the accurate measurement, the only caveat TouchScale has is that your object should be able to detect by a capacitive touch screen. Here is the 3D touch that will start measuring force beyond 0.0208333, the following table will give you a good idea.

Sensitivity	Granularity
Light	0.0208333
Medium	0.0166666
Firm	0.0138888

The interface is quite simple, and we have attached a video below that will provide you with an idea of how TouchScale works.

Final Thoughts

As mentioned above, Apple has completely revoked access to 3D touch. And also removed the scaling apps from App Store, these are the only two ways that are valid now. If you still want to use your iPhone as a weight measuring tool you can check out the programs for sure.

That’s it for now, hope this helps! Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. Till then stay tuned for more info.