Android Sensor Programming By Example

Best practice for accessing sensors

Android devices are manufactured by different OEMs (Original Equipment Manufactures) and come with various configurations. Each OEM is free to support its own set of sensors, which again come from different vendors. This creates the problem of device fragmentation. This problem is further complicated by addition and deprecation of sensors with different Android API levels. The following are some best practices that will help you deal with this device fragmentation problem and avoid common pitfalls and mistakes:

• Before using the sensor coordinate system, confirm the default orientation mode of the device and check for the orientation of the x and y axes.
• Check the availability, range, minimum delay, reporting modes, ...