So apps like Google maps are pretty much unusable for navigation because they always detect the orientation wrongly. Like, I'll have my phone pointed north and the map will show east. If I point east it'll show south, etc. No amount of wavy arm flailing will recalibrate it.
SOMETIMES I can "trick" it into pointing in the right direction by locking the phone, physically rotating it to the direction it thought it was before locking and then unlocking it.
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Its low cost device expect anything
Ithink its hardwear
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does anyones compass work right?
I have recently purchased Evo and am running latest fresh. My compass is very jittery, inaccurate and requires constant calibration. I have found several people complain about this around the web. I want to know if anyone has compass that just works. On my hero it worked great. On my Evo, skymap is almost unusable. I have to shake (figure eight) phone every time I move it and then it is only close. Should I exchange this evo for another one?
my skymap is always off too!
What's this fig 8 you mention?
I'll google it... I figured mine was just broken. I think I'm HW 002 and 651.6 maybe?
my compass always needs to be calibrated every time it's opened....using the figure 8 motion like you mentioned.
in terms of google skymap:
My skymap also sucks. The app shows the correct image of the sky that I'm pointing to, but everything seems to be off-center a little bit. I've experimented by messing with different G-sensor calibration scenarios(menu->settings->Display->G-Sensor Calibration). My hypothesis on the situation is:
When you put the phone on a flat surface and use the g-sensor calibration tool, the device does calibrate properly...BUT...my belief is that the protruding camera on the back of the device puts the phone just a bit off-center on one of the axis'. I'm guessing if you elevate the bottom of the phone slightly with a very small object(like maybe 4-6 sheets of stacked copy paper) and then run the g-sensor calibration tool it might inadvertently correct your skymap problem.
I did it the described process above very unscientifically (with my finger holding up the bottom of the phone while resting the top of the phone on a surface that's questionably level) and noticed the skymap image was off-set still, but in the complete other direction. This would indicate that you may be able to correct the problem this way if you're precise enough with an off-set calibration.
I just don't care enough about skymap to do it.
What's everyone else's thoughts?
I heard the One V does not have a compass in built. How does this affect turn-by-turn navigation with Google Maps and the like? Can anyone confirm it still works reliably?
If you use Navigator in car there are no problems, but if you intend to use it to walk, the lack of compass is annoying because sometimes is not able to understand in which direction you're going.
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everything works fine, the Poin where am i always move as i move.
As it's mentioned already that it often annoys when we dont know which direction are we going, this can be solved by HTC Location. Somehow....
With HTCLocation, you can download maps so you can use offlinely. It also have a lot of point interest or places on the map. They can help you to get to know which direction are you in, wtihout compass.
I have seen several threads reporting compass issues in this forum. I posted one a few weeks ago as well. I have done some troubleshooting and I have now realized that my compass works fine unless I am in my car. This is very strange because I have had this car for several years and I have gone through several phones and have never had this problem. It's like my car is some kind of Faraday cage!
The symptoms are especially visible in google maps. Apparently they use the compass heading instead of the gps course to determine which way to turn the map. The arrow in the center almost always shows me driving sideways down a road. Also if I use the famous GPS Status app, the compass arrow in the middle never comes close to the actual GPS heading. Specifically, my compass always like to point somewhere to the west. If I am travelling to the east (090), my compass will point somewhere to the west (perhaps 270). But if I am travelling due south (180), the compass may point to something like south west. And if I am travelling to the west, there is a good chance the compass will be in agreement and also show me travelling to the west. Maybe I should alter my driving habits to only drive to the west.
But all of these symptoms go away if I am out of my car. If I go for a walk, the compass is fine. It is so obvious that I can stand outside of my car and get a heading, and then take the phone in my car and get a completely, wildly different heading.
I have tried the compass calibration in the GPS Status app, but that has made no difference.
Are there any engineering key codes that can test the compass, or perhaps change the sensitivity on it or something? Is there anything else I can do other than the compass calibration? Anyone have any idea what in my car might be throwing off the compass in the first place?
I had the Note II and I always had trouble with the compass in gmaps. Specifically, if you are just looking at the map without having a destination entered (perhaps to review traffic), the compass would never work. The heading marker pretty much had a mind of its own. Well, I upgraded to the Note III, thinking that the problem must be fixed. Nope! Wrong! Nada! Same problem.
Well, I am probably getting close to upgrading again, and I was wonder what I can expect with the Note 4. Has it been fixed?
i have never had an issue with my note 2 or 3 or even 4 now!
MrGibbage said:
I had the Note II and I always had trouble with the compass in gmaps. Specifically, if you are just looking at the map without having a destination entered (perhaps to review traffic), the compass would never work. The heading marker pretty much had a mind of its own. Well, I upgraded to the Note III, thinking that the problem must be fixed. Nope! Wrong! Nada! Same problem.
Well, I am probably getting close to upgrading again, and I was wonder what I can expect with the Note 4. Has it been fixed?
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Hmmm... on my phone the compass in Google Maps is there to show which way is north on the map. Not which way I'm facing although now that you mention it I do seem to vaguely remember there used to be a mode in Google Maps which would use the compass to change what was shown on the screen based on which way the phone was pointing.
I believe that got removed from Google Maps a couple years ago. At least I haven't seen it for a long time.
If I'm right, it's a "feature" of the app rather than a limitation of the phone(s).
I'm not talking about the red and white compass in the upper left corner. I am talking about the blue arrow in the middle of the screen that represents your heading. When I drive down a street, that arrow should also point "down the street" on the map. The arrow on my screen points in pretty much any direction other than the correct one.
Here's a thread that I started a couple of years ago that still gets posted to occasionally by other people that have the same problem.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=44662834#post44662834
Additionally, google sky map is pretty much impossible to use for the same reason. The google apps have no idea what direction the phone is pointing.
*#0*# Calibration can help, but it usually reverts back to the broken state after a few minutes or after a reboot.
it shows me walking or driving the right way and google sky map works perfect as well and i dont even have GPS on high accuracy. i used sky map to see what a bright star was a couple nights ago and maps today and both are fine
MrGibbage said:
I'm not talking about the red and white compass in the upper left corner. I am talking about the blue arrow in the middle of the screen that represents your heading. When I drive down a street, that arrow should also point "down the street" on the map. The arrow on my screen points in pretty much any direction other than the correct one.
Here's a thread that I started a couple of years ago that still gets posted to occasionally by other people that have the same problem.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=44662834#post44662834
Additionally, google sky map is pretty much impossible to use for the same reason. The google apps have no idea what direction the phone is pointing.
*#0*# Calibration can help, but it usually reverts back to the broken state after a few minutes or after a reboot.
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It is not based on which direction the phone is pointing, it is based on which way the phone is moving. Has to be moving for the arrow to move. GPS in maps measures movement
I believe this is an inherent issue with the magnetometer/compass in all cellphones. All you have to do is shake the phone around (or swirl the phone around in a figure 8 pattern) to calibrate the magnetometer with the maps app open. You'll find that it is accurate afterwards.
When using Google Maps, I'll press the circle to center in on my location, and the arrow is supposed to show the direction I'm facing. About half the time, it shows me facing about 30 to 90* in the wrong direction. The arrow will move left or right as I do, but still faces the wrong direction. There have been occasions when it will show the dot and arrow moving and facing backwards while I'm driving. This hasn't affected Navigation, as it still accurately shows my location. Has anyone else noticed this, or have a solution?
What I've tried so far: Sensor Calibration under the *#0*# menu.
Also, I had this issue on my Note 4 as well.
Welcome to Samsung crap GPS. Crap radios as well, the radio on the edge drops more signal then on the Note 4.
DigitalChris602 said:
When using Google Maps, I'll press the circle to center in on my location, and the arrow is supposed to show the direction I'm facing. About half the time, it shows me facing about 30 to 90* in the wrong direction. The arrow will move left or right as I do, but still faces the wrong direction. There have been occasions when it will show the dot and arrow moving and facing backwards while I'm driving. This hasn't affected Navigation, as it still accurately shows my location. Has anyone else noticed this, or have a solution?
What I've tried so far: Sensor Calibration under the *#0*# menu.
Also, I had this issue on my Note 4 as well.
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Unless you're military... I wouldn't so much worry about where my "GPS arrow" is facing... and just hope that it is an accurate location. Apps like Skymaps, etc will have that "un-usability" but for the most part... if your pretty close to the street, and the location of your device is mostly on point.. I would just get use to it.
Wouldn't say it's a Samsung defect either.. it's more of a "expecting your phone to perform as well as a satellite GPS tracker" issue...
Like I said, would just try to get use to it. Most often, when I cross an intersection, my phone shows me crossing ab ok about the same time. That's all that should matter. The directional point is something that will never work like it does in COD, etc. Lol
Sent from my SM-G928T using XDA Free mobile app
The part that bugs me is that for years I've never had this problem on any android phone, now all of a sudden it's an issue on two samsung phones in a row. :^(
Sent from my SM-G928T
I have a temporary fix that must be done while an app is using the compass. Rotate the phone two full circles on all three axis, one after the other. Like turn the phone full round as if taking a panorama, then a full circle like capturing a panorama of the floor then sky, and lastly a full spin like the phone is on a turntable in front of you. The compass should be stellar right after this and at least prove to you that it CAN work.
I asked some hardware buddies of mine at Qualcomm and they told me some reasons why it sucks on phones. The magnetometer that scans relative magnetic field strength does not self calibrate whenever it is subjected to new fields. This happens very often as you pass through varying fields all the time. If the phone was kept away from all of these, the phone still would need calibration as its own operation creates magnetic fields that may tamper with its magnetometer depending on placement and shielding.
hate to say it.
DigitalChris602 said:
When using Google Maps, I'll press the circle to center in on my location, and the arrow is supposed to show the direction I'm facing. About half the time, it shows me facing about 30 to 90* in the wrong direction. The arrow will move left or right as I do, but still faces the wrong direction. There have been occasions when it will show the dot and arrow moving and facing backwards while I'm driving. This hasn't affected Navigation, as it still accurately shows my location. Has anyone else noticed this, or have a solution?
What I've tried so far: Sensor Calibration under the *#0*# menu.
Also, I had this issue on my Note 4 as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not experience this problem at all and keep my phone in the hub between the front seats in my car and use Android auto in my car. However the poster above is correct about resetting your magnetometer. May be your magnetometer is faulty or fried. Also what position do you keep your phone in the car? That could make a difference, I would rotate phone until it shows you the right direction.