Phone sensor test. Flat, then turned.
Lay the phone flat, then tilt it and turn it. At rest the accelerometer should read standard gravity, 9.81 m/s²; as you turn it the orientation should follow on every axis. On an iPhone or iPad, Safari asks for motion access first. On Android a short vibration checks the motor.
One check
- Motion sensors
One check after another, with your progress along the top and a plain verdict on each. Nothing you show the camera or say into the microphone leaves this page.
What it measures
Measured here, not assumed.
- Gravity at rest
- The median size of the acceleration with gravity included. Within 1 m/s² of standard gravity (our line) is a working accelerometer.
- Orientation
- How far the device turned on each axis, from the gyroscope and compass. Under 30 degrees on every axis (our line) after you turned it means the sensor is not responding.
- Event rate
- How often the browser delivers motion events. That is the browser's rate, not the sensor's.
- Vibration
- A short buzz where the browser offers one, and you say whether you felt it. Android browsers can; iPhone browsers cannot.
If it fails
The usual failures, and what fixes each.
- Motion access was refused
- On an iPhone or iPad, reload the page and tap Allow when Safari asks.
- Gravity reads wrong
- Lay the device flat and still, and run it again. A reading still off is a sensor out of calibration; a restart sometimes clears it.
- The orientation does not follow
- Restart the phone. If a compass or game rotation still does not work, the gyroscope needs service.
Where a browser stops
What it cannot tell you.
- Sensor accuracy beyond gravity: no reference is available to a web page.
- The magnetometer on its own, the barometer and the proximity sensor, which browsers do not expose.
- Vibration on an iPhone, which no browser can trigger.
Privacy
Nothing leaves this page.
The camera and microphone are read on this page and stopped as soon as they have been measured. The clip you can play back lives in the browser's memory and is discarded when you leave. The location check discards the position. The internet test sends random bytes to this site and nothing else. The result is stored nowhere unless you ask for it by email, and then only the fact that an email was sent is kept.
Questions
Phone sensor test, answered
- How do I test my phone's gyroscope?
- Open this page on the phone, tap Start, and turn the phone. The figures for each axis should change with it. If they stay put, the gyroscope is not responding.
- Why does my iPhone ask for permission?
- Safari on iOS and iPadOS asks before a page can read motion. The readings stay on this page.
- Why can my iPhone not vibrate?
- No browser on iOS supports the vibration call. Android browsers do.
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