What Makes Your Smartphone Vibrate?
Beneath every buzz is a miniature marvel of engineering
Buzzzzzz
The smartphone in your pocket buzzes subtly or thrums lightly on the desk. It’s such a commonplace occurrence that we hardly think about it.
These days, vibrate mode is used everywhere as a discreet way to let us know about incoming messages or calls. It’s less intrusive than a ringtone. If you have trouble hearing or there is a lot of ambient noise, it’s a good way to stay connected. But it hasn’t always been around.
Before the smartphone
Pagers were early users of the vibrating alert. Commonly used in the emergency services, they trembled so strongly they could buzz themselves across the table, off the edge and on to the floor.
By the time mobile telephony took off in the 1990s, the vibrating alert had started to make its way into some models such as the Motorola StarTAC. It wasn’t the norm, though. Vibration alert was a special feature.
Nowadays, every smartphone has a vibrate mode. A swipe and a quick press on the screen and you’re there. But how does it work?
