iOS device orientation disregarding orientation lock

Question

I want to query the orientation the iPhone is currently in. Using

[UIDevice currentDevice].orientation

works as long as the device isn't orientation-locked. If it is locked, however, it always responds with the locked orientation, not with the actual orientation of the device.

Is there a high-level way to get the actual device orientation?

Answer 1

Also you can use CoreMotion

Orientation detection algorithm:

• if abs( y ) < abs( x ) your iPhone is in landscape position, look sign of x to detect right or left

• else your iPhone is in portrait position, look sign of y to detect up or upside-down.

• If you are interested in face-up or down, look value of z.

---

import CoreMotion

---

var uMM: CMMotionManager!

override func
viewWillAppear( p: Bool ) {
    super.viewWillAppear( p )
    uMM = CMMotionManager()
    uMM.accelerometerUpdateInterval = 0.2

    //  Using main queue is not recommended. So create new operation queue and pass it to startAccelerometerUpdatesToQueue.
    //  Dispatch U/I code to main thread using dispach_async in the handler.
    uMM.startAccelerometerUpdatesToQueue( NSOperationQueue() ) { p, _ in
        if p != nil {
            println(
                abs( p.acceleration.y ) < abs( p.acceleration.x )
                ?   p.acceleration.x > 0 ? "Right"  :   "Left"
                :   p.acceleration.y > 0 ? "Down"   :   "Up"
            )
        }
    }
}

override func
viewDidDisappear( p: Bool ) {
    super.viewDidDisappear( p )
    uMM.stopAccelerometerUpdates()
}