Android and screen rotation... ?

[JM33]

Hi guys,

There didn't seem like a better place to post this, please forgive me if I missed something. I am wondering about the current possibilties for screen rotation with Android. Can the screen rotate to any direction or only portrait and landscape left? I am hoping for landscape right, anyone know if this is possible natively, or through a 3rd party app?

The reason I ask is because I am seriously considering the new moto droid. All info so far shows the D-pad on the right of the keyboard, and I do not expect that to change when it is released. I like to play games on the phone and having the D-pad on right is just plain awkward. However, one could simply flip it upside down and voila!, the is now D-pad on the left like every good gamepad should be. But, will the screen rotate too?

 

[Fake Name]

Why does it matter which way it can rotate?

All it needs are 2 ways, landscape and portrait

 

[noonehereyet]

Hi guys,

There didn't seem like a better place to post this, please forgive me if I missed something. I am wondering about the current possibilties for screen rotation with Android. Can the screen rotate to any direction or only portrait and landscape left? I am hoping for landscape right, anyone know if this is possible natively, or through a 3rd party app?

The reason I ask is because I am seriously considering the new moto droid. All info so far shows the D-pad on the right of the keyboard, and I do not expect that to change when it is released. I like to play games on the phone and having the D-pad on right is just plain awkward. However, one could simply flip it upside down and voila!, the is now D-pad on the left like every good gamepad should be. But, will the screen rotate too?

All android phones have rotation just not 360 degree rotation at the moment as far as i know only the cliq has 360 rotation however being that its a Motorola i would believe that their other phones releasing (at least the ones with moto blur) will have the same abilities.....

 

[JM33]

@ Fake Name: I hope I can explain this...

Normal operation I would expect is for the keyboard to slide out, and screen would be held on top, while the keyboard is on bottom. At least this would be the natural way to hold the phone since the letters on the keyboard would be right side up, and assuming no auto screen rotation, the screen also would be right side up. (90 degrees clockwise from portrait)

I want to know if I were to flip it upside down (screen on bottom, keyboard on top- with letters upside down), what happens to the screen? Does it auto-rotate? (To 270 dgrees clockwise from portrait). Or is there an app for that?

@noonhereyet: If I am understanding you correctly, this is native on the Cliq?, but does it auto-rotate based on the accelerometer?

Thanks in advance

 

[noonehereyet]

@ Fake Name: I hope I can explain this...

Normal operation I would expect is for the keyboard to slide out, and screen would be held on top, while the keyboard is on bottom. At least this would be the natural way to hold the phone since the letters on the keyboard would be right side up, and assuming no auto screen rotation, the screen also would be right side up. (90 degrees clockwise from portrait)

I want to know if I were to flip it upside down (screen on bottom, keyboard on top- with letters upside down), what happens to the screen? Does it auto-rotate? (To 270 dgrees clockwise from portrait). Or is there an app for that?

@noonhereyet: If I am understanding you correctly, this is native on the Cliq?, but does it auto-rotate based on the accelerometer?

Thanks in advance

see on the cliq the d-pad is on the left where the droid is on the right and if your using emulators or into gaming yes it will make a difference... so i understand totally why he wants it to rotate and yes it is native on the cliq and based on the accelerometer as with the other phones.... only on the cliq it responds to 360 degrees.... and so you can see what he/I mean here are some pics of my cliq so you can see the full rotation....

 

[JM33]

see on the cliq the d-pad is on the left where the droid is on the right and if your using emulators or into gaming yes it will make a difference... so i understand totally why he wants it to rotate and yes it is native on the cliq and based on the accelerometer as with the other phones.... only on the cliq it responds to 360 degrees.... and so you can see what he/I mean here are some pics of my cliq so you can see the full rotation....

Thank you very much! You have put my mind at ease. Now I just have to wait for the release and verify that Moto did not change this functionality on the Droid.

All the best

 

[dessa]

My new Nexus One does not do this. That is, it does only Portrait and (keyboard) landscape mode. I'd like to do the "top to the right" landscape mode to:
1) keep the light sensor away from my LARGE hand so that the screen stops dimming and
2) put the buttons on the "other sides" so I stop pressing them!

So does anyone know of an app that "extends" the accelerometer/screen interaction for "top to the right" landscape mode?

 

[wmm]

As a Nexus One owner, I'd like to second that request. My reason is that I'm right-handed, and when I use the phone with the power plugged in, the power connection interferes with free movement of my right hand to scroll, hit buttons, etc. I'd much prefer to have the power connection on my left hand, since I don't move my left hand nearly as much and it would be less of a hindrance.

 

[takeshi]

I like to play games on the phone and having the D-pad on right is just plain awkward.

...and having the keyboard above the screen isn't awkward?

see on the cliq the d-pad is on the left where the droid is on the right and if your using emulators or into gaming yes it will make a difference...

It's a YMMV thing. Location of the d-pad on the Droid has never bothered me (and I do use the emulators quite a bit).

 

[legsilver]

hi while were on the topic, my phone no longer rotates! I have no idea why, i selected auto rotate, but it no longer rotates, anyone know the solution?

 

[operant]

Droid x does along with the other Droids (I think), but not all phones do because they want to force you into one of two orientations that they think are best for use of the hardware. I think that is bs and all phones should have 360 or at least 3 side.

 

[Stuntman]

My Desire Z can rotate to landscape both left and right. If the keyboard is out, then it only orients to landscape in line with the keyboard. I'm not sure about portrait while upside down with the keyboard retracted, though. I'll try it out later.

 

[Stuntman]

I don't play many games. The only one I play that is in landscape mode is Angry Birds and that seems to automatically default to rotating to the left. I haven't tried using it the reverse way to see if it orients itself that way. The other games I have are in portrait mode.

 

[zuben el genub]

GalaxyS4G also rotates landscape both ways. If you took the lettering off the phone, you really couldn't tell which way was up from the front.
Z