Vibration Test
Check the vibration motor of a phone or tablet right in the browser. Tap Vibrate for a single buzz, play a preset like pulse, heartbeat, or SOS, or build your own rhythm — if you feel it, the motor works.
Open this page on the Android phone or tablet you want to test — iOS browsers cannot vibrate, and desktops have no motor.
Pick a duration, a pattern, or build your own — then feel for the buzz.
No iOS browser implements the Vibration API, so this test cannot run there. Long-press an app icon instead — that tap is the haptic engine.
The API sets only how long and in what rhythm the motor runs. Strength is fixed by the hardware, so a weak buzz is the motor, not a setting here.
Check that silent mode and Do Not Disturb are off and vibration is on in the system sound settings — battery savers switch haptics off too.
The vibration motor — the haptic engine — is what you feel when a call arrives on silent, a message lands, or the keyboard clicks under your thumb. A weak or dead motor is easy to miss, because the phone still rings out loud: you notice only after a day of silent-mode alerts that never arrived. This test drives the motor straight from the browser, so you get an answer in seconds — useful after a drop or a soaking, before buying a used phone, or when notifications stopped buzzing after an update. Nothing to install, and everything runs on the device.
It works through the browser’s Vibration API: a script hands the operating system a list of on/off durations in milliseconds — buzz 200 ms, pause 100 ms, buzz 200 ms — and the OS runs the motor to that rhythm. Every preset here is one of those lists, from a notification double-tap to SOS in Morse timing, and the custom builder lets you write your own. Two hardware limits are worth knowing: the API sets timing, not strength, since intensity is fixed by the motor; and many phones cut a single continuous buzz short after a few seconds, which is the OS being sensible rather than a fault.
Why doesn’t it work on my iPhone?
Apple does not implement the Vibration API in Safari, and every iOS browser — Chrome and Firefox included — must use Safari’s engine, so no website can vibrate an iPhone. That is a platform decision, not a defect in your phone. To check an iPhone’s haptics, long-press an app icon on the home screen: the small tap you feel is the haptic engine. If there is nothing, enable System Haptics under Settings → Sounds & Haptics. Desktops are the opposite case — the browser may accept the command, but there is no motor to run. This test needs an Android phone or tablet; for the other sensors, try the Gyroscope Test and the Accelerometer Test.
If your phone doesn’t vibrate
On a phone that supports the API, a silent buzz usually traces back to a setting rather than the motor:
- Silent mode and Do Not Disturb — many phones mute vibration when fully silenced.
- System sound settings: calls, notifications, and touch feedback each have their own vibration toggle on most Android phones.
- Battery saver, which often switches haptics off to save energy.
- Try Chrome — it has the most complete Vibration API support on Android.
- If every setting is on and the phone stays still, the motor may be damaged or its connector loose — a repair shop can confirm quickly.
The built-in patterns
| Pattern | Rhythm | What it mimics |
|---|---|---|
| Pulse | Three even buzzes with short gaps | A classic incoming-call vibration |
| Heartbeat | Two quick beats, a rest, two quick beats | The lub-dub rhythm of a heartbeat |
| Notification | Two tiny taps | A message or app notification |
| Alarm | Long, insistent buzzes | An alarm clock going off |
| SOS | Three short, three long, three short | The Morse code distress signal |
| Continuous | One uninterrupted 3-second buzz | Endurance — some phones cap it short |