Your phone can serve a lot of purposes other than just making phone calls and browsing social media. There are several tools that your phone can replace too.

One such tool is a stud finder, and no, we aren’t talking about the studs with slick hair down at your local bar. We’re talking about the ones you might run into when drilling holes in a wall.

There are a lot of stud finder apps floating around but do they really work? And if they do, how effective they are? Read on to find out.

Also read: Top 7 Meeting Scheduler apps for Android

Stud detector apps — real or scam?

Most stud detector apps work by using your phone’s internal compass to detect metal inside the walls. However, while they do work, the accuracy is questionable, and there’s no saying if the ‘stud’ detected is a stud or something else like a pipe — something you don’t want to drill a hole through.

These apps work the same way on both Android and iOS devices. Detection range, of course, will vary based on how effective the app and your phone’s compass or magnetometer is and they often lack the other features that a dedicated stud detector would come with, but for a quick scan, these will give you a rough idea of what’s behind the wall.