Support

Write to labs@laan.com. Tell us your device, and what you tried. We read everything.

Sonar Ruler runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later.

For tips on which mode to use, how to find the right echo and how far it reaches, see How to get better measurements with sound.

Live Wall

It can't find the wall. Point the bottom edge straight at a hard, flat wall, or up at the ceiling. Turn the volume up. Then step slowly closer: the wall's echo is the one that moves with you. Tap it to track it.

The reading jumps around. Hold the phone still until it says STEADY. Echoes from furniture, a doorway or the floor can outshine a far wall: try closer, or aim at a bigger, clearer patch of wall.

What it can't measure. Soft things (curtains, sofas, people) soak up sound, and small things (a cup, a chair leg) send too little back. Big, hard, flat surfaces work best.

Two Phones

Nothing happens. Both devices need Sonar Ruler open on Two Phones. The other one needs the app too: Share App puts a QR code on screen for it.

It won't settle. Lay both devices down with their bottom edges facing each other, nothing in between, and the volume up. Then wait for STEADY.

Quiet

Quiet plays a chirp at 17.5 to 20 kHz, which most adults can't hear (children and pets often can). It needs the volume near the top, and in Two Phones both devices need Quiet on. It doesn't reach as far as the audible chirp, and it's less steady.

Questions

Why does it need the microphone? To hear its own chirps and their echoes, or the other device's chirps. Nothing is recorded or sent anywhere. See the privacy policy.

Why does it ask for the temperature? Sound is faster in warm air, by about 0.6 m/s for each degree Celsius. Set the room's temperature and the distances follow.

Headphones? Sonar Ruler needs the device's own speaker and microphone. Unplug headphones and turn off Bluetooth audio while you measure.

How exact is it? Sonar Ruler is for fun and learning. Use a tape measure when it has to be exact.