Develop Bugs

Compas

Now i love my desire... Its fantastic but it isnt without some issues...
One ive noticed that could be a problem esp when your working with reality overlay apps...
The compass doesn’t seem to work that well...
Its slow to respond to movement and even when it does move its horridly inaccurate. north seems to have a room for error of 60-90 degrees.
Has anyone else noticed this? Is it the same for most digital compasses? or do i have a faulty module?

Hi Nutsy,
I've also noticed these issues with the compass in the Desire. I've worked with magnetic compass chips before and I think it's all to blame on the way these compasses work:
To sense the earth's magnetic field they use a two- or three axis magnetometer. Although it's a very accurate way to sense the earth's weak magnetic field, it's also very sensitive to any other magnetic field. That means that the presence of ferromagnetic materials (like iron) or electrical currents in the vicinity might really screw up your compass reading.
So electrical wires, iron piping, laundry machines (almost anything that you would find indoors that runs on electricity or contains iron), will interfere with your compass.
a good alternative would be to use a gyroscopic compass like they do on submarines, but I don't think these fairly expensive devices aren't used in mobile equipment yet. So the only thing to do is to stay away from anything that might interfere.
The slow response to movement might be caused by internal filtering. These analog sensors produce quite an amount of measurement noise. In order to cancel this, they probably use some sort of filtering algorithm like this one:
step 1 -> Take a new sensor reading.
step 2 -> Add it to a buffer that contains the last 25 readings.
step 3 -> Calculate the mean value of all measurements in this buffer. This will be the compass heading that is sent to Android OS or your application.
step 4 -> Repeat this cycle every 25 milliseconds.
Hope this answers your questions. Of course if you compass readings never make any sense under any circumstances, the thing might just be broken...
Friendly regards,
Joost
Ps.
There's an App in the market called "Metal detector" that actually uses the interference "problem" with the compass to detect ferromagnetic metals.

Wow Thanks for the really detailed reply...
Im glad its not just me then... Didnt really want to RMA it over a dodgy compass unit.
And thanks for letting me know about that app... sounds usful... I guess it could be used to detect wireing in plaster as well?

You're welcome.
In theory you could use it to detect metal or wires in a plaster wall. I've just tried it, and it works quite well. On the other hand, I really don't want to risk electrocution by trusting a telephone to find electrical wires...

My compass is shocking. Actually points closer to South whenever I open Compass or a programme which uses the compass like G-sky. I have to calibrate it every single time.
Thing that annoys me, is if I calibrate, then exit the programme and immediately re-open the programme, it doesn't remember the calibration, it reverts to pointing in a ridiculous direction.
I want to hit it with my fist.
Addtitionally, think it's broken?

jimmymagix said:
My compass is shocking. Actually points closer to South whenever I open Compass or a programme which uses the compass like G-sky. I have to calibrate it every single time.
Thing that annoys me, is if I calibrate, then exit the programme and immediately re-open the programme, it doesn't remember the calibration, it reverts to pointing in a ridiculous direction.
I want to hit it with my fist.
Addtitionally, think it's broken?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yesterday I found out the same thing... Sometimes I cant even get it working after calibration. I was beginning to think that this happened because I dropped it once pretty hard. What should we do next? Can this be solved by replacement with warranty or something?

Smauglys said:
Yesterday I found out the same thing... Sometimes I cant even get it working after calibration. I was beginning to think that this happened because I dropped it once pretty hard. What should we do next? Can this be solved by replacement with warranty or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure your phone isn't in a case which uses magnets to keep it closed, as they affect the compass. If you're affected, take your phone out of the case and try again. Also, try out in the open, away from structures which may contain a lot of ferrous metal.

In my case the problem is due to powered-on wi-fi module. Turning off wifi, compass works fine. Could Anyone elserepeat my experience?

poldie said:
Make sure your phone isn't in a case which uses magnets to keep it closed, as they affect the compass. If you're affected, take your phone out of the case and try again. Also, try out in the open, away from structures which may contain a lot of ferrous metal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I know that. Tried out doors, and wheres no metal... When I had the G1, the compass worked normally.
In my case the problem is due to powered-on wi-fi module. Turning off wifi, compass works fine. Could Anyone elserepeat my experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried what you said. It did not help for me. I turned it of completely.

Smauglys said:
Yes I know that. Tried out doors, and wheres no metal... When I had the G1, the compass worked normally.
Just tried what you said. It did not help for me. I turned it of completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just went outside to test it again. And I think I found how to get it working. If i launch the compass application, and try to turn the phone in the flat position (on its back), then the arrow moves in random directions. But if i lift the phone that it is facing straight to my face, and then turn left and right a few times, like a steering wheel, the compass "calibrates" as I can see. And then when I lay it down again flat, it starts to work normally. Can anyone try this, if you understood my instructions?

A more accurate way of calibrating the compass is by rotating the phone twice around each axis, ideally you should do this away from anything metallic or any interfering magnetic fields preferably outside.

Er......
Where is the compass?
I dont seem to have a compass! In my list of apps there just isnt one called compass...

The Analogue Compass app is very buggy for me so I use the Compass app -> http://www.androlib.com/android.application.com-apksoftware-compass-qAC.aspx
When taking readings, I;
Always have to recalibrate on startup as far too many objects cause large interferences within the sensor making it go astray, even the charging cable causes it to go berzerk. The known working routine is to calibrate by fast twisting and turning the phone [I do it after running the built-in figure 8 calibration routine]
Keep it mid-upper body height with no metals nearby (jewellery/belt/metallic objects minimum >5ft away), holding still and level across the x-axis
Point the upper-end of the phone in the direction I want the bearing of (this depends on the type you use though, I use the digital type)
I spin the phone around and then retake 2 more readings for a total of 3 readings - averaging them out for a final mean reading
I only have 2 directions calibrated through professional consultation when this room extension was built a few years back and know the rough directions all sides this property faces, but in particular, I'm 100% sure of the exact degree reading one wall faces. This app using the built-in compass sensor reads that bearing spot on everytime after calibration (fluctuation is 1-2 degree max).

Some friends in a Lithuanian Android forum, suggested to do this, like it is shown in the video. Works perfectly every time. And I thought that something was wrong, because I never had to do anything like this on my G1.
Youtube video ID, because I cant add link because of spam protection http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP3d00Hr14o

Compass/Gyro Issues Anyone else TEST included

After trying a few programs Catch's Compass, Google SkyMap, GPS Status etc, Bubble, etc, etc. I am finding some reproducable strangeness between the Gyro and Magnetometer(Compass). Compass
Example: Try Catch's Compass (I Prefer Catch's Compass because you can use the dial to align former north's).
I Put the Phone on a Non mettalic flat surface. (I algned it with the corner of an all wooden table).
I let it wander awhile until it settled on north...
I turn the outside Dial to align the Red lines with where north is pointing.
Rotate the phone 180 degrees and aligned with the corner of the table again.
I Look where North is pointing Now...Mine is consistently off by 20-30 degrees from the original North(original red lines helped measure)
Strangely i try the two 90 degrees in between and one Matches the first orientations North the other 90 matches the other North from earlier.
I also Noticed that when I plug the phone in that North Suddenly points towards my Micro USB port..That didn't surprise me too much.
I returned My first phone because of this...My second one does it too...I tried google sky maps and A full moon wouldn't even stay on screen when aimed...This one puts it on the fringes now.
I tried all these things outdoors as well as indoors.
I tried several different methods of calibration 1 axis figure 8s, 3 axis figure 8s, 3 axis flips, etc...the results improved from stock but after dozens of attempts the strangness prevails.
Am I on a second clunker or do the rest of you get this Anomoly...ie sensor issue?

I don't know what to make of your compas test because it seemed relatively fine to me, but Skymap has never been 100% accurate for me on any device and this one is no exception, but its accurate enough for me to get an idea as to what I am looking at.

adrynalyne said:
I don't know what to make of your compas test because it seemed relatively fine to me, but Skymap has never been 100% accurate for me on any device and this one is no exception, but its accurate enough for me to get an idea as to what I am looking at.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Getting North to match up when you rotate the phone 180 degrees its a simple test and let me know your answer.

The magnetometer on mobile phones tend to point to the nearest electrical source.. so if you're testing it test outside (and not in a city, if you can), since inside a house there's too much interference. Even a laptop within a few feet will throw it off.
Also, they're *very* noisy - having tried to write compass apps I've got a lot of respect for someone who can make the raw data behave like a compass convincingly.. If they showed you what was really happening the jittering pointer would make you seasick!
So as long as it's pointing to more-or-less north, that's pretty good really.
btw. The best results I've seen have been from google maps, which seems to maintain a pretty good compass direction outdoors.

Barometer, and temperature

Whoa, I didn't know our phones did this. How cool!

Yeah it definitely has it, but it's not advertised because of how woefully inaccurate it actually is.

Didn't know that either, thanks!

Actually mine works fine. Temperature is withing 1 degree as long as I don't use my phone much, so it doesn't heat up skewing the results, barometer also seems fine, the couple times I checked at airports or from weather channel and adjusting for altitude, it was within couple mbars. At least with barometer, you can adjust it to correct value, if the error is big, where with temperature the main issue would be to keep the phone at ambient, so don't get surprised at error if you kept it in your pocket, or played game. There is also humidity sensor and I was shocked when it showed 100% humidity on a foggy evening, as it should, so that seems to be working fine as well.

I haven't had similar experiences with mine, although perhaps not using the phone could provide slightly more accurate readings. I live in a pretty humid area and have found even on the most humid of days it doesn't register properly.

You must have newer hardware -- I don't think either my 900T or 900V have humidity and air pressure sensors.
Frank

I found a sweet app called Thermometer Plus. The reason I like it is mainly the selection of semi-transparent widgets (displaying different sensors). I have the one with temp and humidity (set to update every 5 mins I think) on my main home screen so I use that to adjust my AC, etc. accordingly, mainly to keep humidity in a reasonable range.
Galaxy Sensors is also cool to see all of the device's sensors. It also has a widget, but it only displays the temp.

Frank Westlake said:
You must have newer hardware -- I don't think either my 900T or 900V have humidity and air pressure sensors.
Frank
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine in November so it's not that new, I think all N3 have it, but they don't show normally.
If you check Antutu benchmark under hardware, it should show all sensors.
Androsensor program will show all sensors readings, or type *#0*# on stock dialer, then click sensor, should show all the hardware and if it's working.

Pete is correct, all variants have it.

HTC 10 screen flickering (PWM)?

Hi all!
Does anybody know if HTC 10 uses PWM (Pulse-width modulation) for brightness control?
PWM is a cheap and easy technology to manage screen brightness. To adjust brightness PWM-controller rapidly (usually with speed of 230-240 Hz) turns backlight on and off, which in turn could cause headaches and eye fatigue after using the device.
More about PWM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation
Absence of PWM is one of the key parameters for me. Unfortunately only a few reviewers test flickering and this information is very hard to find. So far, I have not found a single review with PWM test.
Thank you!
21.05.2016 update: Notebookcheck confirmed that HTC 10 is flicker free!

Surely the only way to dim LEDs is with PWM?

Nope, PWM is just the cheapest an the easiest way. Plus controller won't overheat.
But there are other ways to dim LEDs. One of the oldest ways - variable resistor.

Considering humans see appx 60-90 hz I'd say this is a non-concern.
Unless you're a mutant who can see 100hz+ in which case you must go crazy anywhere you go from the constant exposure to higher frequencies.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Considering that I had 5 laser eye surgeries this concerns me a lot.
Using a screen with PWM for more that 15 minutes causes eye strain for me. And this is the main reason why I haven't already bought Galaxy S7.
You are lucky that PWM doesn't affect your eye, and probably should google further more: https://www.google.ru/?#safe=off&q=pwm+eye+strain

datafoo said:
Considering humans see appx 60-90 hz I'd say this is a non-concern.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you get that info? Especially flickering can be seen at even higher frequencies. I personally see flickering on the XPS 15 and it uses PWM at around 362 Hz.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-2016-9550-InfinityEdge-Notebook-Review.156354.0.html
It's not disturbing but it is noticeable.
http://www.100fps.com/how_many_frames_can_humans_see.htm
Also the difference between 60 Hz and 144 Hz in a monitor is obvious just by dragging windows around.
If you can't see it, fine. But don't go around telling untrue stuff please.

Dr. lele said:
Where did you get that info? Especially flickering can be seen at even higher frequencies. I personally see flickering on the XPS 15 and it uses PWM at around 362 Hz.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-2016-9550-InfinityEdge-Notebook-Review.156354.0.html
It's not disturbing but it is noticeable.
http://www.100fps.com/how_many_frames_can_humans_see.htm
Also the difference between 60 Hz and 144 Hz in a monitor is obvious just by dragging windows around.
If you can't see it, fine. But don't go around telling untrue stuff please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Untrue stuff LOLOLOLOLOL - I believe you're suffering a nocebo effect.
Pardon my incredulity but as I mentioned if you see anything over 100hz you're a mutant (I said 60-90hz) and that appears to be corroborated by your 100fps link. I'm not completely disagreeing with you, I'm however pointing out that you're such a small subset of the population it's rare and hard to validate.
Although FPS and HZ are different we'll bypass the semantics for the fact we're discussing cycles per second in a general fashion.
It must drive you crazy being ANYWHERE with lighting and electricity. At least here in the US electricity runs at appx 60hz so lights (most computer monitors etc) must bother you quite a bit.
Either way, good luck to you. I hope you find what you're looking for.

There is of course a difference between the way LCDs refresh their content and the way CRTs did. Strobing of light can definitely be seen at much higher rates than you said.
Also I never said that it's infuriating or drives me crazy I just said it's noticeable. I have no idea where you get this from.
Tests with Air force pilots have shown, that they could identify the plane on a flashed picture that was flashed only for 1/220th of a second.
That is identifying. So it's pretty safe to say, that recognizing, that SOME light was there is possible with 1/300th of a second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was the part I wanted to show you.
Now the blur on LCDs is a different story, since the lights are on constantly and only the pixels change color at the given rate. But still you cann see the motion blur / dragging of the cursor even on a 144 Hz screen. Albeit much less noticeable than on a 60 Hz one.
If given a 60 Hz display side by side with a 144 Hz panel most people will be able to tell you which one feels more natural.
BTT: I don' think it will be a real poblem even if HTC does use a PWM module. Even though it might be somehow noticeable it won't disturb most people. Also: how often do you use your phone at the lowet brightness.

Yay! HTC 10 is PWM (flicker) free! Confirmed by Notebookcheck: http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-HTC-10-Smartphone.164311.0.html (in German).
Oscillogram: http://www.notebookcheck.com/fileadmin/Notebooks/HTC/10/response_pwm.jpg

Just want to add that being able to notice it and it affecting you are two different things. Normally you can't notice neon lights flicker but they do and it will strain your eyes and make you tired. That's why bars have started to charge them out to leds.
Sent from my HTC 10

Glad I'm not effected by this crap. I'd hate having to pass on phones I really like just because they use PWM.
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

Always on heart rate monitor causes massive step counts

Hi, when I switch the heart rate monitor to always on (or the stress measurement) ,the step count goes through the roof! For example I wake up in the morning having 3000+ steps already! My wife can confirm I'm not sleep walking
Resetting the watch did not help.
Anyone else having this issue?
I am on the latest firmware.

I also noticed that if I have the default tomcat watch face on, which has a glare effect that uses the gyro to adjust itself, the glare jumps to the extremes as if it was getting wrong readings from the gyro. I was almost convinced that there is something wrong with the sensor but when I switch the continuous HR off, the glare stopped jumping and it smoothly followed my wrist, proving that the gyro works fine. I will attach two videos to illustrate.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wBNm4ZQf4wRBjFtJA