Platform Support

Web Haptic Engine automatically detects the best available haptic method on each platform and falls back gracefully.

How It Works

┌─────────────────────────┐
│   engine.trigger("success") │
└────────────┬────────────┘
             │
     ┌───────▼───────┐
     │ Platform Check │
     └───┬───┬───┬───┘
         │   │   │
    ┌────▼┐ ┌▼──┐ ┌▼────────┐
    │ Android │ │ iOS │ │ Desktop  │
    │ vibrate │ │Taptic│ │ (fallback)│
    └────┬┘ └┬──┘ └┬────────┘
         │   │     │
         └───▼─────┘
         Audio Layer
      (all platforms)

Android

• Method: navigator.vibrate() API
• Capabilities: Full vibration patterns with intensity and timing control
• Audio: Audio impulse layer reinforces each haptic event
• Drag: Full haptic + audio on touch events

// Check at runtime
HapticEngine.supportsVibration; // true on Android Chrome

iOS (Safari 17.5+)

• Method: iOS Taptic Engine via hidden checkbox switch toggle
• Capabilities: Crisp Taptic ticks (no pattern granularity)
• Audio: Audio layer augments the Taptic feedback
• Drag limitation: During continuous drag (touchmove), only audio fires — Taptic requires user activation (click events)

iOS Taptic Requirements

iOS Taptic feedback requires Safari 17.5+ and only fires on user-initiated click events. During drag interactions, the audio layer provides the feedback instead.

// Check at runtime
HapticEngine.supportsIOSHaptics; // true on iOS Safari 17.5+

Desktop

• Method: Web Audio impulse synthesis only (no vibration API)
• Capabilities: 8 synthesized impulse types with gain control
• Use case: Provides auditory feedback where physical haptics aren't available

// Audio works everywhere with Web Audio support
const engine = new HapticEngine({ audioLayer: true });

Audio Impulse Types

All platforms support the audio layer. These 8 impulse types are synthesized at runtime using Web Audio. Each impulse buffer is peak-normalized with a fade-out tail for clean looping on sustained segments. The audio layer tracks all active sources (both single-fire and sequenced) for proper cancellation with a short gain ramp-down to prevent click/pop artifacts. On iOS, the AudioContext automatically recovers from system interruptions (phone calls, Siri):

Impulse	Frequency	Character
tick	320 Hz	Bright, crisp click
tap	220 Hz	Warm, soft tap
thud	160 Hz	Deep, heavy impact
click	400 Hz	Sharp, ultra-short
snap	500 Hz	Crisp, snappy
buzz	200 Hz	Sustained vibration
confirm	280 Hz	Dual-tone affirming
harsh	180 Hz	Gritty, multi-harmonic

Feature Detection

import { HapticEngine } from "web-haptic-engine";

// Static checks (no instantiation needed)
HapticEngine.supportsVibration; // Android vibration API
HapticEngine.supportsIOSHaptics; // iOS Taptic Engine
HapticEngine.isSupported; // Any native haptic method

// The engine gracefully degrades — audio always works
const engine = new HapticEngine();
await engine.trigger("success"); // Works on all platforms

Browser Compatibility

Feature	Chrome	Safari	Firefox	Edge
Vibration API	32+	No	16+	79+
iOS Taptic	No	17.5+	No	No
Web Audio	35+	14.1+	25+	79+

TIP

The library always works — on platforms without native haptics, the audio layer provides feedback. No conditional code needed in your app.