How does a smartphone know up from down?

It was probably pretty cool to you the first time you ever tried it on a smartphone or tablet, but the days of being impressed with such things are behind us. Today, if a phone doesn’t automatically adjust orientation when we turn it, the thing has to be broken, right?

Remember back, for a moment, to the first few times you saw your iPhone or other device do it. Remember wondering how it worked? The technology behind it is extremely impressive and a lot more complex than we probably know. The technique required to mold the silicon combined with the precision it takes to work with something so small is mind-blowing.

Thanks to the Engineer Guy, we have our answer nicely explained in this video: