How to activate and deactivate the proximity sensor on Android phones - Step by step

Likewise, it allows you to perform tasks based on the gestures performed with the mobile phone, which must be previously configured within the tool option. It should be noted that there are people who deem it necessary to use it, while others wish to disable it, in order to avoid the invasion of their privacy every time they use the phone.

Developer options - Manage to activate and deactivate the proximity sensor on your mobile

Blocking the sensor reading of the Android device is mainly used in the way that no application is able to obtain information via any of these terminals.




How to activate and deactivate the proximity sensor on Android phones - Step by step

Although this was a very little known feature, it was recently announced by the so-called Android Police, to demonstrate that this capability can be configured.

Once announced, several people who make up the Android device community have tried using this tool for check the feasibility of its advantages.

Steps to activate the proximity sensor on Android

Depending on which version you own, you will get via system settings the option to activate and deactivate the proximity sensor within the Android settings.

Therefore, to use it you must first make sure that the "Developer settings" appears in (usually at the bottom) of the “Settings” list.

There you will find a section called " Quick tile settings developer "in where you can enable the “Disable sensors” option in the quick settings panel.

Whenever you use this option, an icon will appear in the status bar to inform you that the function has been enabled.


Disable the proximity sensor on Android

Although the proximity sensor is really useful there are scenarios in which you may find it necessary to deactivate it, for example if you send a lot of voice notes on WhatsApp the sensor could be a bit annoying, then we will explain how to disable it in a simple way.



  • Enter the menu of the settings of your mobile.
  • There we look for the submenu "My device" and select "Calls".
  • In that submenu we will find an option called configuration, we click there.
  • Finally we will see that a call option will be activated 'turn off the screen during calls', we simply press there to deactivate it and with this the proximity sensor will no longer be active.

How to activate and deactivate the proximity sensor on Android phones - Step by step

Consequences of activating and deactivating the proximity sensor

Although ensuring the confidentiality of information is very important today, the activation and deactivation of the proximity sensor also has significant consequences.

By deactivating the function, you will not be able use the compass, accelerometer, phone cameras and of course the proximity sensor.

It should be noted that this does not affect in any way the use of the fingerprint reader of the mobile device, as it is a sensor style that is configured separately.

What to do if your Android version doesn't enable this option?

Google Play Store comes as the lifesaver in these situations, as there is clearly an application designed to configure this feature.


Sensor Disabler is the recognized and recommended program in case you want activate and deactivate the proximity sensor to avoid its use when the face is at a certain distance from the device.

To buy it, you just have to open it Google store and enter the name of the program, when you find it you have to click on it to press the "Install" button. In this way, the phone will download and install automatically the application on your mobile device.


Start by entering the application and among the options found in the list of programs, a box appears that verifies the activation and deactivation action of the proximity sensor of your mobile phone.


Once you click on it, the function of this sensor will be disabled, so all functions and activities that work directly with it will not be executed while using the phone.

It is important to remember that although the benefits are many, depending on the user's needs, disabling this feature directly affects the performance of the device. Therefore, it is recommended to make this kind of changes inside the phone only when it is extremely necessary to ensure user privacy.

How to activate and deactivate the proximity sensor on Android phones - Step by step

Find out how to calibrate the proximity sensor of your mobile

In case you notice errors in your proximity sensor, it may be necessary recalibrate the sensor, to do this we have two options which we will explain in detail. The first way is to reset the sensor hoping that this solves the problem, and the second option is to use external applications to perform the calibration.



How to reset a proximity sensor

The way to reset the sensor is very simple, what we have to do is follow the instructions we have given in the previous steps to deactivate the proximity sensor and once deactivated we must turn off our device. After waiting a moment we turn the device back on and reactivate the sensor and voila! Now we just have to check if the problem has been solved.

What are the best apps to calibrate the proximity sensor of my Android phone?

If the problem was not fixed with the reset then we can use external applications which help us to calibrate the proximity sensor in a simple way. Here are the 3 best applications available to perform this function.

How to activate and deactivate the proximity sensor on Android phones - Step by step

Proximity sensor reset

This application repairs the configuration of the proximity sensor in Android devices, DON'T ci just download the application from the Google Play Store, open the application and select the option to calibrate. So it remains only to check whether the sensor is working properly.


Quick setup

This application is a little more complete and helps us to do work our android system better, it has multiple options, such as a charge optimizer, battery, CPU cooler, junk remover and the option to calibrate our proximity sensor, to do it ourselves we select the option to calibrate.

Accelerometer calibration

Finally, sometimes the problem is not the proximity sensor but the accelerometer, which is what informs the phone what position it is in, so with this application we can recalibrate and the operation is as simple as previous applications, so after installing and opening it, we simply select the option to calibrate.

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