Platform

The Platform service can be used to get information about your current device. You can get all of the platforms associated with the device using the platforms method, including whether the app is being viewed from a tablet, if it's on a mobile device or browser, and the exact platform (iOS, Android, etc). You can also get the orientation of the device, if it uses right-to-left language direction, and much much more. With this information you can completely customize your app to fit any device.

Usage

import { Platform } from '@ionic/angular';

@Component({...})
export class MyPage {
  constructor(public platform: Platform) {

  }
}

Methods

is(platformName: Platforms) => boolean

Depending on the platform the user is on, is(platformName) will return true or false. Note that the same app can return true for more than one platform name. For example, an app running from an iPad would return true for the platform names: mobile, ios, ipad, and tablet. Additionally, if the app was running from Cordova then cordova would be true.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
platformName	Platforms	Name of the platform. Available options are android, capacitor, cordova, desktop, electron, hybrid, ios, ipad, iphone, mobile, phablet, pwa, tablet

Platforms

Below is a table listing all the possible platform values along with corresponding descriptions.

Platform Name	Description
android	a device running Android
capacitor	a device running Capacitor
cordova	a device running Cordova
desktop	a desktop device
electron	a desktop device running Electron
hybrid	a device running Capacitor or Cordova
ios	a device running iOS
ipad	an iPad device
iphone	an iPhone device
mobile	a mobile device
mobileweb	a web browser running in a mobile device
phablet	a phablet device
pwa	a PWA app
tablet	a tablet device

Customizing Platform Detection Functions

The function used to detect a specific platform can be overridden by providing an alternative function in the global Ionic config. Each function takes window as a parameter and returns a boolean.

import { IonicModule } from '@ionic/angular';

@NgModule({
  ...
  imports: [
    BrowserModule,
    IonicModule.forRoot({
      platform: {
        /** The default `desktop` function returns false for devices with a touchscreen.
        * This is not always wanted, so this function tests the User Agent instead.
        **/
        'desktop': (win) => {
          const isMobile = /Android|webOS|iPhone|iPad|iPod|BlackBerry|IEMobile|Opera Mini/i.test(win.navigator.userAgent);
          return !isMobile;
        }
      },
    }),
    AppRoutingModule
  ],
  ...
})

type PlatformConfig = {
  android?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  capacitor?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  cordova?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  desktop?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  electron?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  hybrid?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  ios?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  ipad?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  iphone?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  mobile?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  mobileweb?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  phablet?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  pwa?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
  tablet?: ((win: Window) => boolean) | undefined;
};

platforms() => string[]

Depending on what device you are on, platforms can return multiple values. Each possible value is a hierarchy of platforms. For example, on an iPhone, it would return mobile, ios, and iphone.

ready() => Promise<string>

Returns a promise when the platform is ready and native functionality can be called. If the app is running from within a web browser, then the promise will resolve when the DOM is ready. When the app is running from an application engine such as Cordova, then the promise will resolve when Cordova triggers the deviceready event. The resolved value is the readySource, which states the platform that was used.

For example, when Cordova is ready, the resolved ready source is cordova. The default ready source value will be dom. The readySource is useful if different logic should run depending on the platform the app is running from. For example, only Capacitor and Cordova can execute the status bar plugin, so the web should not run status bar plugin logic.

isRTL() => boolean

Returns if this app is using right-to-left language direction or not. We recommend the app's index.html file already has the correct dir attribute value set, such as <html dir="ltr"> or <html dir="rtl">. W3C: Structural markup and right-to-left text in HTML

isLandscape() => boolean

Returns true if the app is in landscape mode.

isPortrait() => boolean

Returns true if the app is in portrait mode.

width() => number

Gets the width of the platform's viewport using window.innerWidth.

height() => number

Gets the height of the platform's viewport using window.innerHeight.

url() => string

Get the current url.

testUserAgent(expression: string) => boolean

Returns true if the expression is included in the user agent string.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
expression	string	The string to check in the user agent

Events

pause

The pause event emits when the native platform puts the application into the background, typically when the user switches to a different application. This event emits when a Cordova/Capacitor app is put into the background but doesn't fire in a standard web browser.

Usage

this.platform.pause.subscribe(async () => {
  alert('Pause event detected');
});

resize

The resize event emits when the browser window has changed dimensions. This could be from a browser window being physically resized, or from a device changing orientation.

Usage

this.platform.resize.subscribe(async () => {
  alert('Resize event detected');
});

resume

The resume event fires when the native platform pulls the application out from the background. This event emits when a Cordova/Capacitor app comes out from the background but doesn't fire in a standard web browser.

Usage

this.platform.resume.subscribe(async () => {
  alert('Resume event detected');
});