How To: Rotate Any Orientation-Locked App on Android

Some apps have a nasty habit of ignoring your Android's auto-rotation settings and locking the display into either portrait or landscape orientation.

When you open one of these apps, the screen goes into landscape view and you're forced to hold your phone differently. Conversely, other apps use portrait mode only, so you couldn't flip it sideways even if you wanted to (I'm looking at you, Instagram).

Luckily, developer defim isn't very fond of this practice either. His latest Xposed module enables auto-rotation on every app installed on your device, leaving the decision up to you as to which orientation to use.

Prerequisites

• Rooted Nexus 5 (or any other rooted Android device)
• Xposed Framework installed
• "Unknown Sources" enabled

Installing the Module

If you're tired of apps preventing you from rotating your screen, head to the Download section of your Xposed Installer app and search HaveOwnOrientation, then tap the top result.

From here, swipe over to the Versions tab, then tap the Download button on the most recent entry.

After a few seconds, Android's installer interface should come right up. When it does, simply tap the Install button.

Note that you can also download and install the app directly from the Google Play Store or via the Xposed Repository Online.

Activating the Module

No matter how you installed the mod, you'll get a notification from Xposed telling you that the module hasn't been activated yet and that a reboot is needed. Just tap the Activate and reboot button on this notification, and Xposed will handle the rest for you automatically.

Using the Module for Unrestricted Screen Orientation

Once you get back up, no further setup is required. Apps like Instagram that were previously locked into portrait mode will now allow you to rotate them to landscape mode.

The same goes for apps that used to be locked down to landscape mode. Hold your phone vertically, and they'll be shown in portrait mode.

This is absolutely a must-have module in my opinion. What were some of the apps that used to annoy you with their rotation lock? Let us know in the comments section below, on Twitter, or on Facebook.