Is there a way to detect if a browser window is not currently active?

Question

I have JavaScript that is doing activity periodically. When the user is not looking at the site (i.e., the window or tab does not have focus), it\'d be nice to not run.

Answer 1

For a solution without jQuery check out Visibility.js which provides information about three page states

visible    ... page is visible
hidden     ... page is not visible
prerender  ... page is being prerendered by the browser

and also convenience-wrappers for setInterval

/* Perform action every second if visible */
Visibility.every(1000, function () {
    action();
});

/* Perform action every second if visible, every 60 sec if not visible */
Visibility.every(1000, 60*1000, function () {
    action();
});

A fallback for older browsers (IE < 10; iOS < 7) is also available