220-1201 Practice Question: A technician is troubleshooting a Samsung Galaxy…

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  The accelerometer is faulty.

  Why it's wrong here

  The accelerometer is a crucial sensor responsible for detecting the device's orientation and triggering screen rotation. If the accelerometer itself were faulty, the hardware would be unable to provide the necessary input to the operating system, regardless of software state. Consequently, screen rotation would fail universally, even when the tablet is booted into safe mode, which disables third-party applications but not core hardware functions. Since the rotation *does* work in safe mode, the accelerometer hardware is functioning correctly.

• ✓

  A third-party app is preventing rotation.

  Why this is correct

  Many third-party applications, particularly those designed for specific media consumption or gaming, can programmatically lock the device's screen orientation to portrait or landscape, overriding the system's auto-rotate setting. When such an app is running in the background or has persistent permissions, it can interfere with the global rotation functionality. Booting the tablet into safe mode temporarily disables all non-essential third-party applications and services, allowing the core Android system to function without interference. The fact that screen rotation works correctly in safe mode strongly indicates that a user-installed application is the root cause of the issue.

• ✗

  The auto-rotate setting is only enabled for certain apps.

  Why it's wrong here

  Android's auto-rotate feature is fundamentally a system-wide setting, controlled by a single toggle in the quick settings panel or system settings. It dictates whether the operating system should respond to orientation changes detected by the accelerometer across all applications, unless an individual app explicitly requests a specific orientation. There is no native Android functionality or setting that allows a user to enable or disable auto-rotation on a per-application basis. Therefore, the premise that auto-rotate could be selectively enabled for only certain apps is incorrect.

• ✗

  The tablet's gyroscope needs calibration.

  Why it's wrong here

  The gyroscope primarily measures angular velocity and rotation speed, often used for more precise motion tracking in augmented reality or gaming, rather than the basic screen orientation detection handled by the accelerometer. Calibration issues with a gyroscope typically manifest as inaccurate, drifting, or jittery screen movements, or incorrect responses in apps that rely on precise orientation. A complete inability to rotate the screen is not a characteristic symptom of a miscalibrated gyroscope. Furthermore, since the screen rotation functions correctly in safe mode, it confirms that the underlying hardware and its calibration are not the primary problem.

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