Question

I have software designed for 2.3.3 where I am using the gravity sensor.

Code below –

private SensorManager sman = (SensorManager) getContext().getSystemService(Context.SENSOR_SERVICE);
private Sensor magnetfield, gravity;
...
magnetfield = sman.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_MAGNETIC_FIELD);
gravity = sman.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_GRAVITY);

I decided to add support for version 2.1. However it seems TYPE_GRAVITY is not supported in 2.1, and I get an error that Sensor.TYPE_GRAVITY is not recognized anymore.

Questions –
A) When I search for “Android gravity sensor 2.1” googles links to videos that demo gravity sensor in 2.1 devices. Does that mean there is a way to get access to it?
B) If not, what is the lowest version that can use this? Couldn’t find it in the SDK.

Thanks

Answer 1

By looking at the source code you can see that the gravity sensor is actually computed using a Butterworth filter. I also asked a question on dsp (here). Hope the link helps because it helped me understand quite a lot of things.

For gravity sensor in versions < 2.3 you need to implement that filter yourself if you want the same results.

Here is the source code.

Later edit: Added a valid link!