Android Smartphones with Accelerometers Which Work with the Screen Off

Submitted by John on Mon, 25/06/2012 - 16:41

Do you find that activity monitoring applications like pedometers don't work (receive events / count steps) when your phone screen is switched off? It's not a bug in Android itself but rather a choice or bug of the hardware manufacturer. Some phones work, some phones don't. If you're looking to buy a new phone and you need the accelerometer to work in standby mode (with screen off), this guide might help you. It's a list of information I collected about the issue on the internet. In each case I've listed the source - where I got the information so you can look it up yourself. When the Android version was mentioned, I've included it in brackets. If you'd like me to add something just drop a note in the comments.

Android Phones and Tablets which Receive Accelerometer Events in Standby (with the Screen Off)

AKA Phones which Work

Android Phones and Tablets which Do not Receive Accelerometer Events in Standby (with the Screen Off)

AKA Phones which Don't Work Properly

Phones of Disputed Status

Comments

Submitted by Ty on Thu, 05/07/2012 - 11:15

Many thanks for this list.  Very useful information for me!Thanks.

Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 03/08/2012 - 13:30

You can add to the non-working list alsoMotorola Photon 4G MB855

Submitted by John on Fri, 03/08/2012 - 22:22

Thanks, added!

Submitted by brans on Thu, 16/08/2012 - 14:26

LG P970Archos tab 101

Submitted by John on Fri, 17/08/2012 - 21:27

Thanks, added

Submitted by RUdy on Mon, 20/08/2012 - 08:10

On samsung galaxy S3 to screen off, is now working or something error . can u fix it ?

Submitted by John on Mon, 20/08/2012 - 22:06

Galaxy S3 works, baby!

Submitted by Iñaki on Fri, 24/05/2013 - 12:55

I've found that the rate at which sensor events are delivered decreases when screen is off. I'm using a GAME profile and I need that the rate remains the same even with the screen is turn off. Do you know if something can be done to avoid it or it is a manufacturer decision so none can be done. Thanks!!

Submitted by George on Tue, 25/09/2012 - 11:25

It works on Acer Iconia A500 when you tilt it at the long side

Submitted by John on Tue, 25/09/2012 - 21:08

Thanks, added

Submitted by RendóN on Mon, 01/10/2012 - 05:24

Works fine in this device: Smartphone Acer Liquid MT

Submitted by John on Mon, 01/10/2012 - 23:25

Thanks, added.

Submitted by Reese on Fri, 26/10/2012 - 13:18

Galaxy note 2 doesnt work

Submitted by John on Fri, 26/10/2012 - 13:57

Thanks, added

Submitted by Steve on Sat, 03/11/2012 - 22:21

Tried this on my Asus Infinity TF700 and will not turn it off at all.Please fix.  I would like to use this very much!  Thanks!

Submitted by TOMO on Mon, 12/11/2012 - 21:14

Why doesn't Note 2 work??? :'(In fact, it's even better than S3.

Submitted by RogerM on Sun, 21/07/2013 - 20:36

Have been using Gravity screen off for over a month.  It works well except the turn on by motion feature.

Submitted by Pipacs on Wed, 12/12/2012 - 15:36

I had the following results with an HTC EVO 3D: the accelerometer shuts down when the screen is locked, but then I could re-enable it. So end result is that the accelerometer can be made running while the screen is locked.I suspect many of the phones in the "doesn't work" list behave the same way.

Submitted by John on Sat, 15/12/2012 - 20:17

Maybe. This rings a bell - I think I read posts by people who had tried these things but from what I recall it didn't work or wasn't a satisfactory solution. But to be completely honest I don't remember / am not sure. Worth checking out.

Submitted by ravemir on Wed, 02/01/2013 - 16:34

My phone does record accelerometer values with the screen off, but the problem is the rate at which it does slows down considerably: from 50Hz down to 2Hz. This makes using the sensors quite impractical, for me, but it also means that there is a middle ground regarding manufacturers shutting off sensors.

Submitted by bent on Thu, 10/01/2013 - 02:58

Mediasonic MTP-710 . I can't get your app or any other auto on app to work so I assume that sensor does not work when screen is off. Tks. . . .

Submitted by John on Mon, 21/01/2013 - 06:57

I don't have an app so I'm not sure what you're referring to. Nevertheless I got the message and have added this Mediasonic tab to the non-working list, thanks!

Submitted by delusive on Fri, 08/02/2013 - 21:20

Does anyone know if the Nexus 4 works?

Submitted by Bjørn Ivar Knudsen on Mon, 29/04/2013 - 15:57

doesnt work!

Submitted by Sohhla on Wed, 27/02/2013 - 04:00

Same problem: if I turn the screen off, the accelerometer stops updating. The device I tested on was bought in Brazil (variant S7562L), but I don't think this problem would be exclusive to just some variants of a device.

Submitted by DesmoDavid on Thu, 06/06/2013 - 15:06

Still working in my Nexus 4 polish rev. 11

Submitted by H31vry5 on Tue, 09/07/2013 - 00:05

I just started learning android programming, but after testing out a slightly edited version of the app below, I found that my nexus 4 works... https://code.google.com/p/pedometer/ If you go into the onPasue method in Pedometer.java and comment out the if else statements, it seems to poll fine. I honestly dont know what I am doing so if someone can figure out and tell everyone whats happening it would be great.... 

Submitted by Mobo on Tue, 16/07/2013 - 01:22

I can't confirm that the Nexus 4 wasn't working. Actually it seems to work quite well :)

Submitted by ish on Mon, 05/08/2013 - 21:00

Samsung Galaxy Note doesn't work.

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 15/08/2013 - 00:01

It did not work on my Razar MAXX

Submitted by Michael on Thu, 29/08/2013 - 04:23

Nexus 7 2012 works

Submitted by Zac King on Sat, 31/08/2013 - 02:48

Does this screen of work on the asus fonepad??

Submitted by John C on Fri, 13/09/2013 - 18:43

Try using this app on phones where step counting stops when in standby mode. Seems to work well for me on Galaxy Ace 2.
Thanks for publishing list - very helpful.

Submitted by Fernando on Thu, 19/09/2013 - 12:28

Actually working on Galaxy Nexus with stock 4.3. Also working on the previous 4.2.1 stock rom. Both, the field magnetic sensor and accelerometer sends events while the screen is off.

Submitted by Llondru on Tue, 24/09/2013 - 13:22

Hi, Lenovo A820 (MTK chipset) working perfectly ;)

Submitted by John C on Thu, 26/09/2013 - 22:58

I think my earlier comment has been misinterpreted. The Galaxy Ace 2 does NOT work in standby mode by itself. It should not therefore appear in the "phones which work" section nor in the disputed section. However, by using the "Keep Screen On" app, it will continue to register movement and therefore a pedometer app will work successfully. This comment should be appropriate for any of the phones in the "do not work" section but which have an accelerometer.

Submitted by John on Sat, 05/10/2013 - 23:45

Ahh I see, thanks for clarifying that. I didn't realise you were referring to the keep screen on app. I've fixed up the list.

Submitted by aanz on Thu, 03/10/2013 - 15:28

Not work at lenovo s820

Submitted by Thanh Cong on Sat, 02/11/2013 - 17:30

It not work with my Lenovo A369i

Submitted by Amod on Sun, 10/11/2013 - 04:22

Hi - I could not get the accelerometer data when the screen was off on my HTC OneS. Acquiring partial wake lock in the service that is acquiring the sensor data got the sensors to provide the data. PowerManager pm = (PowerManager) getSystemService(Context.POWER_SERVICE); mWakeLock = pm.newWakeLock(PowerManager.PARTIAL_WAKE_LOCK, "My Tag"); mWakeLock.acquire(); Make sure to remove the lock in onDestroy() life cycle method: mWakeLock.release(); If you can add this to your list, it will help others.

Submitted by mhiou on Sat, 16/11/2013 - 13:09

ASUS Fonepad 7 dont count steps with pedometer and screen off. screen has to be forced to be onFirmware 54.34 , Android v3.2.4-20131016

Submitted by Nathan on Tue, 19/11/2013 - 00:27

Great list, I came across your thread on StackOverflow while trying to debug this issue, saved me some time verifying my diagnosis, thanks!  In my testing, Lenovo K900 does *NOT* work (no accel events with screen off, even with PARTIAL_WAKE_LOCK acquired...) and the Samsung Note3 DOES work (events come in as expected when the screen is off).  Thanks!

Submitted by John on Tue, 19/11/2013 - 01:10

Thanks, added!

Submitted by Steve on Wed, 18/12/2013 - 01:24

Just to say the S4 works :)

Submitted by Ahmed Moharram on Sat, 15/03/2014 - 14:25

It is not working on Samsung S4 I9500 with KitKat.

Submitted by George on Sun, 22/12/2013 - 20:50

Hi JohnIf you could let me know please for the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini pleaseWe use an App that need the acceloromoter to work in standy mode all the time ThanksGeorge

Submitted by Miguel on Thu, 02/01/2014 - 22:33

Work. Count steps with pedometer "Accupedo" and screen off, with stock 4.2.2 

Submitted by me on Fri, 10/01/2014 - 06:27

motorola d1 razr xt918 does work when screen is off BUT the sampling its like 2HZ

Submitted by Tony on Sat, 11/01/2014 - 12:20

The Sprint Samsung Galaxy S4 stock 4.3 works great. Since wireless charging requires the phone to be face up, it would be nice to have an option to detect when the phone is placed on a wireless charger and turn off the screen right away. 

Submitted by raduz&Co. on Thu, 30/01/2014 - 18:51

please add to the not working:Lenovo IdeaTab A3000 (7''), HTC Desire Sthanks for the list!

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