deviceorientation

DeviceOrientation is a web API that reports the physical orientation and motion of a device by emitting DeviceOrientationEvent objects. These events carry rotation data that can be used to drive interactive features such as compass apps, 3D viewers, or tilt-based controls in games. The data reflects how the device is rotated in space relative to the viewer.

Each event includes alpha, beta, gamma, and sometimes an absolute flag. Alpha represents rotation around the z-axis (0-360), beta around the x-axis (-180 to 180), gamma around the y-axis (-90 to 90). If absolute is true, the orientation is reported in relation to Earth's coordinate frame; otherwise values are relative to the device's initial orientation. Values may be undefined on some devices.

To use it, register an event listener for 'deviceorientation' on a global object, e.g., window, and read event.alpha, event.beta, event.gamma. Example code: window.addEventListener('deviceorientation', function (e) { /* use e.alpha, e.beta, e.gamma */ }); Note that on iOS 13 and later, permission must be granted through DeviceOrientationEvent.requestPermission() initiated by a user action, and all access requires a secure context (HTTPS).

Support varies by platform and browser; some environments restrict access. The API is often used alongside or complemented by the Generic Sensor API, which provides standardized sensors like Gyroscope and Accelerometer that can offer more robust orientation data.