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Compass not working (iphone SE )


Tipsy_1

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After it worked fine for about two weeks or so, the compass function in the geocaching app is not working any more: compass error stuck in one direction (and on a map the arrow is also not “turning”)... 

i already tried a lot of things in order to fix it but no success ? who has a ultimate fix  for this? (Maybe update to ios 12?) thx !!! Leen

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8 hours ago, davros989 said:

Same, Iphone 8, updated IOS and app

 

Does the factory "Compass" App work fine, including the level bubble?  There's a calibration menu setting for the compass.

 

I have an iPhone 8 with IOS 12.1.2, no issues with the App so far.  If you suspect there's some setting or other App or whatever, I can test things.

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On 1/11/2019 at 10:01 PM, kunarion said:

 

Does the factory "Compass" App work fine, including the level bubble?  There's a calibration menu setting for the compass.

 

I have an iPhone 8 with IOS 12.1.2, no issues with the App so far.  If you suspect there's some setting or other App or whatever, I can test things.

My iPhone SE, running iOS 12.1.2 The "Compass app works fine, level and all. The Official App is way off in the field. I'll be 20 feet off from the cache, take a few steps and is shot 30 feet the opposite direction... very frustrating. I'll often have an 80-foot swing. Hope someone have a fix...

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I too started having this problem a while back --- don't remember exactly when --- where my iPhone SE will get me right to GZ but then suddenly send me 25-160 feet away, with the Compass changing directions.

 

This Weekend, when the same thing happened, I opened up my iPhone's Compass App with the Geocache App still running --- I have the "Background App Refresh"  option in the iPhone's Settings set to ON  for both WiFi and Cellular --- which started spinning wildly but soon got its bearing.  When I switch back to the Geocache App its Compass was then working fine.  Has anyone else also found this as a fix?

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4 hours ago, dersucher2016 said:

I too started having this problem a while back --- don't remember exactly when --- where my iPhone SE will get me right to GZ but then suddenly send me 25-160 feet away, with the Compass changing directions.

 

This Weekend, when the same thing happened, I opened up my iPhone's Compass App with the Geocache App still running --- I have the "Background App Refresh"  option in the iPhone's Settings set to ON  for both WiFi and Cellular --- which started spinning wildly but soon got its bearing.  When I switch back to the Geocache App its Compass was then working fine.  Has anyone else also found this as a fix?

 

What is the fix?  Are you saying having both the iPhone compass and the Geocaching App open fixed it?  I guess you mean just for the compass issue?

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Thanks for the reports on compass problems. We've included some improvements to compass initialization in our 7.4.0 release - available in the app store today - that we're hoping should reduce the problems described here. After you've updated to 7.4.0, we'd appreciate any follow up feedback you have on the compass and whether its performance has improved.

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On 1/28/2019 at 10:37 PM, kunarion said:

 

What is the fix?  Are you saying having both the iPhone compass and the Geocaching App open fixed it?  I guess you mean just for the compass issue?

Yes, that has helped me with my iPhone 7Plus running IOS 12.1.2. I had my geocaching app compass navigating to a cache and the compass arrow was basically pointing 180* the wrong way and North was not pointing north. My map would show the direction line and distance to the cache correctly. I opened the iPhone compass app and saw that North was where it should be so leaving it open I went back to my geocaching app and the compass there was correct and I could navigate to the cache. Unfortunately, this did not last over a couple of minutes so I would go back to the iPhone compass app again and then return to the geocaching app compass which would be pointing the right way again. This is a clumsy  workaround but it helped. I am really wondering if there is a problem with the geocaching app and how it refreshes that compass from the phone.

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On ‎1‎/‎29‎/‎2019 at 12:37 AM, kunarion said:

What is the fix?  Are you saying having both the iPhone compass and the Geocaching App open fixed it?  I guess you mean just for the compass issue?

On ‎1‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 11:01 PM, kunarion said:

Does the factory "Compass" App work fine, including the level bubble?  There's a calibration menu setting for the compass.

I have an iPhone 8 with IOS 12.1.2, no issues with the App so far.  If you suspect there's some setting or other App or whatever, I can test things.

 

I finally went off a data plan so can't test it,  hopefully some issues fixed for others with the 7.4.0 release.   ;)

 

Curious though , are folks testing this ?  Seems many aren't replying to questions,  but merely reiterating their problem ...

This often happens simply because the compass hasn't been calibrated for some time. 

If this doesn't work, it'd be nice if folks would say what they tried, and  whether they've updated to 7.4.0 yet.

"Still not fixed" doesn't help anyone figure what the issue is, without also a mention on what was tried.    :)

 I had issues once, and it turned out to be those strong magnetic fridge clips in my pocket. 

My old GPSr would do similar if too close to my phone...

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1 hour ago, travelingsages said:

Yes, that has helped me with my iPhone 7Plus running IOS 12.1.2. I had my geocaching app compass navigating to a cache and the compass arrow was basically pointing 180* the wrong way and North was not pointing north. My map would show the direction line and distance to the cache correctly. I opened the iPhone compass app and saw that North was where it should be so leaving it open I went back to my geocaching app and the compass there was correct and I could navigate to the cache. Unfortunately, this did not last over a couple of minutes so I would go back to the iPhone compass app again and then return to the geocaching app compass which would be pointing the right way again. This is a clumsy  workaround but it helped. I am really wondering if there is a problem with the geocaching app and how it refreshes that compass from the phone.

 

Are you holding the iPhone horizontally, flat with the ground?  I was puzzled by the threads about compass sticking (not the normal jumpiness upon arrival at GZ, but many yards away), because I've never encountered it.  But as I moved my iPhone 8 toward vertical, the compass leapt 180 degrees, and became sticky.  This was for a cache 2 miles away.  The factory compass was fine, star chart Apps were OK, Cachly was OK, the Official App was crazy.  I then updated to the most recent version of the App, and now I see only a slight jump, maybe a degree or two, when raising the phone, about what my iPhone 5s does.

 

The reason I ask about vertical phones is, the sensors seem buggy and even completely fail on iPhones.  The factory compass may be able to compensate, maybe The App does it differently.  The good news is, if the factory compass is fine, there should be a way to make The App work.

Edited by kunarion
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I hope that someone from Geocaching.com monitors these threads because us users have some good input. I was out caching today with my iPhone and noticed that if I held the phone parallel with the ground and flat or bottom side down then the compass would work fine. If I held it in my hand and hung my and down so that the phone was on its edge but still parallel with the ground then the compass acted up. If I put the phone in my shirt pocket so that the top of the phone was up then it worked. Position of the phone seems to be the issue. As I had mentioned earlier, opening the compass app on the phone and then switching to the geocaching app would fix the compass direction. Then I can simply switch between the compass app and the geocaching app to get the compass in the geocaching app to work again. By the way, I have downloaded the most current version of the geocaching app and that did not resolve the compass problem.

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On 2/3/2019 at 9:29 AM, travelingsages said:

Yes, that has helped me with my iPhone 7Plus running IOS 12.1.2. I had my geocaching app compass navigating to a cache and the compass arrow was basically pointing 180* the wrong way and North was not pointing north. My map would show the direction line and distance to the cache correctly. I opened the iPhone compass app and saw that North was where it should be so leaving it open I went back to my geocaching app and the compass there was correct and I could navigate to the cache. Unfortunately, this did not last over a couple of minutes so I would go back to the iPhone compass app again and then return to the geocaching app compass which would be pointing the right way again. This is a clumsy  workaround but it helped. I am really wondering if there is a problem with the geocaching app and how it refreshes that compass from the phone.

 

 I was out caching today with my iPhone and noticed that if I held the phone parallel with the ground and flat or bottom side down then the compass would work fine. If I held it in my hand and hung my and down so that the phone was on its edge but still parallel with the ground then the compass acted up. If I put the phone in my shirt pocket so that the top of the phone was up then it worked. Position of the phone seems to be the issue. As I had mentioned earlier, opening the compass app on the phone and then switching to the geocaching app would fix the compass direction. Then I can simply switch between the compass app and the geocaching app to get the compass in the geocaching app to work again. By the way, I have downloaded the most current version of the geocaching app and that did not resolve the compass problem.

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Well I downloaded the latest version of the App, went out Geocaching today:  STILL THE SAME PROBLEM!!!  My workaround is still the same as I posted on Jan 28 above.  An improvement on it is to occasionally switch between the Geocache Navigation/Compass and the iPhone's Compass.

 

Better yet, if you're able to navigate with just the iPhone's Compass, keep the iPhone's Compass App in the Foreground (on top), occasionally checking the Geocache's Navigator/Compass for distance and direction confirmation.  Yes, this is all a royal pain. but less so than having the current Geocache App Bug take you in an up-to- 125' diameter Wild Goose Chase.

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