Detect change in orientation using javascript

Question

Is it possible to detect change in orientation of the browser on the iPad or Galaxy Tab using javascript? I think it's possible using css media queries.

Answer 1

UPDATE:

You might want to check out

jQuery mobile orientationchange

or the plain JS one:

window.addEventListener("orientationchange", function() {
  alert(window.orientation);
}, false);

MDN:

window.addEventListener("orientationchange", function() {
    alert("the orientation of the device is now " + screen.orientation.angle);
});

---

Older answer

http://www.nczonline.net/blog/2010/04/06/ipad-web-development-tips/

Safari on the iPad does support the window.orientation property, so if necessary, you can use that to determine if the user is in horizontal or vertical mode. As reminder of this functionality:

window.orientation is 0 when being held vertically
window.orientation is 90 when rotated 90 degrees to the left (horizontal)
window.orientation is -90 when rotated 90 degrees to the right (horizontal)

There is also the orientationchange event that fires on the window object when the device is rotated.

You can also use CSS media queries to determine if the iPad is being held in vertical or horizontal orientation, such as:

<link rel="stylesheet" media="all and (orientation:portrait)" href="portrait.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" media="all and (orientation:landscape)" href="landscape.css">

---

http://www.htmlgoodies.com/beyond/webmaster/toolbox/article.php/3889591/Detect-and-Set-the-iPhone--iPads-Viewport-Orientation-Using-JavaScript-CSS-and-Meta-Tags.htm

<script type="text/javascript">
var updateLayout = function() {
  if (window.innerWidth != currentWidth) {
    currentWidth = window.innerWidth;
    var orient = (currentWidth == 320) ? "profile" : "landscape";
    document.body.setAttribute("orient", orient);
    window.scrollTo(0, 1);
  }
};

iPhone.DomLoad(updateLayout);
setInterval(updateLayout, 400);
</script>