How do you force a website to be in landscape mode when viewed on a mobile device?

Question

I've seen a lot of questions about this, but no definitive answer on how to do this in a Razor/MVC site where the mobile site is determined using the DefaultDisplayMode class. Also, a lot of the answers are just code snippets without details on where the code goes (is it in the controller, view, CSS, etc.?)

So to start off, there is a Global file that calls EvaluateDisplayMode():

Global.asax.cs

public class MvcApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication
{
    protected void Application_Start()
    {
        AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();
        BundleConfig.RegisterBundles(BundleTable.Bundles);
        WebApiConfig.Register(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);
        FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
        RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
        DeviceConfig.EvaluateDisplayMode();
    }
}

The EvaluateDisplayMode in the App_Start folder sets up a mobile and desktop class based on the GetOverriddenUserAgent() type:

DeviceConfig.cs

public static class DeviceConfig
{
    const string DeviceTypePhone = "Mobile";

    public static void EvaluateDisplayMode()
    {
        DisplayModeProvider.Instance.Modes.Insert(0,
            new DefaultDisplayMode(DeviceTypePhone)
            {
                ContextCondition = (ctx => (

                    (ctx.GetOverriddenUserAgent() != null) &&
                    (
                      (ctx.GetOverriddenUserAgent().IndexOf("android", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) >= 0) ||
                    (ctx.GetOverriddenUserAgent().IndexOf("iPhone", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) >= 0) ||
                    (ctx.GetOverriddenUserAgent().IndexOf("Window Phone", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) >= 0) ||
                    (ctx.GetOverriddenUserAgent().IndexOf("Blackberry", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase) >= 0)
                    )
            ))
            });
    }
}

Each page has a Layout/Master page called _AdminMaster.Mobile.cshtml which uses a CSS file called PhoneCommon.css. There's nothing special about the CSS (mobile vs. desktop; i.e. no media queries; I didn't right the CSS, I inherited it from another developer the client used) except the height doesn't extend all the way to the bottom of the page. Here's a portion (it's quite lengthy) of the CSS:

#main #content {
float:left;
display:block;
width:100%;
margin:0 auto;
position: relative;
top:7px;
left:0;
border:1px solid #000;
box-shadow:0 0 0 1px #464646;
-webkit-box-shadow:0 0 0 1px #464646;
-moz-box-shadow:0 0 0 1px #464646;
background:url(../images/login_bg.png) repeat top center;
border-radius:5px;
-webkit-border-radius:5px;
-moz-border-radius:5px;
position:relative;
min-height:300px; padding-bottom:30px;
}

The best answer seems to come from @uʍopǝpısdn here:

Can we make our webpage open defaultly in landscape mode for mobile/tablets using media query/js/jquery?

, but it doesn't work. I put the rotate code in PhoneCommon.css. What it does is force the page into the upper left hand corner and doesn't rotate it.

Below are some other sites I looked at, but none show a complete answer. Can someone show me how to get my site to force to landscape on mobile devices? Thanks.

Foundation: Force landscape mode on mobile devices

Force tablet to be in landscape mode

Can we make our webpage open defaultly in landscape mode for mobile/tablets using media query/js/jquery?

Is it possible to prevent iPhone/iPad orientation changing in the browser?

http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/CR-css-print-20040225/#section-properties

Is there a way to force horizontal / landscape layout on mobile devices?

Answer 1

Short answer, you can't and you shouldn't control a user's OS behaviour via a website.

You can display a warning using the answer on the following question: forcing web-site to show in landscape mode only

Or you can force your layout to look like landscape even in portrait mode using the following code (taken from http://www.quora.com/Can-I-use-Javascript-to-force-a-mobile-browser-to-stay-in-portrait-or-landscape-mode):

@media screen and (orientation:landscape) {

  #container {
    -ms-transform: rotate(-90deg); /* IE 9 */
    -webkit-transform: rotate(-90deg); /* Chrome, Safari, Opera */
    transform: rotate(-90deg);
    width: /* screen width */ ;
    height: /* screen height */ ;
    overflow: scroll;
  }
}

As the second site recommends though, you should try and make your site look good however the user wishes to view it.

Answer 2

try to use this:

/* Landscape */
@media only screen 
  and (min-device-width: 320px) 
  and (max-device-width: 480px)
  and (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2)
  and (orientation: landscape) {

}

Answer 3

#container {
    display: block;
}

@media only screen and (orientation: portrait) {
  #container {
    height: 100vh;
    width: 100vh;
    overflow-x: auto;
    position: absolute;
    top: 100%;
    right: 0;
    transform-origin: 100% 0vh 0;
    transform: rotate(90deg);
    -webkit-transform: rotate(90deg);
    -moz-transform: rotate(90deg);
    -o-transform: rotate(90deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(90deg);
    transform: rotate(90deg);
  }
}
@media only screen and (orientation:landscape) {
  #container {
    -webkit-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -moz-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -o-transform: rotate(0deg);
    -ms-transform: rotate(0deg);
    transform: rotate(0deg);
  }
}