5S gyro/accelerometer is off by about 4 degrees. Update many having this issue!

richard371 · Sep 22, 2013

Well I though I had the perfect copy but tonight I discovered the accelerometer and gyro are off about 4 degrees. I tried the level in the compass app and its off. I also tried other apps that use the accelerometer and gyro to level the phone and they al show the same results. I rebooted the phone etc. My ipad and iPhone 5 are level. Some apps you can calibrate the level but its always off by default and there is no way to calibrate it globally. I assume the circuit board is slightly off relative to the case. I ordered a 5s from ATT online and it said it would be here mid october so I went to the store and they had it in stock so I picked it up. Turns out the one from att.com shipped and will be here tomorrow. I was going to send it back but I think I will set it up and see if it is better and return the lessor of the 2. Hopefully att will not give me a hard time. Funny thing is I got them both for $200 off using the early upgrade.

user-name-here · Sep 22, 2013

Re-calibrate it by swinging your phone in a "8" motion. See if that helps.

richard371 · Sep 22, 2013

Thats for the compass (magnetometer) not the accelerometer and gyro. I guarantee the circuit board is not level with the case. I wish there was a way to calibrate the motion sensors globally and permanently.

user-name-here said:
Re-calibrate it by swinging your phone in a "8" motion. See if that helps.

richard371 · Sep 23, 2013

I did a full restore and tested it before restoring the back up and same problem it is off by about 4 degrees. Hopefully the one coming today will not have the issue. iphone 5 and ipad are both level.

KSean · Sep 23, 2013

Similar issue here, I place the phone on a flat surface (the floor) and the level measurement gives me -4 degrees.

dotme · Sep 23, 2013

richard371 said:
I wish there was a way to calibrate the motion sensors globally and permanently.

As far as the level goes, I think there is. I just tried to calibrate mine and it seemed to work.

If you want to try with yours, here's what I did - I set the phone on a known-level surface. I waited until it settles (in my case, it shows -2 degrees).

I then tapped on the "-" on the right side of the screen (I'll put it in red below)

The level zeroed out, and has been accurate since I did that.

Screen with the bit I tapped on in red

- -2` -

You might give it a try just to see if I got lucky or if it really is a way to calibrate... I'm curious.

WilliamG · Sep 23, 2013

dotme said:
As far as the level goes, I think there is. I just tried to calibrate mine and it seemed to work.

If you want to try with yours, here's what I did - I set the phone on a known-level surface. I waited until it settles (in my case, it shows -2 degrees).

I then tapped on the "-" on the right side of the screen (I'll put it in red below)

The level zeroed out, and has been accurate since I did that.

Screen with the bit I tapped on in red

- -2` -

You might give it a try just to see if I got lucky or if it really is a way to calibrate... I'm curious.

You do tap the right of the screen to recalibrate zero degrees. That does work. However, if you close the app and reopen it, you have to recalibrate again.

My new iPhone 5s is off by about -5 to -6 degrees.

richard371 · Sep 23, 2013

Yea I tried calibrating and got it to 0 but then you turn the phone around on the flat level surface its off again. Also if you do close the app and reopen it, its back to where it was. I think these are being calibrated incorrectly at the factory or the logic boards are crooked.

I have another coming today im going to test. If it has the same issue ill go check out the demo modes at the Apple store and see how many of them are off. Again my iphone 5 and ipad are level.

Most people wont notice this but when you play racing games or xplane mine veers of to the right. Some apps let you calibrate some do not.

Also when using app like sky guide the horizon is off about 4 or 5 degrees compared to the real horizon. Annoying.

So far 3 of us in this thread with a 5S are off by 4 or more degrees. I hope we are not going to have gyro or level gate.

1 degree off is ok but when you get much more then that you will always need to calibrate when you open your games and some apps don't support it.

WilliamG · Sep 23, 2013

richard371 said:
Yea I tried calibrating and got it to 0 but then you turn the phone around on the flat level surface its off again. Also if you do close the app and reopen it, its back to where it was. I think these are being calibrated incorrectly at the factory or the logic boards are crooked.

I have another coming today im going to test. If it has the same issue ill go check out the demo modes at the Apple store and see how many of them are off. Again my iphone 5 and ipad are level.

Most people wont notice this but when you play racing games or xplane mine veers of to the right. Some apps let you calibrate some do not.

Also when using app like sky guide the horizon is off about 4 or 5 degrees compared to the real horizon. Annoying.

So far 3 of us in this thread with a 5S are off by 4 or more degrees. I hope we are not going to have gyro or level gate.

1 degree off is ok but when you get much more then that you will always need to calibrate when you open your games and some apps don't support it.

For reference, my iPhone 5 and wife's iPhone 5 read 0 degrees on this flat surface. The accelerometer has really been bothering me playing Asphalt 5

richard371 · Sep 23, 2013

Lift your phone up on the side where the home button is about 1/4" Does that improve a bit? Mine does

WilliamG said:
For reference, my iPhone 5 and wife's iPhone 5 read 0 degrees on this flat surface. The accelerometer has really been bothering me playing Asphalt 5

Image

WilliamG · Sep 23, 2013

richard371 said:
Lift your phone up on the side where the home button is about 1/4" Does that improve a bit? Mine does

Yes, for both phones it improves a bit when lifted from the home-button end, and twisted very slightly moves it to 0.

richard371 · Sep 23, 2013

I got a feeling many if not all 5S are this way since these results are consistent. Im going to go to the Apple store today and test this theory and will not bother opening the replacement when it comes today if this is the case.

Apple needs to fix this hopefully via a software update.

WilliamG said:
Yes, for both phones it improves a bit when lifted from the home-button end, and twisted very slightly moves it to 0.

WilliamG · Sep 23, 2013

richard371 said:
I got a feeling many if not all 5S are this way since these results are consistent. Im going to go to the Apple store today and test this theory and will not bother opening the replacement when it comes today if this is the case.

Apple needs to fix this hopefully via a software update.

Oh I agree. I expect they're all this way. Probably a good idea to notify AppleCare about it.

richard371 · Sep 23, 2013

Once fedex gets here I will go to the Apple store to confirm this on several 5S and report my findings. I will then report it to Apple.

alent1234 · Sep 23, 2013

awesome

i think we found our gate for the new iphone. i expect someone will make a youtube video soon on how people are getting lost

WilliamG · Sep 23, 2013

alent1234 said:
awesome

i think we found our gate for the new iphone. i expect someone will make a youtube video soon on how people are getting lost

It's not really about that. It's quite annoying to play racing games etc that rely on the accelerometer for steering/direction/gameplay. Unless you like tilting the entire device to the right or left (depending on which way you hold your phone) while trying to steer.

alent1234 · Sep 23, 2013

WilliamG said:
It's not really about that. It's quite annoying to play racing games etc that rely on the accelerometer for steering/direction/gameplay. Unless you like tilting the entire device to the right or left (depending on which way you hold your phone) while trying to steer.

can't you just calibrate it right before you play? real racing 3 lets you do it

richard371 · Sep 23, 2013

I play xplane and my plane always veers to the right. I can calibrate it in the app but I have to do this every time a launch it.

I think foxconn has some low level software that calibrates all the units before leaving the factory. Obviously something is off or maybe the factory tilted a bit. If we see some that do not have this issue maybe they came out of a different factory.

WilliamG · Sep 23, 2013

alent1234 said:
can't you just calibrate it right before you play? real racing 3 lets you do it

Only SOME games let you do that. And to be honest, a level should be level out of the box. Otherwise you have to find a completely level surface to "calibrate" it every time you load the stock Apple level app. And that's annoying!

Really, it should let you calibrate it in the settings, so it's a system-wide fix. Very simple.

In any case, Asphalt 8, for example, doesn't let you calibrate it (that I've found), so I've given up playing it for the time being. It's not fun to tilt my hands to go straight. Feels like a car needing an alignment/steering wheel adjustment!

----------

richard371 said:
I play xplane and my plane always veers to the right. I can calibrate it in the app but I have to do this every time a launch it.

I think foxconn has some low level software that calibrates all the units before leaving the factory. Obviously something is off or maybe the factory tilted a bit. If we see some that do not have this issue maybe they came out of a different factory.

I'm in two minds…

1.) I'm almost hopeful they all do it so I don't have to go and deal with exchanging an otherwise fine iPhone 5s example. Then a fix will come out since they ALL do it.

2.) I hope they don't all do it so I can exchange my iPhone 5s super quickly and be done with the issue.

Not sure which I prefer?

richard371 · Sep 23, 2013

I prefer 1. They may not all do it but based on this thread many do and they are consistent. Id rather not replace my phone and get one with some other issue. Fedex says they will be here by 8pm lol. Hopefully it comes soon so I can go to the Apple store and test this and not miss the delivery.

WilliamG said:
Only SOME games let you do that. And to be honest, a level should be level out of the box. Otherwise you have to find a completely level surface to "calibrate" it every time you load the stock Apple level app. And that's annoying!

Really, it should let you calibrate it in the settings, so it's a system-wide fix. Very simple.

In any case, Asphalt 8, for example, doesn't let you calibrate it (that I've found), so I've given up playing it for the time being. It's not fun to tilt my hands to go straight. Feels like a car needing an alignment/steering wheel adjustment!

----------

I'm in two minds

1.) I'm almost hopeful they all do it so I don't have to go and deal with exchanging an otherwise fine iPhone 5s example. Then a fix will come out since they ALL do it.

2.) I hope they don't all do it so I can exchange my iPhone 5s super quickly and be done with the issue.

Not sure which I prefer?

WilliamG · Sep 23, 2013

richard371 said:
I prefer 1. They may not all do it but based on this thread many do and they are consistent. Id rather not replace my phone and get one with some other issue. Fedex says they will be here by 8pm lol. Hopefully it comes soon so I can go to the Apple store and test this and not miss the delivery.

Well the issue is that there's variances in how much they're off. As you saw, mine is off by -6 degrees, and the wife's is off by -4 degrees. I'm not really sure how any software fix would address that discrepancy unless it's a new System option.

asleep · Sep 23, 2013

Tiltgate.

phositadc · Sep 23, 2013

Mine is off but not quite as much.

richard371 · Sep 23, 2013

True but at least they are off on the same side of the phone. I wonder if the circuit boards are all crooked? I can't imagine them being off that much. I think android phones have a system wide calibration for the gyro/ accelerometer. If this does affect many phones it would be cheaper for Apple to add this as an option but I would not hold my breath

WilliamG said:
Well the issue is that there's variances in how much they're off. As you saw, mine is off by -6 degrees, and the wife's is off by -4 degrees. I'm not really sure how any software fix would address that discrepancy unless it's a new System option.

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try rotating it slowly around 360 degrees on the desk and see if it changes and report the worst case number. I get anywhere from -1 to -4

phositadc said:
Mine is off but not quite as much. Image

Sodner · Sep 23, 2013

-1 here.

5S gyro/accelerometer is off by about 4 degrees. Update many having this issue!

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