Google Maps and the direction the compass points?

Forums › Apple iOS and devices › Google Maps and the direction the compass points?

motorwayne

841 posts

Ultimate Geek

#68004 13-Sep-2010 14:36

Whats up with being able to get the compass (when hitting the find me arrow thingy twice) to point in the right direction in relation to where the car is going?

Depending on where I set the device (iPhone) in the car, the compass points all sorts of directions while driving down the road.

Is there a re way to calibrate it to point in the right direction all of the time?

Moo

khull

1245 posts

Uber Geek

#379326 13-Sep-2010 15:47

yes - just trace your iphone in a figure 8 motion to recalibrate. note i use the word "trace" and not "wave" like many people have indicated.

i.e. imagine you are holding the phone like a model airplane and draw a trace sweep in a figure 8. may also help if you make airplane noises too :)

motorwayne

841 posts

Ultimate Geek

#379336 13-Sep-2010 16:22

I only know moo, moo will that be ok?

Moo

Ham

462 posts

Ultimate Geek

#379371 13-Sep-2010 17:28

I'd say your car will have too many things (electronics/steel) that will interfere with the flux gates in the phone and give an unreliable indication.. There will be no fix for this.

JayADee

2148 posts

Uber Geek

#379438 13-Sep-2010 20:31

motorwayne: I only know moo, moo will that be ok?

Moo

You'll just udderly confuse it.

manta

249 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#379444 13-Sep-2010 20:41

Ham: I'd say your car will have too many things (electronics/steel) that will interfere with the flux gates in the phone and give an unreliable indication.. There will be no fix for this.

+1 It's a gimmick

Shagy

97 posts

Master Geek

#379837 14-Sep-2010 20:41

I've noticed if you use the compass app and rotate the iph4, the compass points in random directions

JimmyC

726 posts

Ultimate Geek

#380020 15-Sep-2010 09:26

I was in Akld the last 4 days and actually used Google Maps and the compass quite a lot. Had a couple interference messages, usually when still standing in doorways, but it proved an invaluable and reliable tool for us.

Equinox IT

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JayADee

2148 posts

Uber Geek

#380049 15-Sep-2010 10:59

I haven't actually tried it outside my house but inside my house it works amazingly well. If I rotate my office chair it correctly shows the direction I'm pointing. I did have to do the magic 8 wave to calibrate it first. I can see this being very useful in a strange city.

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#380054 15-Sep-2010 11:03

I used it with GoSkyWatch the other night and initially it was off by 10-15 deg however it quickly sorted itself out and then seemed to be quite accurate.

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Ham

462 posts

Ultimate Geek

#380231 15-Sep-2010 16:43

Usefull for google maps if you are walking in a strange city.

JayADee

2148 posts

Uber Geek

#380277 15-Sep-2010 18:56

I was thinking of picking up Tomtom for it. This phone just continues to impress the heck out of me. I was playing with the new photo thingy and with the new software the pictures are very impressive.

khull

1245 posts

Uber Geek

#380532 16-Sep-2010 10:13

This phone just continues to impress the heck out of me.

funny that - i got my first iPhone in 2007 and never looked back since - so welcome to 2007 :)

btw, you'd find the case with most apple products. many people just dismiss their devices as "expensive" and "marketing" but you will never hear someone who would honestly dismiss it purely on the "experience" of using it. because once you've embraced it, you'll find quite difficult to find alternatives/substitutes. next thing is to get a mac/ipad if you do not already have one :)