Android: Temporarily disable orientation changes i

Question

My main activity has some code that makes some database changes that should not be interrupted. I'm doing the heavy lifting in another thread, and using a progress dialog which I set as non-cancellable. However, I noticed that if I rotate my phone it restarts the activity which is REALLY bad for the process that was running, and I get a Force Close.

What I want to do is programatically disable screen orientation changes until my process completes, at which time orientation changes are enabled.

Answer 1

As explained by Chris in his self-answer, calling

setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_NOSENSOR);

and then

setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_SENSOR);

really works like charm... on real devices !

Don't think that it's broken when testing on the emulator, the ctrl+F11 shortcut ALWAYS change the screen orientation, without emulating sensors moves.

EDIT: this was not the best possible answer. As explained in the comments, there are issues with this method. The real answer is here.

Answer 2

I didn't like most of the answers here, since in the unlock they set it to UNSPECIFIED as opposed to the previous state. ProjectJourneyman did take it into account, which was great, but I preferred the locking code by Roy. So, my recommendation would be a mix of the two:

private int prevOrientation = ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_UNSPECIFIED;

private void unlockOrientation() {
    setRequestedOrientation(prevOrientation);
}

@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
@SuppressLint("NewApi")
private void lockOrientation() {
    prevOrientation = getRequestedOrientation();
    Display display = getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay();
    int rotation = display.getRotation();
    int height;
    int width;
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB_MR2) {
        height = display.getHeight();
        width = display.getWidth();
    } else {
        Point size = new Point();
        display.getSize(size);
        height = size.y;
        width = size.x;
    }
    switch (rotation) {
        case Surface.ROTATION_90:
            if (width > height)
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);
            else
                setRequestedOrientation(9/* reversePortait */);
            break;
        case Surface.ROTATION_180:
            if (height > width)
                setRequestedOrientation(9/* reversePortait */);
            else
                setRequestedOrientation(8/* reverseLandscape */);
            break;
        case Surface.ROTATION_270:
            if (width > height)
                setRequestedOrientation(8/* reverseLandscape */);
            else
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT);
            break;
        default :
            if (height > width)
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT);
            else
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);
    }
}

Answer 3

I have found a combination of existing rotation/orientation values are needed to cover the four possibilities; there's the portrait/landscape values and the natural orientation of the device. Let's say the devices' natural orientation will have a rotation value of 0 degrees when the screen is in it's "natural" portrait or landscape orientation. Similarly, there will be a rotation value of 90 degrees when it's in landscape or portrait (notice it's opposite of the orientation @ 0 degrees). So the rotation values that are not 0 or 90 degrees will imply "Reverse" orientation. Ok, here's some code:

public enum eScreenOrientation 
{
PORTRAIT (ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT),
LANDSCAPE (ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE),
PORTRAIT_REVERSE (ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_PORTRAIT),
LANDSCAPE_REVERSE (ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_LANDSCAPE),
UNSPECIFIED_ORIENTATION (ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_UNSPECIFIED);

    public final int activityInfoValue;

    eScreenOrientation ( int orientation )
    {
        activityInfoValue = orientation;
    }
}



public eScreenOrientation currentScreenOrientation ( )
{
    final int rotation = ((WindowManager) getSystemService(Context.WINDOW_SERVICE)).getDefaultDisplay().getRotation();

    final int orientation = getResources().getConfiguration().orientation;
    switch ( orientation ) 
    {
    case Configuration.ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT:
        if ( rotation == Surface.ROTATION_0 || rotation == Surface.ROTATION_90 )
            return eScreenOrientation.PORTRAIT;
        else
            return eScreenOrientation.PORTRAIT_REVERSE;
    case Configuration.ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE:
        if ( rotation == Surface.ROTATION_0 || rotation == Surface.ROTATION_90 )
            return eScreenOrientation.LANDSCAPE;
        else
            return eScreenOrientation.LANDSCAPE_REVERSE;
    default:
        return eScreenOrientation.UNSPECIFIED_ORIENTATION;
    }
}

public void lockScreenOrientation ( )
    throws UnsupportedDisplayException
{
    eScreenOrientation currentOrientation = currentScreenOrientation( );
    if ( currentOrientation == eScreenOrientation.UNSPECIFIED_ORIENTATION )
        throw new UnsupportedDisplayException("Unable to lock screen - unspecified orientation");
    else
        setRequestedOrientation( currentOrientation.activityInfoValue );
}

public void unlockScreenOrientation (  )
{
    setRequestedOrientation( ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_UNSPECIFIED );
}

Answer 4

Here is a more complete and up to date solution that works for API 8+, works for reverse portrait and landscape, and works on a Galaxy tab where the "natural" orientation is landscape (call activity.setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_UNSPECIFIED) to unlock the orientation):

@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
@SuppressLint("NewApi")
public static void lockActivityOrientation(Activity activity) {
    Display display = activity.getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay();
    int rotation = display.getRotation();
    int height;
    int width;
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB_MR2) {
        height = display.getHeight();
        width = display.getWidth();
    } else {
        Point size = new Point();
        display.getSize(size);
        height = size.y;
        width = size.x;
    }
    switch (rotation) {
    case Surface.ROTATION_90:
        if (width > height)
            activity.setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);
        else
            activity.setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_PORTRAIT);
        break;
    case Surface.ROTATION_180:
        if (height > width)
            activity.setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_PORTRAIT);
        else
            activity.setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_LANDSCAPE);
        break;          
    case Surface.ROTATION_270:
        if (width > height)
            activity.setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_LANDSCAPE);
        else
            activity.setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT);
        break;
    default :
        if (height > width)
            activity.setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT);
        else
            activity.setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);
    }
}

Answer 5

I think this code is easier to read.

private void keepOrientation() {

    int orientation = getResources().getConfiguration().orientation;
    int rotation = getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay().getRotation();

    switch (rotation) {
        case Surface.ROTATION_0:
            if (orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT) {
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT);
            } else {
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);
            }
            break;
        case Surface.ROTATION_90:
            if (orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT) {
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_PORTRAIT);
            } else {
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);
            }
            break;
        case Surface.ROTATION_180:
            if (orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT) {
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_PORTRAIT);
            } else {
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_LANDSCAPE);
            }
            break;
        default:
            if (orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT) {
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT);
            } else {
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_LANDSCAPE);
            }
    }
}

Answer 6

This works prefect for me. It solves problem with different "natural orientation" of tablet/phone ;)

int rotation = getWindowManager().getDefaultDisplay().getRotation();

        Configuration config = getResources().getConfiguration();
        int naturalOrientation;

        if (((rotation == Surface.ROTATION_0 || rotation == Surface.ROTATION_180) &&
                config.orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE)
                || ((rotation == Surface.ROTATION_90 || rotation == Surface.ROTATION_270) &&
                config.orientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT)) {
            naturalOrientation = Configuration.ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE;
        } else {
            naturalOrientation = Configuration.ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT;
        }

        // because getRotation() gives "rotation from natural orientation" of device (different on phone and tablet)
        // we need to update rotation variable if natural orienation isn't 0 (mainly tablets)
        if (naturalOrientation == Configuration.ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE)
            rotation = ++rotation % 4;

        switch (rotation) {
            case Surface.ROTATION_0: //0
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT);
                break;
            case Surface.ROTATION_90: //1
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE);
                break;
            case Surface.ROTATION_180: //2
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_PORTRAIT);
                break;
            case Surface.ROTATION_270: //3
                setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_REVERSE_LANDSCAPE);
                break;
        }
    } else {
        setRequestedOrientation(ActivityInfo.SCREEN_ORIENTATION_UNSPECIFIED);
    }