If you’re like me, you’ve probably had to lay in bed, browse Gotta Be Mobile or browse Twitter and deal and fight the battle of your phone or tablet screen spinning. This is actually a feature, believe it or not, and there is an “auto-rotate screen” option that can be disabled in the settings.
While the average user will probably set up and set up a phone within minutes of receiving it, you wouldn’t believe the number of family members asking this question. Why is my screen spinning? Or how can I disable the screen rotation feature? So below you’ll find the dead simple three or more taps you need to do to disable it, and even a quick video.
It gets really old when lying in bed and the screen keeps switching to landscape mode, then you have to tilt it a bit to get back to the normal portrait view we’re all used to. While some will leave this feature enabled, many will opt to uncheck it to make things easier in the long run.
Just a few quick and simple clicks or touch of your finger in settings will disable this feature completely and you can hold the phone as you wish and keep the screen stable.
Instructions:
It really is so simple that you’ll have to google for an answer. For those who are absolutely new to Android though, this will be extremely helpful. You will want to go into settings. This can happen by finding the gear-shaped “settings” button in your app tray or by tapping the menu and going to the system settings on your phone. Alternatively, newer Android devices have a settings button in the dropdown bar at the top. Start by going into settings.
(uncheck that box)
Okay, maybe that was four clicks instead of three, but it’s that simple and you’re done. Now whether you’re browsing the web, getting stuck in the Facebook mobile app, or browsing apps in the Google Play Store, the screen will stay steady and never rotate when you don’t want to.
Alternatively, there are widgets you can get from the Play Store and place on your home screen to quickly enable and disable this feature in seconds, but going to settings isn’t all that difficult.
As promised, we’ve also made a super quick video detailing the same steps above for those who prefer to follow the instructions rather than read them. Saved with Google Glass, but it should get the job done.
This much. As promised, it only takes a few seconds and a few finger taps, and you have now disabled the automatic screen rotation feature that annoys hundreds of thousands of Android users. If it were up to me, this would be disabled right out of the box, but then we would be writing a how-to guide instead of how to disable it. Everyone’s to himself.
