The app does compare distances neg-Y and pos-Y but I don't know if it checks the rate of ascent to be within some tolerance of throwing speed. You may have found the cheat code, if you can address the speed limit.
This app doesn't use GPS, it uses accelerometer. It is 100% legal in the US to operate a GPS while over CoCom/MTCR limits: above 1,000 knots (510 m/s) and/or at an altitude higher than 18,000 m (59,000 ft). The regulation is on the GPS manufacturer, who is required to output null/error/no GPS data if it detects it is above these limits (edit: unless they are licensed, which you can apply for if you're a defense contractor or in aerospace). It isn't like if a GPS device is traveling too high or fast, it is automatically a crime and bricks itself or alerts the authorities.
You still have to be careful to buy a GPS unit that isn't limited in altitude, though.
Do you have a source? I remember catching "800km/h" by a normal trekking Garmin device through the window of a passenger plane. Quick googling revealed many such stories.
> "Cheating" by throwing a phone from a tall building typically returns an error message.[3] The app's calculations keep track of how long the phone takes to rise and fall, and an error message is displayed if the distance fallen exceeds the length of the ascent.[2]
Assuming it's just using the accelerometer to detect freefall, is there any way to distinguish ascent and descent? GPS is probably too inaccurate and too high-latency to assist here.
Perhaps it can tell the difference between reaching terminal velocity and crashing into the ground, and it penalizes the former?
Fun little novelty :)
Just popped into my head…
This is phrased like some kind of shot at consumerism but isn't it an even bigger flex to buy an expensive gadget and then immediately start throwing it dangerously high in the air?
This is the kind of infantilization that has kept me out of the walled garden. I no longer feel the need to be under a parent's supervision, and if I did I wouldn't pick a giant corporation for the job.
Edit: Also, does the app check for the sudden deceleration spike when it hits the ground so you can't, say, add some kind of parachute?
You may need to allow "exemptions" of some kind to make it fun. If I need to use my phone for searching for a work related term, I'd like that not to impact the game. Perhaps the keyboard only activates in certain apps?
Anyone done the app for a laptop?
Per the wikipedia article, Wikimedia Foundation's net assets exceed $250 million.
Standard Eula.
>Sergey [Brin] wrote an app that lets you throw phone up in the air, measure how many seconds until you catch it or it hits the floor.
https://www.businessinsider.com/2008/9/our-favorite-part-of-...
