Phone vibration test — check that your phone vibrates

Phone vibration test

This browser can’t vibrate the phone. Safari on iPhone and iPad does not support the Vibration API, so no website can run a vibration test there. Open this page in Chrome on an Android phone, or use the iPhone check described below.

A phone vibration test asks the phone’s motor to run known patterns so you can feel whether it works. This test runs in Chrome, Firefox or Samsung Internet on Android — six patterns from a 0.2 second tap to 5 seconds of continuous vibration. Safari on iPhone does not let web pages vibrate the phone.

Below: how to run the test and read the result, why iPhone is different, and what to check on iPhone instead.

How to test vibration on your phone

Testing vibration on a phone means running a short pattern and a long one, because a weak motor can manage a tap and fail on a sustained buzz. Lay the phone on a table as well as holding it: vibration you can’t feel in your hand is often audible against a hard surface.

  1. Step 1

    Open the page on the phone

    Use Chrome, Firefox or Samsung Internet on Android. A laptop has no vibration motor to test.

  2. Step 2

    Tap Short buzz

    A single 0.2 second tap. If you feel it, the motor responds.

  3. Step 3

    Tap 5 second test

    Continuous vibration shows whether the motor holds its strength or fades.

  4. Step 4

    Try Pulse and SOS

    Quick on-off patterns reveal a motor that starts slowly or rattles.

  5. Step 5

    Stop when done

    The Stop vibration button cancels any pattern that is still running.

PatternExact lengthWhat it checks
Short buzz0.2 sThe motor responds at all
Long buzz2 sSteady strength over a couple of seconds
Pulse5 taps of 0.3 s with 0.2 s gapsClean starts and stops
Heartbeat2 quick taps and a pause, three timesShort pulses close together
SOS3 short (0.15 s), 3 long (0.45 s), 3 shortMixed lengths in one run
5 second test5 s continuousStrength that holds or fades

When the browser accepts a pattern, the status line says it was sent to the phone. That confirms the request, not the motor: a phone with vibration switched off in its sound settings stays still. If a pattern is sent and nothing moves, check those settings before you suspect the hardware.

Vibration test on iPhone

A vibration test in a web page can’t run on iPhone. The Vibration API that websites use is supported by Chrome on Android since version 32 and Firefox for Android since version 79, but not by Safari on iPhone or iPad, according to MDN’s browser compatibility data.

Apple documents a simpler check built into iOS. In Apple’s iPhone User Guide, haptic feedback is described as the vibration you feel when you touch and hold an icon on the Home Screen, and System Haptics can be turned on or off in Settings, then Sounds & Haptics. Vibration patterns for the ringtone and each alert sound live in the same place, under Haptics.

To check an iPhone, make sure System Haptics is on, then touch and hold a Home Screen icon. If you feel nothing there and nothing on an incoming call set to vibrate, the problem is not a setting a website could test.

For the speaker rather than the motor, the left and right speaker test plays tones on each channel, and the water eject sound clears a muffled speaker after water.

Common questions

How do I check if my phone is on vibrate?
Checking whether a phone is on vibrate depends on the phone. On iPhone, orange showing on the Ring/Silent switch, or Silent mode on in Control Center, means the ringer is off. On Android, the volume panel or quick settings shows a vibrate icon when vibrate mode is on, though labels differ between manufacturers.
Why doesn't my phone vibrate during the test?
A phone that doesn't vibrate during a browser test is usually on a browser without vibration support, such as Safari on iPhone, or has vibration turned off in its sound settings. Chrome on Android also needs a fresh tap on the page. If other apps can't vibrate the phone either, the motor itself may be faulty.
Can vibration help clean a phone speaker?
Vibration from the phone's motor shakes the whole phone, while a cleaning tone moves the speaker membrane directly, which is where water and dust sit. We know of no published measurement showing the vibration motor clears a speaker grille. Use the water or dust sound first; vibration is at best a small extra.
When does a phone need a vibration motor repair?
A phone needs its vibration motor checked when it doesn't vibrate in any app or setting, including the test patterns here on Android, after vibration is confirmed as turned on. A buzzing or rattling vibration after a drop is another sign. Both are hardware problems that settings and cleaning can't fix.