SMSRotateD uses the SMS to detect if the notebook has been physically rotated sufficiently (where "sufficient" is defined as a preconfigured threshold) in such a manner that the display's orientation has changed from landscape to portrait, or vice-versa.

In case such a change occurs, SMSRotateD triggers an appropriate rotation of the displayed screen.

This movie (QuickTime format, no audio, 6.5 MB) depicts the operation of SMSRotateD. Note that besides clockwise and anti-clockwise rotations, SMSRotateD also supports upside-down (180 degree) rotations.

After launching SMSRotateD, the "Start" button within the application's window must be pressed to enable SMS-based screen orientation. When "Start" is pressed, the notebook's base should be parallel to the ground, to allow SMSRotateD to establish a "level" state. Thereafter, the button becomes the "Stop" button.

As a convenience and safeguard, the key toggles between the two states of the button. Disabling SMS-based screen orientation (that is, going to the "Stop" state, whether by pressing "Stop" or by hitting ) resets the screen to its original, non-rotated state. Moreover, quitting the SMSRotateD application also resets the screen.

On some notebooks, you might need to check one, or even both, of the axis flipping checkboxes. For example, if physically rotating the notebook 90 degrees clockwise causes the screen to rotate anti-clockwise, checking the "Flip x-axis" box will rectify this behavior.

Another important point to note is that SMSRotateD does not alter the user-facing orientation of the built-in trackpad. In other words, even though the screen has been rotated, say, by 90 degrees, the trackpad logically remains in its original position.