Idle Detection API

Limited availability

This feature is not Baseline because it does not work in some of the most widely-used browsers.

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

Experimental: This is an experimental technology
Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

Note: This feature is available in Dedicated Web Workers.

The Idle Detection API provides a means to detect the user's idle status, active, idle, and locked, specifically, and to be notified of changes to idle status without polling from a script.

Concepts and Usage

Native applications and browser extensions use idle detection base user experiences on when a user is interacting with a device. For example, chat applications can show other users of an application whether someone is available. Other applications might choose to show notifications only when a user is interacting with the app. A web application could use this API for similar use cases. Additionally, a progressive web app could use idle detection to trigger a service worker update when the app isn't being used.

Interfaces

IdleDetector

Provides methods and events for detecting user activity on a device or screen.

Examples

The following example shows creating a detector and logging changes to the user's idle state. A button is used to get the necessary user activation before requesting permission.

js
const controller = new AbortController();
const signal = controller.signal;

startButton.addEventListener("click", async () => {
  if ((await IdleDetector.requestPermission()) !== "granted") {
    console.error("Idle detection permission denied.");
    return;
  }

  try {
    const idleDetector = new IdleDetector();
    idleDetector.addEventListener("change", () => {
      const userState = idleDetector.userState;
      const screenState = idleDetector.screenState;
      console.log(`Idle change: ${userState}, ${screenState}.`);
    });

    await idleDetector.start({
      threshold: 60_000,
      signal,
    });
    console.log("IdleDetector is active.");
  } catch (err) {
    // Deal with initialization errors like permission denied,
    // running outside of top-level frame, etc.
    console.error(err.name, err.message);
  }
});

stopButton.addEventListener("click", () => {
  controller.abort();
  console.log("IdleDetector is stopped.");
});

Specifications

Specification
Idle Detection API
# api-idledetector

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
IdleDetector
Experimental
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Edge – No support
Edge 94 – 95 (Release date: 2021-09-24)
footnote Removed in 96 and later
Edge – Full support
Edge 114 (Release date: 2023-06-02)
footnote Full support
Firefox – No support
Firefox
footnote No support
Opera – Full support
Opera 80 (Release date: 2021-10-05)
footnote Full support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 66 (Release date: 2021-12-15)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 17 (Release date: 2022-05-04)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
IdleDetector() constructor
Experimental
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Edge – No support
Edge 94 – 95 (Release date: 2021-09-24)
footnote Removed in 96 and later
Edge – Full support
Edge 114 (Release date: 2023-06-02)
footnote Full support
Firefox – No support
Firefox
footnote No support
Opera – Full support
Opera 80 (Release date: 2021-10-05)
footnote Full support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 66 (Release date: 2021-12-15)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 17 (Release date: 2022-05-04)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
change event
Experimental
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Edge – No support
Edge 94 – 95 (Release date: 2021-09-24)
footnote Removed in 96 and later
Edge – Full support
Edge 114 (Release date: 2023-06-02)
footnote Full support
Firefox – No support
Firefox
footnote No support
Opera – Full support
Opera 80 (Release date: 2021-10-05)
footnote Full support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 66 (Release date: 2021-12-15)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 17 (Release date: 2022-05-04)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
requestPermission() static method
Experimental
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Edge – No support
Edge 94 – 95 (Release date: 2021-09-24)
footnote Removed in 96 and later
Edge – Full support
Edge 114 (Release date: 2023-06-02)
footnote Full support
Firefox – No support
Firefox
footnote No support
Opera – Full support
Opera 80 (Release date: 2021-10-05)
footnote Full support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 66 (Release date: 2021-12-15)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 17 (Release date: 2022-05-04)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
screenState
Experimental
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Edge – No support
Edge 94 – 95 (Release date: 2021-09-24)
footnote Removed in 96 and later
Edge – Full support
Edge 114 (Release date: 2023-06-02)
footnote Full support
Firefox – No support
Firefox
footnote No support
Opera – Full support
Opera 80 (Release date: 2021-10-05)
footnote Full support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 66 (Release date: 2021-12-15)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 17 (Release date: 2022-05-04)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
start
Experimental
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Edge – No support
Edge 94 – 95 (Release date: 2021-09-24)
footnote Removed in 96 and later
Edge – Full support
Edge 114 (Release date: 2023-06-02)
footnote Full support
Firefox – No support
Firefox
footnote No support
Opera – Full support
Opera 80 (Release date: 2021-10-05)
footnote Full support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 66 (Release date: 2021-12-15)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 17 (Release date: 2022-05-04)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
userState
Experimental
Chrome – Full support
Chrome 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Edge – No support
Edge 94 – 95 (Release date: 2021-09-24)
footnote Removed in 96 and later
Edge – Full support
Edge 114 (Release date: 2023-06-02)
footnote Full support
Firefox – No support
Firefox
footnote No support
Opera – Full support
Opera 80 (Release date: 2021-10-05)
footnote Full support
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 66 (Release date: 2021-12-15)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 17 (Release date: 2022-05-04)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 94 (Release date: 2021-09-21)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
No support
No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
Has more compatibility info.