How to Disable Auto-Rotate for Individual Apps on Android

Auto-rotate on Android is useful, but sometimes you need to keep certain apps fixed in either portrait or landscape mode. Here’s how to do it.

The auto-rotate feature on Android automatically switches screen orientation based on how you hold your phone.

This can be good for quickly switching from portrait to landscape mode, perhaps to watch a YouTube video in full-screen. However, if you then go to Twitter and accidentally tilt your phone too far to the side, you might find yourself tilting back and forth to readjust your screen’s orientation to portrait.

Rotation Control Pro allows you to manage individual screen orientation settings for all of your apps. This means you can lock Twitter in portrait, force Instagram into landscape, and allow YouTube to switch freely between both.

How to Install and Use Rotation Control on Your Android Device

If you want to disable screen rotation for a select few apps, or enable rotation for apps that don’t normally allow it, Rotation Control Pro can do just that.

Rather than simply being a constant overlay, or an app you need to open whenever you want to reorient your screen, Rotation Control Pro allows you to automate screen rotation settings for every individual app. The app is $2.99 on Google Play, but a free trial version can be downloaded and used for two days so that you check that it works for your needs.

Download: Rotation Control (Free trial) | Rotation Control Pro ($2.99)

1. After installing the app, you’ll be asked to enable several permissions. This is just so Rotation Control can be notified when an app is launched and can be displayed over other apps.
2. In the menu, make sure Rotation Control and Per App Settings are enabled. By default, they should be.
3. Tap Per App rotation settings, choose the apps whose settings you wish to alter, then change their settings.

You can lock specific apps in landscape or portrait modes. You can also keep them in auto-rotate mode, or simply have them follow whatever rotation setting you’ve got enabled on your device. Whether you have auto-rotate enabled or disabled, you can specify the rotation preferences of any app.

On YouTube or Twitter, you could lock orientation to portrait mode. Instagram can’t be viewed in landscape mode by conventional means, but Rotation Control Pro allows just that—and it does so without issue.

If you’re looking to further tweak your phone’s user interface and settings, you can do so by accessing Android’s hidden System UI Tuner.

Enjoy the Simplicity of Rotation Control Pro

Rotation Control Pro adds a great new layer of customizability to your Android device, and it does so quite well. It wouldn’t hurt to try the Rotation Control trial if you want or need greater control of your device’s orientation settings, and you’d like to see if this is the app for you.

Luckily, if rotation control isn’t enough to enhance and personalize your user experience, there are plenty of apps for Android that will change the way you use your phone.