ANDROID 4.4 – KITKAT – STEP DETECTOR CODE

One of the new features in Android 4.4, KitKat is the “Step Counter” and “Step Detector” sensors.

I hope this example will be good enough and helpful in getting started with new Step related features on Android 4.4. 

Step 1: Create SensorEventListener

public class MainActivity extends Activity implements SensorEventListener{

private TextView textView;

private SensorManager mSensorManager;

private Sensor mStepCounterSensor;

private Sensor mStepDetectorSensor;

Step 2: Get SensorManager and Step Sensors

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
textView = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textview);

mSensorManager = (SensorManager)        
            getSystemService(Context.SENSOR_SERVICE);
mStepCounterSensor = mSensorManager
  .getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_STEP_COUNTER);
mStepDetectorSensor = mSensorManager
  .getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_STEP_DETECTOR);
}

Step 3: Implement SensorEventListener.onSensorChanged  method

public void onSensorChanged(SensorEvent event) {
Sensor sensor = event.sensor;
float[] values = event.values;
int value = -1;
 
     if (values.length > 0) {
value = (int) values[0];
}

if (sensor.getType() == Sensor.TYPE_STEP_COUNTER) {
textView.setText("Step Counter Detected : " + value);
} else if (sensor.getType() == Sensor.TYPE_STEP_DETECTOR) {
  // For test only. Only allowed value is 1.0 i.e. for step taken
         textView.setText("Step Detector Detected : " + value);
}
}

Step 4: Register and Unregister Sensors

 protected void onResume() {

super.onResume();

     mSensorManager.registerListener(this, mStepCounterSensor,

SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_FASTEST);  
     mSensorManager.registerListener(this, mStepDetectorSensor,

SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_FASTEST);

}

 protected void onStop() {
super.onStop();
mSensorManager.unregisterListener(this, mStepCounterSensor);
mSensorManager.unregisterListener(this, mStepDetectorSensor);
}

Step 5: Update Android Manifest configuration for these new features
    
    res/values/strings.xml:

  <string name="step_counter">
         android.hardware.sensor.stepcounter
   </string>

   
<string name="step_detector">
         android.hardware.sensor.stepdetector
   </string>

    AndroidManifest.xml

    <uses-feature 
          android:name="@string/step_detector" android:required="false"/>
    
    <uses-feature 
           android:name="@string/step_counter" android:required="false"/>


 Step 6: Test run your simple pedometer application

Step 7: Your Homework : Extend and customize your application by managing step sensor data as per your ideas