Looking at the Phonegap API (applications programming interface) reference we see that:
"The accelerometer is a motion sensor that detects the change (delta) in movement relative to the current device orientation. The accelerometer can detect 3D movement along the x, y, and z axis."Phonegap is library of tools that enable the development of iPhone and Android apps using html, javascript and css. The advantage of referring to its API documents is that it abstracts the interface away from the lower native language specific function calls. It gives us a higher level overview of the common functionality of the components of the devices across several operating systems and platforms.
At its most simplistic level, in usability terms simply rotating the phone from the default portrait orientation to landscape affords the user a larger target area for interacting with the virtual keyboard.
That is, it makes the 'keys' easier to hit.
By taking advantage of the change in orientation, app designers can provide a more beneficial user experience by taking advantage of the wider screen real estate.
There are obviously far greater uses for this feature (games, remote control etc) but the simple act of providing a larger interactive surface by simply rotating the device is probably its most far reaching in the usability sense.
References:
- http://www.learnxpress.com/smartphone-accelerometer-enhancing-users-experience-in-using-smart-phone-applications.html
- http://docs.phonegap.com/phonegap_accelerometer_accelerometer.md.html
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