How to refresh app upon shaking the device?

Question

Here is an example code. Put this into your activity class:

  /* put this into your activity class */
  private SensorManager mSensorManager;
  private float mAccel; // acceleration apart from gravity
  private float mAccelCurrent; // current acceleration including gravity
  private float mAccelLast; // last acceleration including gravity

  private final SensorEventListener mSensorListener = new SensorEventListener() {

    public void onSensorChanged(SensorEvent se) {
      float x = se.values[0];
      float y = se.values[1];
      float z = se.values[2];
      mAccelLast = mAccelCurrent;
      mAccelCurrent = (float) Math.sqrt((double) (x*x + y*y + z*z));
      float delta = mAccelCurrent - mAccelLast;
      mAccel = mAccel * 0.9f + delta; // perform low-cut filter
    }

    public void onAccuracyChanged(Sensor sensor, int accuracy) {
    }
  };

  @Override
  protected void onResume() {
    super.onResume();
    mSensorManager.registerListener(mSensorListener, mSensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER), SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_NORMAL);
  }

  @Override
  protected void onPause() {
    mSensorManager.unregisterListener(mSensorListener);
    super.onPause();
  }

And add this to your onCreate method:

    /* do this in onCreate */
    mSensorManager = (SensorManager) getSystemService(Context.SENSOR_SERVICE);
    mSensorManager.registerListener(mSensorListener, mSensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER), SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_NORMAL);
    mAccel = 0.00f;
    mAccelCurrent = SensorManager.GRAVITY_EARTH;
    mAccelLast = SensorManager.GRAVITY_EARTH;

You can then ask "mAccel" wherever you want in your application for the current acceleration, independent from the axis and cleaned from static acceleration such as gravity. It will be approx. 0 if there is no movement, and, lets say >2 if the device is shaked.

Based on the comments - to test this:

if (mAccel > 12) {
    Toast toast = Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Device has shaken.", Toast.LENGTH_LONG);
    toast.show();
}

Notes:

The accelometer should be deactivated onPause and activated onResume to save resources (CPU, Battery). The code assumes we are on planet Earth ;-) and initializes the acceleration to earth gravity. Otherwise you would get a strong "shake" when the application starts and "hits" the ground from free-fall. However, the code gets used to the gravitation due to the low-cut filter and would work also on other planets or in free space, once it is initialized. (you never know how long your application will be in use...;-)

Here is my code for shake gesture detection:

import android.hardware.Sensor;
import android.hardware.SensorEvent;
import android.hardware.SensorEventListener;
import android.hardware.SensorManager;


/**
 * Listener that detects shake gesture.
 */
public class ShakeEventListener implements SensorEventListener {


  /** Minimum movement force to consider. */
  private static final int MIN_FORCE = 10;

  /**
   * Minimum times in a shake gesture that the direction of movement needs to
   * change.
   */
  private static final int MIN_DIRECTION_CHANGE = 3;

  /** Maximum pause between movements. */
  private static final int MAX_PAUSE_BETHWEEN_DIRECTION_CHANGE = 200;

  /** Maximum allowed time for shake gesture. */
  private static final int MAX_TOTAL_DURATION_OF_SHAKE = 400;

  /** Time when the gesture started. */
  private long mFirstDirectionChangeTime = 0;

  /** Time when the last movement started. */
  private long mLastDirectionChangeTime;

  /** How many movements are considered so far. */
  private int mDirectionChangeCount = 0;

  /** The last x position. */
  private float lastX = 0;

  /** The last y position. */
  private float lastY = 0;

  /** The last z position. */
  private float lastZ = 0;

  /** OnShakeListener that is called when shake is detected. */
  private OnShakeListener mShakeListener;

  /**
   * Interface for shake gesture.
   */
  public interface OnShakeListener {

    /**
     * Called when shake gesture is detected.
     */
    void onShake();
  }

  public void setOnShakeListener(OnShakeListener listener) {
    mShakeListener = listener;
  }

  @Override
  public void onSensorChanged(SensorEvent se) {
    // get sensor data
    float x = se.values[SensorManager.DATA_X];
    float y = se.values[SensorManager.DATA_Y];
    float z = se.values[SensorManager.DATA_Z];

    // calculate movement
    float totalMovement = Math.abs(x + y + z - lastX - lastY - lastZ);

    if (totalMovement > MIN_FORCE) {

      // get time
      long now = System.currentTimeMillis();

      // store first movement time
      if (mFirstDirectionChangeTime == 0) {
        mFirstDirectionChangeTime = now;
        mLastDirectionChangeTime = now;
      }

      // check if the last movement was not long ago
      long lastChangeWasAgo = now - mLastDirectionChangeTime;
      if (lastChangeWasAgo < MAX_PAUSE_BETHWEEN_DIRECTION_CHANGE) {

        // store movement data
        mLastDirectionChangeTime = now;
        mDirectionChangeCount++;

        // store last sensor data 
        lastX = x;
        lastY = y;
        lastZ = z;

        // check how many movements are so far
        if (mDirectionChangeCount >= MIN_DIRECTION_CHANGE) {

          // check total duration
          long totalDuration = now - mFirstDirectionChangeTime;
          if (totalDuration < MAX_TOTAL_DURATION_OF_SHAKE) {
            mShakeListener.onShake();
            resetShakeParameters();
          }
        }

      } else {
        resetShakeParameters();
      }
    }
  }

  /**
   * Resets the shake parameters to their default values.
   */
  private void resetShakeParameters() {
    mFirstDirectionChangeTime = 0;
    mDirectionChangeCount = 0;
    mLastDirectionChangeTime = 0;
    lastX = 0;
    lastY = 0;
    lastZ = 0;
  }

  @Override
  public void onAccuracyChanged(Sensor sensor, int accuracy) {
  }

}

Add this in your activity:

  private SensorManager mSensorManager;

  private ShakeEventListener mSensorListener;

...

in onCreate() add:

    mSensorManager = (SensorManager) getSystemService(Context.SENSOR_SERVICE);
    mSensorListener = new ShakeEventListener();   

    mSensorListener.setOnShakeListener(new ShakeEventListener.OnShakeListener() {

      public void onShake() {
        Toast.makeText(KPBActivityImpl.this, "Shake!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
      }
    });

and:

@Override
  protected void onResume() {
    super.onResume();
    mSensorManager.registerListener(mSensorListener,
        mSensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER),
        SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_UI);
  }

  @Override
  protected void onPause() {
    mSensorManager.unregisterListener(mSensorListener);
    super.onPause();
  }

Here's yet another implementation that builds on some of the tips in here as well as the code from the Android developer site.

MainActivity.java

public class MainActivity extends Activity {

    private ShakeDetector mShakeDetector;
    private SensorManager mSensorManager;
    private Sensor mAccelerometer;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        // ShakeDetector initialization
        mSensorManager = (SensorManager) getSystemService(Context.SENSOR_SERVICE);
        mAccelerometer = mSensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER);
        mShakeDetector = new ShakeDetector(new OnShakeListener() {
            @Override
            public void onShake() {
                // Do stuff!
            }
        });
    }

    @Override
    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();
        mSensorManager.registerListener(mShakeDetector, mAccelerometer, SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_UI);
    }

    @Override
    protected void onPause() {
        mSensorManager.unregisterListener(mShakeDetector);
        super.onPause();
    }   
}

ShakeDetector.java

package com.example.test;

import android.hardware.Sensor;
import android.hardware.SensorEvent;
import android.hardware.SensorEventListener;

public class ShakeDetector implements SensorEventListener {

    // Minimum acceleration needed to count as a shake movement
    private static final int MIN_SHAKE_ACCELERATION = 5;

    // Minimum number of movements to register a shake
    private static final int MIN_MOVEMENTS = 2;

    // Maximum time (in milliseconds) for the whole shake to occur
    private static final int MAX_SHAKE_DURATION = 500;

    // Arrays to store gravity and linear acceleration values
    private float[] mGravity = { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f };
    private float[] mLinearAcceleration = { 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f };

    // Indexes for x, y, and z values
    private static final int X = 0;
    private static final int Y = 1;
    private static final int Z = 2;

    // OnShakeListener that will be notified when the shake is detected
    private OnShakeListener mShakeListener;

    // Start time for the shake detection
    long startTime = 0;

    // Counter for shake movements
    int moveCount = 0;

    // Constructor that sets the shake listener
    public ShakeDetector(OnShakeListener shakeListener) {
        mShakeListener = shakeListener;
    }

    @Override
    public void onSensorChanged(SensorEvent event) {
        // This method will be called when the accelerometer detects a change.

        // Call a helper method that wraps code from the Android developer site
        setCurrentAcceleration(event);

        // Get the max linear acceleration in any direction
        float maxLinearAcceleration = getMaxCurrentLinearAcceleration();

        // Check if the acceleration is greater than our minimum threshold
        if (maxLinearAcceleration > MIN_SHAKE_ACCELERATION) {
            long now = System.currentTimeMillis();

            // Set the startTime if it was reset to zero
            if (startTime == 0) {
                startTime = now;
            }

            long elapsedTime = now - startTime;

            // Check if we're still in the shake window we defined
            if (elapsedTime > MAX_SHAKE_DURATION) {
                // Too much time has passed. Start over!
                resetShakeDetection();
            }
            else {
                // Keep track of all the movements
                moveCount++;

                // Check if enough movements have been made to qualify as a shake
                if (moveCount > MIN_MOVEMENTS) {
                    // It's a shake! Notify the listener.
                    mShakeListener.onShake();

                    // Reset for the next one!
                    resetShakeDetection();
                }
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onAccuracyChanged(Sensor sensor, int accuracy) {
        // Intentionally blank
    }

    private void setCurrentAcceleration(SensorEvent event) {
        /*
         *  BEGIN SECTION from Android developer site. This code accounts for 
         *  gravity using a high-pass filter
         */

        // alpha is calculated as t / (t + dT)
        // with t, the low-pass filter's time-constant
        // and dT, the event delivery rate

        final float alpha = 0.8f;

        // Gravity components of x, y, and z acceleration
        mGravity[X] = alpha * mGravity[X] + (1 - alpha) * event.values[X];
        mGravity[Y] = alpha * mGravity[Y] + (1 - alpha) * event.values[Y];
        mGravity[Z] = alpha * mGravity[Z] + (1 - alpha) * event.values[Z];

        // Linear acceleration along the x, y, and z axes (gravity effects removed)
        mLinearAcceleration[X] = event.values[X] - mGravity[X];
        mLinearAcceleration[Y] = event.values[Y] - mGravity[Y];
        mLinearAcceleration[Z] = event.values[Z] - mGravity[Z];

        /*
         *  END SECTION from Android developer site
         */
    }

    private float getMaxCurrentLinearAcceleration() {
        // Start by setting the value to the x value
        float maxLinearAcceleration = mLinearAcceleration[X];

        // Check if the y value is greater
        if (mLinearAcceleration[Y] > maxLinearAcceleration) {
            maxLinearAcceleration = mLinearAcceleration[Y];
        }

        // Check if the z value is greater
        if (mLinearAcceleration[Z] > maxLinearAcceleration) {
            maxLinearAcceleration = mLinearAcceleration[Z];
        }

        // Return the greatest value
        return maxLinearAcceleration;
    }

    private void resetShakeDetection() {
        startTime = 0;
        moveCount = 0;
    }

    // (I'd normally put this definition in it's own .java file)
    public interface OnShakeListener {
        public void onShake();
    }
}

I really liked Peterdk's answer. I took it upon myself to make a coulpe of tweaks to his code .

file: ShakeDetector.java

import android.hardware.Sensor;
import android.hardware.SensorEvent;
import android.hardware.SensorEventListener;
import android.hardware.SensorManager;
import android.util.FloatMath;

public class ShakeDetector implements SensorEventListener {

    // The gForce that is necessary to register as shake. Must be greater than 1G (one earth gravity unit)
    private static final float SHAKE_THRESHOLD_GRAVITY = 2.7F;
    private static final int SHAKE_SLOP_TIME_MS = 500;
    private static final int SHAKE_COUNT_RESET_TIME_MS = 3000;

    private OnShakeListener mListener;
    private long mShakeTimestamp;
    private int mShakeCount;

    public void setOnShakeListener(OnShakeListener listener) {
        this.mListener = listener;
    }

    public interface OnShakeListener {
        public void onShake(int count);
    }

    @Override
    public void onAccuracyChanged(Sensor sensor, int accuracy) {
        // ignore
    }

    @Override
    public void onSensorChanged(SensorEvent event) {

        if (mListener != null) {
            float x = event.values[0];
            float y = event.values[1];
            float z = event.values[2];

            float gX = x / SensorManager.GRAVITY_EARTH;
            float gY = y / SensorManager.GRAVITY_EARTH;
            float gZ = z / SensorManager.GRAVITY_EARTH;

            // gForce will be close to 1 when there is no movement.
            float gForce = FloatMath.sqrt(gX * gX + gY * gY + gZ * gZ);

            if (gForce > SHAKE_THRESHOLD_GRAVITY) {
                final long now = System.currentTimeMillis();
                // ignore shake events too close to each other (500ms)
                if (mShakeTimestamp + SHAKE_SLOP_TIME_MS > now ) {
                    return;
                }

                // reset the shake count after 3 seconds of no shakes
                if (mShakeTimestamp + SHAKE_COUNT_RESET_TIME_MS < now ) {
                    mShakeCount = 0;
                }

                mShakeTimestamp = now;
                mShakeCount++;

                mListener.onShake(mShakeCount);
            }
        }
    }
}

Also, don't forget that you need to register an instance of the ShakeDetector with the SensorManager.

// ShakeDetector initialization
mSensorManager = (SensorManager) getSystemService(Context.SENSOR_SERVICE);
mAccelerometer = mSensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER);
mShakeDetector = new ShakeDetector();
mShakeDetector.setOnShakeListener(new OnShakeListener() {

    @Override
    public void onShake(int count) {
            handleShakeEvent(count); 
        }
    });

mSensorManager.registerListener(mShakeDetector, mAccelerometer, SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_UI);

I am developing a motion-detection and shake-detection app for my university project.

Besides the original target of the application, I am splitting the library part (responsible for motion and shake detection) from the app. The code is free, available on SourceForge with the project name "BenderCatch". Documentation I am producing will be ready around mid-september. http://sf.net/projects/bendercatch

It uses a more precise way to detect shake: watches BOTH the difference of force between SensorEvents AND the oscillations present in X and Y axis when you perform a shake. It can even make a sound (or vibrate) on each oscillation of the shake.

Feel free to ask me more by e-mail at raffaele [at] terzigno [dot] com

I have written a small example for detecting vertical and horizontal shakes and showing a Toast.

public class Accelerometerka2Activity extends Activity implements SensorEventListener { 
    private float mLastX, mLastY, mLastZ;
    private boolean mInitialized;
    private SensorManager mSensorManager;
    private Sensor mAccelerometer;
    private final float NOISE = (float) 8.0;

    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
        mInitialized = false;
        mSensorManager = (SensorManager) getSystemService(Context.SENSOR_SERVICE);
        mAccelerometer = mSensorManager.getDefaultSensor(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER);
        mSensorManager.registerListener(this, mAccelerometer , SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_NORMAL);
    }

    protected void onResume() {
        super.onResume();
        mSensorManager.registerListener(this, mAccelerometer, SensorManager.SENSOR_DELAY_NORMAL);
    }

    protected void onPause() {
        super.onPause();
        mSensorManager.unregisterListener(this);
    }


    public void onAccuracyChanged(Sensor sensor, int accuracy) {
        // can be safely ignored for this demo
    }


    public void onSensorChanged(SensorEvent event) {
        float x = event.values[0];
        float y = event.values[1];
        float z = event.values[2];
        if (!mInitialized) {
            mLastX = x;
            mLastY = y;
            mLastZ = z;
            mInitialized = true;
        } else {
            float deltaX = Math.abs(mLastX - x);
            float deltaY = Math.abs(mLastY - y);
            float deltaZ = Math.abs(mLastZ - z);
            if (deltaX < NOISE) deltaX = (float)0.0;
            if (deltaY < NOISE) deltaY = (float)0.0;
            if (deltaZ < NOISE) deltaZ = (float)0.0;
            mLastX = x;
            mLastY = y;
            mLastZ = z;
            if (deltaX > deltaY) {
                Toast.makeText(getBaseContext(), "Horizental", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            } else if (deltaY > deltaX) {
                Toast.makeText(getBaseContext(), "Vertical", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();
            }
        }
    }
}

You can use seismic. An example can be found here.