[subhumanderelict]

It’s possible there might magnets both in the phone and in the stylus. In one of my many bored instances at work, I held the stylus up to my CRT monitor. Once you’re within about 1” of the screen you can see the magnetized area is roughly halfway down the chrome portion. I tried holding the phone up to the monitor as well and noticed the same pattern emanate from the location the magnet in the stylus would be if it was inserted in the phone. However, this could be due to residual/induced magnetization from the stylus being in there for so long.

I want to know how the magnet lost its strength so quickly. Did you strike it repeatedly or expose it to extreme heat? Those can wreak havoc on the magnetic domains. Sauman has the right idea with taking a rare-earth magnet to it, but try to keep a piece of paper between the magnet and the stylus. That’s right everyone, I don’t even like scratches on my stylus.