Steady hand test
How still can you hold your phone? Keep your thumb on the pad and the phone dead still for 15 seconds while this page tries to make you flinch. You get your drift in degrees, and every flinch it caught. On a computer, hold the mouse button down instead.
TAP START BELOW
YOU MOVED
The page flashes once, buzzes once and lies to you once, to try to make you flinch.
0/100 steadiness, holding your phone
- Average drift
- Furthest
- Flinches
How the test works
Your phone's motion sensor reports its tilt about 60 times a second. When your thumb touches the pad, the test notes the angle the phone is at, then measures how far it moves from there, in degrees, for 15 seconds. Two things count:
- Drift: how far, on average, the phone sat from where you started. A slow sag or a small sway shows up here.
- Flinches: sudden jerks, faster than about 150 degrees a second. That is the speed of a startle rather than a sway, and it is what the page is fishing for when it flashes, buzzes and claims you moved.
Your score starts at 100. Each degree of average drift costs 30 points and each flinch costs 10. On a computer there is no tilt sensor, so the mouse stands in: hold the button down on the pad, and every 10 pixels the cursor moves counts as 1 degree. These are the same rules DON'T MOVE uses to decide who moved.
What is a good steady hand score?
There is no official scale, and this page doesn't compare you with anyone. As a guide from the game this test comes from: staying within about 1 degree on average is very steady, and in DON'T MOVE's hardest rounds the circle you have to stay inside shrinks to about 3 degrees. The mouse is easier than a phone, because the desk holds it up for you.
How to hold your phone steadier
- Tuck your elbows into your sides. A supported arm sways less than one held out.
- Use both hands: keep your thumb on the pad and cradle the phone with the other hand.
- Grip lightly. Squeezing hard makes muscles shake.
- Breathe out slowly, and hold still at the bottom of the breath.
- Watch the dot, not the room. The startles work best when you are waiting for them.
Is this a medical test?
No. It's a game. Every hand has a tiny, normal tremor, and caffeine, tiredness, cold and nerves make it bigger. If shaking hands worry you, or the shake is getting worse, talk to a doctor.
The party version
DON'T MOVE turns this test into a game for a room. One person holds their phone still for 25 seconds while everyone else, on their own phones, throws flashbangs, a haptic buzz, a blacked-out screen and one fake YOU MOVED at them. Whoever flinches does a forfeit the room picked. It's free, it runs in the browser, and nobody needs an app. Play DON'T MOVE, or pick a punishment from the 30 forfeit ideas.
Questions
What is a steady hand test?
A test of how still you can keep your hand. This one uses your phone's motion sensor: you hold the phone still for 15 seconds, and it measures in degrees how far the phone drifted from where you started, and whether you jerked it suddenly (a flinch).
How can I test how steady my hand is?
Open this page on your phone, tap START, keep your thumb on the pad and hold the phone as still as you can for 15 seconds. On a computer, hold the mouse button down on the pad instead. You get your average drift, the furthest you moved, and any flinches.
What is a good steady hand score?
There is no official scale. As a guide from the game this test comes from: staying within about 1 degree on average is very steady, and in DON'T MOVE's hardest rounds the circle you have to stay inside shrinks to about 3 degrees.
Why does my hand shake when I hold my phone still?
Every hand has a tiny, normal tremor. Caffeine, tiredness, cold, nerves and holding something out in front of you make it bigger. This page is a game, not a medical test: if shaking worries you or is getting worse, talk to a doctor.
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