Screen Wake Lock API

W3C Working Draft 24 October 2024

Abstract

This document specifies an API that allows web applications to request a screen wake lock. Under the right conditions, and if allowed, the screen wake lock prevents the system from turning off a device's screen.

Status of This Document

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at https://www.w3.org/TR/.

Implementors need to be aware that this specification is extremely unstable. Implementors who are not taking part in the discussions will find the specification changing out from under them in incompatible ways. Vendors interested in implementing this specification before it eventually reaches the Candidate Recommendation phase should subscribe to the repository on GitHub and take part in the discussions.

This document was published by the Devices and Sensors Working Group and the Web Applications Working Group as a Working Draft using the Recommendation track.

Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by W3C and its Members.

This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than work in progress.

This document was produced by groups operating under the W3C Patent Policy. W3C maintains a public list of any patent disclosures (Devices and Sensors Working Group) and a public list of any patent disclosures (Web Applications Working Group) made in connection with the deliverables of each group; these pages also include instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of the W3C Patent Policy.

This document is governed by the 03 November 2023 W3C Process Document.

This section is non-normative.

Modern operating systems achieve longer battery life by implementing aggressive power management, meaning that shortly after the lack of user activity, a host device may lower the screen brightness, turn the screen off and even let the CPU go into a deep power state, limiting power usage as much as possible.

Though this is great for prolonged battery life, it can sometime hinder some use cases such as scanning a barcode, reading an ebook, following a recipe, presenting to an audience, and so on. See also Wake Lock: Use cases.

A wake lock will generally prevent something from happening, but UAs (and the underlying OS) may time limit a wake lock given the battery status (wall power connected, discharging, low battery level), or even disallow wake locks in the case a power saving mode is activated.

This specification defines the following wake lock type:

A screen wake lock prevents the screen from turning off. Only visible documents can acquire the screen wake lock.

In the API, the wake lock types are represented by the WakeLockType enum values.

Note

Other specifications might define different wake lock types.

The Screen Wake Lock API defines a policy-controlled feature identified by the string "screen-wake-lock". Its default allowlist is 'self'.

Note

The default allowlist of 'self' allows wake lock usage in same-origin nested frames but prevents third-party content from using wake locks.

Third-party usage can be selectively enabled by adding allow="screen-wake-lock" attribute to the frame container element:

Example: Enabling screen wake lock on remote content

<iframe src="https://third-party.com" allow="screen-wake-lock"/></iframe>

Alternatively, the Screen Wake Lock API can be disabled completely by specifying the permissions policy in a HTTP response header:

Example: Permissions Policy header

Permissions-Policy: screen-wake-lock=()

See Permissions Policy for more details.

The [PERMISSIONS] API provides a uniform way for websites to request permissions from users and query which permissions they have.

A user agent can deny a wake lock of a particular wake lock type for a particular Document by any implementation-specific reason, such as platform setting or user preference.

It is RECOMMENDED that a user agent show some form of unobtrusive notification that informs the user when a wake lock is active, as well as provides the user with the means to block the ongoing operation, or simply dismiss the notification.

The "screen-wake-lock" powerful feature enables the capability defined by this specification.

The "screen-wake-lock" powerful feature defines a permission revocation algorithm. To invoke the Screen Wake Lock permission revocation algorithm, run these steps:

Let document be the current global object's associated Document.
Let lockList be document.[[ActiveLocks]]["screen"].
For each lock in lockList:
1. Run release a wake lock with document, lock, and "screen".

The task source for the tasks mentioned in this specification is the screen wake lock task source.

The term platform wake lock refers to platform interfaces with which the user agent interacts to query state and acquire and release a wake lock.

A platform wake lock can be defined by the underlying platform (e.g. in a native wake lock framework) or by the user agent, if it has direct hardware control.

Internal slot	Initial value	Description
[[ActiveLocks]]	An ordered map mapping wake lock types to empty lists.	An ordered map of wake lock types to a list of `WakeLockSentinel` objects associated with this `Document`.

WebIDL[SecureContext]
partial interface Navigator {
  [SameObject] readonly attribute WakeLock wakeLock;
};

The WakeLock interface allows a document to acquire a screen wake lock.

WebIDL[SecureContext, Exposed=(Window)]
interface WakeLock {
  Promise<WakeLockSentinel> request(optional WakeLockType type = "screen");
};

The request(type) method steps are:

Let document be this's relevant global object's associated Document.
If document is not fully active, return a promise rejected with with a "NotAllowedError" DOMException.
If document is not allowed to use the policy-controlled feature named "screen-wake-lock", return a promise rejected with a "NotAllowedError" DOMException.
If the user agent denies the wake lock of this type for document, return a promise rejected with a "NotAllowedError" DOMException.
If document's visibility state is "hidden", return a promise rejected with "NotAllowedError" DOMException.
Let promise be a new promise.
Run the following steps in parallel:
1. Let state be the result of requesting permission to use "screen-wake-lock".
2. If state is "denied", then:
  1. Queue a global task on the screen wake lock task source given document's relevant global object to reject promise with a "NotAllowedError" DOMException.
  2. Abort these steps.
3. Queue a global task on the screen wake lock task source given document's relevant global object to run these steps:
  1. If document is not fully active, then:
    1. Reject promise with a "NotAllowedError" DOMException.
    2. Abort these steps.
  2. If document's visibility state is "hidden", then:
    1. Reject promise with a "NotAllowedError" DOMException.
    2. Abort these steps.
  3. If document.[[ActiveLocks]]["screen"] is empty, then invoke the following steps in parallel:
    1. Invoke acquire a wake lock with "screen".
      Note
      The acquire a wake lock algorithm may ultimately be unable to acquire a lock from the operating system, but this is indistinguishable from a successful lock acquisition to avoid user fingerprinting (failure to acquire a lock can indicate low battery levels, for example).
  4. Let lock be a new WakeLockSentinel object with its type attribute set to type.
  5. Append lock to document.[[ActiveLocks]]["screen"].
  6. Resolve promise with lock.
Return promise.

WebIDL[SecureContext, Exposed=(Window)]
interface WakeLockSentinel : EventTarget {
  readonly attribute boolean released;
  readonly attribute WakeLockType type;
  Promise<undefined> release();
  attribute EventHandler onrelease;
};

A WakeLockSentinel object provides a handle to a platform wake lock, and it holds on to it until it is either manually released or until the underlying platform wake lock is released. Its existence keeps a platform wake lock for a given wake lock type active, and releasing all WakeLockSentinel instances of a given wake lock type will cause the underlying platform wake lock to be released.

Note

WakeLockSentinel instances are created with the following internal slots:

Internal slot	Initial value	Description (non-normative)
[[Released]]	`false`	Whether the given `WakeLockSentinel` has been released.

The released getter steps are to return this.[[Released]].

Note

Once a WakeLockSentinel is released, released becomes true, and the value never changes again.

The type getter steps are to return this's wake lock type.

The release() method steps are:

If this's [[Released]] is false, then run release a wake lock with lock set to this and type set to the value of this's type attribute.
Return a promise resolved with undefined.

The onrelease attribute is an event handler IDL attribute for the "onrelease" event handler, whose event handler event type is "release".

It is used to notify scripts that a given WakeLockSentinel object's handle has been released, either due to the release() method being called or because the wake lock was released by the user agent.

Note

While a WakeLockSentinel object has one or more event listeners registered for "release", and the WakeLockSentinel object hasn't already been released, there MUST be a strong reference from the Window object that the WakeLockSentinel object's constructor was invoked from to the WakeLockSentinel object itself.

While there is a task queued by an WakeLockSentinel object on the screen wake lock task source, there MUST be a strong reference from the Window object that the WakeLockSentinel object's constructor was invoked from to that WakeLockSentinel object.

For the purpose of wake lock type description, this specification defines the following enumeration to represent wake lock types:

WebIDLenum WakeLockType { "screen" };

screen: Screen wake lock type.

This section applies to each wake lock type equally and independently, unless a particular wake lock type is explicitly mentioned.

The user agent acquires the wake lock by requesting the underlying operating system to apply the lock. A possible return value of the request to the underlying operating system is not checked. In other words, user agents MUST treat wake lock acquisition as advisory-only.

Conversely, the user agent releases the wake lock by requesting the underlying operating system to no longer apply the wake lock. The lock is considered released only when the request to the operating system succeeds.

The wake lock is applicable if the state of the operating system permits application of the lock (e.g. there is sufficient battery charge).

The screen wake lock MUST NOT be applicable after the screen is manually switched off by the user until it is switched on again.

Note

A user agent may release a wake lock at any time. For example, when:

It detects abnormal operation: such as infinite loops and tasks exceeding imposed time limits (if any).
Battery is considered low and discharging.
The user turns on some kind of device power conservation mode.
The operating system is configured to dim or turn off the screen based on the user presence state.

When a Document document becomes no longer fully active, the user agent must run these steps:

For each lock in document.[[ActiveLocks]]["screen"]:
1. Run release a wake lock with document, lock, and "screen".

This specification defines the following page visibility change steps with visibility state state and document:

If state is not "hidden", abort these steps.
For each lock in document.[[ActiveLocks]]["screen"]:
1. Run release a wake lock with document, lock, and "screen".

To acquire a wake lock for a given type, run these steps:

If the wake lock for type type is not applicable, abort these steps.
Ask the underlying operating system to acquire the wake lock of type type.

To release a wake lock for a given document, lock, and type, run these steps:

If document.[[ActiveLocks]][type] does not contain lock, abort these steps.
Remove lock from document.[[ActiveLocks]][type].
If document.[[ActiveLocks]][type] is empty, then run the following steps in parallel:
1. Ask the underlying operating system to release the wake lock of type type and let success be true if the operation succeeded, or else false.
2. If success is true and type is "screen" run the following:
  1. Reset the platform-specific inactivity timer after which the screen is actually turned off.
  Note
  Resetting the inactivity timer prevents the screen from going blank immediately after the wake lock is released.
Set lock's [[Released]] to true.
Fire an event named "release" at lock.

Screen wake locks can cause various device components - particularly the display - to operate at higher power levels than they otherwise would. This can lead to undesirable effects, such as preventing the device from automatically locking itself and faster battery depletion. Faster battery depletion is of particular concern for mobile devices, which often don't have a stationary power source readily available. Complete battery depletion at an unexpected time can lead to inability of the user to make or receive calls and use network services, including the emergency call service.

Implementations MAY ignore requests for screen wake lock if, for example, the battery capacity is low, or the user has put their device in a power-saving mode.

It is RECOMMENDED that a user agent provide some UI or indicator that allows the user to know when a screen wake lock is active. Providing such a UI could help end users to identify if a particular web application is having a negative energy impact on the device, and allow them to take action if so desired.

This section is non-normative.

Example 1: Acquires and releases a screen wake lock

function tryKeepScreenAlive(minutes) {
  navigator.wakeLock.request("screen").then(lock => {
    setTimeout(() => lock.release(), minutes * 60 * 1000);
  });
}

tryKeepScreenAlive(10);

This example allows the user to request a screen wake lock by clicking on a checkbox, but updates the checkbox checked state in case the wake lock state changes:

Example 2

const checkbox = document.createElement("input");
checkbox.setAttribute("type", "checkbox");
document.body.appendChild(checkbox);

const sentinel = await navigator.wakeLock.request("screen");
checkbox.checked = !sentinel.released;
sentinel.onrelease = () => checkbox.checked = !sentinel.released;

In this example, two different wake lock requests are created and released independently:

Example 3

let lock1 = await navigator.wakeLock.request("screen");
let lock2 = await navigator.wakeLock.request("screen");

lock1.release();
lock2.release();

As well as sections marked as non-normative, all authoring guidelines, diagrams, examples, and notes in this specification are non-normative. Everything else in this specification is normative.

The key words MAY, MUST, MUST NOT, and RECOMMENDED in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all capitals, as shown here.

This specification defines conformance criteria for a single product: a user agent that implements the interfaces that it contains.

This section is non-normative.

We would like to offer our sincere thanks to Mounir Lamouri, Sergey Konstantinov, Matvey Larionov, Dominique Hazael-Massieux, Domenic Denicola, Thomas Steiner, Anne van Kesteren for their contributions to this work.

This section is non-normative.

This section documents the changes since previous publications.

Convert the document to purely screen wake lock, and move system lock to a new specification.
Rewrite user-visible API.
Add an if aborted step to WakeLock.request() to deal with hidden documents.
Add an IDL Index.
Remove duplicate normative statements.
Modernize the examples.
Use internal slots instead of prose.
Add info on when the user agent may release a wake lock.
Handle document visibility.
Make ScreenWakeLock constructable.
Integrate optional permission prompting.
Handle loss of full activity, as well as running in workers.
Rewrite the introduction section.
Rename Feature Policy to Permissions Policy.
Add WakeLockSentinel.released.
Define a task source for tasks in this specification.

acquire a wake lock §11.4
acquires the wake lock §11.
[[ActiveLocks]] internal slot for Document §6.1
applicable §11.
Auto-releasing wake locks §11.1
deny a wake lock §4.
Handling document loss of full activity §11.2
Handling document loss of visibility §11.3
onrelease attribute for WakeLockSentinel §9.5
platform wake lock §5.
release §9.5
release a wake lock §11.5
release() method for WakeLockSentinel §9.4
released attribute for WakeLockSentinel §9.2
[[Released]] internal slot for WakeLockSentinel §9.1
releases the wake lock §11.
request() method for WakeLock §8.1
"screen" enum value for WakeLockType §10.
screen wake lock §2.
Screen Wake Lock permission revocation algorithm §4.2
screen wake lock task source §5.
type attribute for WakeLockSentinel §9.3
user agent §14.
wake lock type §2.
wakeLock attribute for Navigator §7.
WakeLock interface §8.
WakeLockSentinel interface §9.
WakeLockType enum §10.

[DOM] defines the following:
- Document interface
- EventTarget interface
- Fire an event
[ECMASCRIPT] defines the following:
- internal slots
[HTML] defines the following:
- allowed to use
- associated Document
- current global object
- event handler
- event handler event type
- event handler IDL attribute
- EventHandler
- fully active (for Document)
- in parallel
- Navigator interface
- page visibility change steps
- Queue a global task
- relevant global object
- task source
- tasks
- visibility state (for Document)
- Window interface
[INFRA] defines the following:
- Append (for list)
- For each (for list)
- if aborted
- is empty (for list)
- lists
- ordered map
[PERMISSIONS] defines the following:
- denied (for PermissionState)
- permission revocation algorithm (for powerful feature)
- powerful feature
- requesting permission to use
[PERMISSIONS-POLICY] defines the following:
- default allowlist (for policy-controlled feature)
- policy-controlled feature
[WEBIDL] defines the following:
- a new promise
- a promise rejected with
- a promise resolved with
- boolean type
- DOMException interface
- [Exposed] extended attribute
- NotAllowedError exception
- Promise interface
- [SameObject] extended attribute
- [SecureContext] extended attribute
- this
- undefined type

WebIDL[SecureContext]
partial interface Navigator {
  [SameObject] readonly attribute WakeLock wakeLock;
};

[SecureContext, Exposed=(Window)]
interface WakeLock {
  Promise<WakeLockSentinel> request(optional WakeLockType type = "screen");
};

[SecureContext, Exposed=(Window)]
interface WakeLockSentinel : EventTarget {
  readonly attribute boolean released;
  readonly attribute WakeLockType type;
  Promise<undefined> release();
  attribute EventHandler onrelease;
};

enum WakeLockType { "screen" };

[dom]: DOM Standard. Anne van Kesteren. WHATWG. Living Standard. URL: https://dom.spec.whatwg.org/
[ECMASCRIPT]: ECMAScript Language Specification. Ecma International. URL: https://tc39.es/ecma262/multipage/
[html]: HTML Standard. Anne van Kesteren; Domenic Denicola; Dominic Farolino; Ian Hickson; Philip Jägenstedt; Simon Pieters. WHATWG. Living Standard. URL: https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/
[infra]: Infra Standard. Anne van Kesteren; Domenic Denicola. WHATWG. Living Standard. URL: https://infra.spec.whatwg.org/
[PERMISSIONS]: Permissions. Marcos Caceres; Mike Taylor. W3C. 19 March 2024. W3C Working Draft. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/permissions/
[PERMISSIONS-POLICY]: Permissions Policy. Ian Clelland. W3C. 25 September 2024. W3C Working Draft. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/permissions-policy-1/
[RFC2119]: Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels. S. Bradner. IETF. March 1997. Best Current Practice. URL: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119
[RFC8174]: Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC 2119 Key Words. B. Leiba. IETF. May 2017. Best Current Practice. URL: https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174
[WEBIDL]: Web IDL Standard. Edgar Chen; Timothy Gu. WHATWG. Living Standard. URL: https://webidl.spec.whatwg.org/

[wake-lock-use-cases]: Wake Lock: Use cases. Marcos Caceres; Natasha Rooney; Dominique Hazaël-Massieux. W3C. 14 August 2014. W3C Working Group Note. URL: https://www.w3.org/TR/wake-lock-use-cases/

Screen Wake Lock API

Abstract

Status of This Document

1. Introduction

2. Wake Locks

3. Policy control

4. Permissions and user prompts

4.1 The "screen-wake-lock" powerful feature

4.2 Permission algorithms

5. Concepts

6. Extensions to the Document interface

6.1 Internal slots

7. Extensions to the Navigator interface

8. The WakeLock interface

8.1 The request() method

9. The WakeLockSentinel interface

9.1 Internal slots

9.2 The released attribute

9.3 The type attribute

9.4 The release() method

9.5 The onrelease attribute

9.6 Garbage collection

10. The WakeLockType enum

11. Managing Wake Locks

11.1 Auto-releasing wake locks

11.2 Handling document loss of full activity

11.3 Handling document loss of visibility

11.4 Acquire wake lock algorithm

11.5 Release wake lock algorithm

12. Security and privacy considerations

13. Examples

14. Conformance

A. Acknowledgments

B. Changes

B.1 Changes since the 14 December 2017 CR

C. Index

C.1 Terms defined by this specification

C.2 Terms defined by reference

D. IDL Index

E. References

E.1 Normative references

E.2 Informative references

4.1 The `"screen-wake-lock"` powerful feature

6. Extensions to the `Document` interface

7. Extensions to the `Navigator` interface

8. The `WakeLock` interface

8.1 The `request()` method

9. The `WakeLockSentinel` interface

9.2 The `released` attribute

9.3 The `type` attribute

9.4 The `release()` method

9.5 The `onrelease` attribute

10. The `WakeLockType` enum