accelerometer.getCurrentAcceleration

Get the current acceleration along the x, y, and z axis.

navigator.accelerometer.getCurrentAcceleration(accelerometerSuccess, accelerometerError);

Description

The accelerometer is a motion sensor that detects the change (delta) in movement relative to the current device orientation. The accelerometer can detect 3D movement along the x, y, and z axis.

The acceleration is returned using the [accelerometerSuccess](parameters/accelerometerSuccess.html) callback function.

Supported Platforms

  • Android
  • BlackBerry WebWorks (OS 5.0 and higher)
  • iPhone
  • Windows Phone 7 (Mango)

Quick Example

function onSuccess(acceleration) {
    alert('Acceleration X: ' + acceleration.x + '\n' +
          'Acceleration Y: ' + acceleration.y + '\n' +
          'Acceleration Z: ' + acceleration.z + '\n' +
          'Timestamp: '      + acceleration.timestamp + '\n');
};

function onError() {
    alert('onError!');
};

navigator.accelerometer.getCurrentAcceleration(onSuccess, onError);

Full Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Acceleration Example</title>

    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="cordova-1.6.1.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">

    // Wait for Cordova to load
    //
    document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);

    // Cordova is ready
    //
    function onDeviceReady() {
        navigator.accelerometer.getCurrentAcceleration(onSuccess, onError);
    }

    // onSuccess: Get a snapshot of the current acceleration
    //
    function onSuccess(acceleration) {
        alert('Acceleration X: ' + acceleration.x + '\n' +
              'Acceleration Y: ' + acceleration.y + '\n' +
              'Acceleration Z: ' + acceleration.z + '\n' +
              'Timestamp: '      + acceleration.timestamp + '\n');
    }

    // onError: Failed to get the acceleration
    //
    function onError() {
        alert('onError!');
    }

    </script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <h1>Example</h1>
    <p>getCurrentAcceleration</p>
  </body>
</html>

iPhone Quirks

  • iPhone doesn't have the concept of getting the current acceleration at any given point.
  • You must watch the acceleration and capture the data at given time intervals.
  • Thus, the getCurrentAcceleration function will give you the last value reported from a Cordova watchAccelerometer call.