Events
PhoneGap lifecycle events.
Event Types
deviceready
This is an event that fires when PhoneGap is fully loaded.
document.addEventListener("deviceready", yourCallbackFunction, false);
Details
This is a very important event that every PhoneGap application should use.
PhoneGap consists of two code bases: native and JavaScript. While the native code is loading, a custom loading image is displayed. However, JavaScript is only loaded once the DOM loads. This means your web application could, potentially, call a PhoneGap JavaScript function before it is loaded.
The PhoneGap deviceready
event fires once PhoneGap has fully loaded. After the device has fired, you can safely make calls to PhoneGap function.
Typically, you will want to attach an event listener with document.addEventListener
once the HTML document's DOM has loaded.
Supported Platforms
- Android
- BlackBerry WebWorks (OS 5.0 and higher)
- iPhone
Quick Example
document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);
function onDeviceReady() {
// Now safe to use the PhoneGap API
}
Full Example
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>PhoneGap Device Ready Example</title>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="phonegap.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">
// Call onDeviceReady when PhoneGap is loaded.
//
// At this point, the document has loaded but phonegap.js has not.
// When PhoneGap is loaded and talking with the native device,
// it will call the event `deviceready`.
//
function onLoad() {
document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);
}
// PhoneGap is loaded and it is now safe to make calls PhoneGap methods
//
function onDeviceReady() {
// Now safe to use the PhoneGap API
}
</script>
</head>
<body onload="onLoad()">
</body>
</html>
BlackBerry (OS 4.6) Quirks
Custom events are not supported in the RIM BrowserField (web browser view), so the deviceready
event will never fire.
A workaround is to manually query PhoneGap.available
until PhoneGap has fully loaded.
function onLoad() {
// BlackBerry OS 4 browser does not support events.
// So, manually wait until PhoneGap is available.
//
var intervalID = window.setInterval(
function() {
if (PhoneGap.available) {
window.clearInterval(intervalID);
onDeviceReady();
}
},
500
);
}
function onDeviceReady() {
// Now safe to use the PhoneGap API
}
pause
This is an event that fires when a PhoneGap application is put into the background.
document.addEventListener("pause", yourCallbackFunction, false);
Details
PhoneGap consists of two code bases: native and JavaScript. While the native code puts the application into the background the pause event is fired.
Typically, you will want to attach an event listener with document.addEventListener
once you receive the PhoneGap 'deviceready' event.
Supported Platforms
- Android
- BlackBerry WebWorks (OS 5.0 and higher)
- iPhone
Quick Example
document.addEventListener("pause", onPause, false);
function onPause() {
// Handle the pause event
}
Full Example
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>PhoneGap Device Ready Example</title>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="phonegap.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">
// Call onDeviceReady when PhoneGap is loaded.
//
// At this point, the document has loaded but phonegap.js has not.
// When PhoneGap is loaded and talking with the native device,
// it will call the event `deviceready`.
//
function onLoad() {
document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);
}
// PhoneGap is loaded and it is now safe to make calls PhoneGap methods
//
function onDeviceReady() {
document.addEventListener("pause", onPause, false);
}
// Handle the pause event
//
function onPause() {
}
</script>
</head>
<body onload="onLoad()">
</body>
</html>
iOS Quirks
In the pause handler, any calls that go through Objective-C will not work, nor will any calls that are interactive, like alerts. This means that you cannot call console.log (and its variants), or any calls from Plugins or the PhoneGap API. These will only be processed when the app resumes (processed on the next run-loop).
resume
This is an event that fires when a PhoneGap application is retrieved from the background.
document.addEventListener("resume", yourCallbackFunction, false);
Details
PhoneGap consists of two code bases: native and JavaScript. While the native code pulls the application from the background the resume event is fired.
Typically, you will want to attach an event listener with document.addEventListener
once you receive the PhoneGap 'deviceready' event.
Supported Platforms
- Android
- BlackBerry WebWorks (OS 5.0 and higher)
- iPhone
Quick Example
document.addEventListener("resume", onResume, false);
function onResume() {
// Handle the pause event
}
Full Example
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>PhoneGap Device Ready Example</title>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="phonegap.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">
// Call onDeviceReady when PhoneGap is loaded.
//
// At this point, the document has loaded but phonegap.js has not.
// When PhoneGap is loaded and talking with the native device,
// it will call the event `deviceready`.
//
function onLoad() {
document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);
}
// PhoneGap is loaded and it is now safe to make calls PhoneGap methods
//
function onDeviceReady() {
document.addEventListener("resume", onResume, false);
}
// Handle the resume event
//
function onResume() {
}
</script>
</head>
<body onload="onLoad()">
</body>
</html>
backbutton
This is an event that fires when the user presses the back button on Android.
document.addEventListener("backbutton", yourCallbackFunction, false);
Details
If you need to over ride the default back button behaviour on Android you can register and event listenter for the 'backbutton' event. It is no longer necessary to call any other method to over ride the back button behaviour. Now, you only need to register an event listener for 'backbutton'.
Typically, you will want to attach an event listener with document.addEventListener
once you receive the PhoneGap 'deviceready' event.
Supported Platforms
- Android
Quick Example
document.addEventListener("backbutton", onBackKeyDown, false);
function onBackKeyDown() {
// Handle the back buton
}
Full Example
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title>PhoneGap Device Ready Example</title>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8" src="phonegap.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8">
// Call onDeviceReady when PhoneGap is loaded.
//
// At this point, the document has loaded but phonegap.js has not.
// When PhoneGap is loaded and talking with the native device,
// it will call the event `deviceready`.
//
function onLoad() {
document.addEventListener("deviceready", onDeviceReady, false);
}
// PhoneGap is loaded and it is now safe to make calls PhoneGap methods
//
function onDeviceReady() {
// Register the event listener
document.addEventListener("backbutton", onBackKeyDown, false);
}
// Handle the back button
//
function onBackKeyDown() {
}
</script>
</head>
<body onload="onLoad()">
</body>
</html>