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Calibration on iPhone 5s Compass and Level Appears Incorrect

Exio said:
You don't seem to understand here, lol. People don't give a flying **** if it is perfectly accurate, they just want it to work like apple claims it too. In prior years it has never been an issue, and there are hundreds of android handsets, some extremely cheap that have accurate components.
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possible that I am missing something. dunno, I see a lot of people going 'mine's off by 4deg" "mine is 6!!" "mine is 2!! wtf".. that's what the picture in the OP is showing too.
is that not giving flying fs about accuracy?

what, exactly, isn't working in the way apple claims?
 
BC2009 said:
So you think a few degrees is going to matter for a gaming or fitness app? Nice try though.
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So you think it's cool to compromise and gleefully accept substandard product? Especially since the M7 was one of the major highlighted feature of the 5s?
 
Works perfectly for me. What's humorous is that the pic assume the $1 level from Harbor Freight is accurate, not the phone. Guess what? those cheapies are *often* off.
 
Works perfectly for me on my 64GB AT&T 5s as well. I tested against a spirit level and it was spot on. (I did not test the compass).
 
May have misunderstood me

JAT said:
List yours that aren't. Or stop whining about people.
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I didn't mean it to sound like I was whining. My intention was to state that the sometimes nitpick too much about products.

I'm thankful and I appreciate the fact that I now don't have third world problems as I was raised in a war torn country. Did you grow up praying daily that your father doesn't get bombed on the way home from work? I did.

Anyways the mods didn't take kindly to my comment and it was taken down. I now understand the rules :).
 
I know.....

an user of a $500 plus device can get pissed off if the device is not fully working properly. I will......:mad:

But lets get real, the iPhone is not a ultraprecision device. And Apple better fix these issues before someone get stranded or injured......:confused:......:eek:


:):apple:
 
You should definitely all wait for the iPhone 6... wait, think of all the new problems you'll have when it's a new body... crap, maybe wait until the iPhone 6s, err. hmm. That one will probably have some new stuff too that won't work 100% great because they don't have Geniuses like you working on this stuff. . . Maybe wait for the 7? The 9? Dammit, maybe you should just buy an old Nokia.
 
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flat five said:
possible that I am missing something. dunno, I see a lot of people going 'mine's off by 4deg" "mine is 6!!" "mine is 2!! wtf".. that's what the picture in the OP is showing too.
is that not giving flying fs about accuracy?

what, exactly, isn't working in the way apple claims?
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Apple in general touts the exacting quality standards of their manufacturing process. We who purchase those products with a someone higher price tag expect they will live up to that claim. Before iOS7, Apple only included a compass indicating app. Levels and inclinometers were from 3rd party developers and usually have a calibration procedure to zero out any error as I would expect. It seems Apple did not offer a calibration option with their new compass/level app. They need to do that in a future update. If the story is true about them changing to a Bosch accelerometer chip with a much lower bit resolution in the 5s, that would explain a lot. I have purposely held off of getting a 5s as I have learned to wait for the manufacturing bugs to get worked out. I'll stick with my 4s for a bit longer, which by the way, has a pretty damn accurate sensor chip based on what I've seen with my apps.
 
Manufacturing tolerance?

How does the sensor work? If it's a tiny device on a PCB somewhere, just a few microns error in its physical placement would give a consistently wrong reading. Likewise if the PCB that it sits on is off with respect to the case by a tiny amount.

If you are going to rely on dead reckoning, the manufacturing tolerances have to be taken into account. Maybe the tolerances aren't what they're cracked up to be?

I wonder if each device is physically calibrated in the factory? If not, they are relying on dead reckoning on the physical placement of components.
 

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Sodner said:
20 pages late MacRumors. Nice job!

And yes people this is a real problem. It can affect the sports/exercise functionality (M7 Chip), many games, panoramic photos, etc. The phone does not know what level is, where north is. And they are all off to varying degrees. This is not a "your holding it wrong" fix. Its a potential recall of "x" million phones type problem.
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They would eat a sock before recalling anything, that would mean they admit something is wrong. You are just 'tilting' it wrong, that is all.
 
jrswizzle said:
No, it does.....set the 5S on the table and tap. It will zero out to whatever the table is at. Essentially, just take a level (like they do in this picture) - put your phone up to it and make it its level, then tap to set 0.

This isn't an issue, and honestly I'm surprised its a story on Macrumors.....unless I'm completely missing something.

The other side is that how do you know - if the level is user "settable" - that its inherently wrong? Doesn't mean something is wrong with the internal hardware.....
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The level is user "settable" by tapping ONLY to measure differences from a reference angle! If you tap again, you'll find out it gets back to it's wrong calibrated reference.. AND THAT IS AN ISSUE, at least a wrong calibration!

Mine it's off by 2 to 3 degrees too..
 
We performed the same test with an iPhone 5, and readout was almost perfect, indicating that hardware is at least partly the culprit. That also means a fix might not be as easy as an OTA firmware update.
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If the hardware sensor is off by minus 4-6 degrees, change the software to always add +5°.
Fixed. I mean, the math isn't that hard. ;)
 
I noticed the Compass was not correct since the first few days. The problem is that the compass reading since 3GS era was always very accurate. I don't know what's the problem with my 5s. :mad:

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Gudi said:
If the hardware sensor is off by minus 4-6 degrees, change the software to always add +5°.
Fixed. I mean, the math isn't that hard. ;)
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What if every sensor has different levels of inaccuracy?
 
haruhiko said:
What if every sensor has different levels of inaccuracy?
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Than you let the customer find out and set his individual offset himself.
Call it "calibration" and it's no longer a bug rather a new feature. :cool:

The new iPhone 5s – now with compass calibration
 
NedBookPro said:
Everything I own is apple: iphones, ipods, macbook pro, apple tv

I convinced my relatives to convert to apple: iphones, macbook pros, etc.

I have been flying the apple flag for a number of years, but I'm sad to say that IN MY OPINION, apple has become rubbish.

This is just another example. Apple has become rubbish.

People shouldn't have to constantly deal with bugs, problems, battery issues and the like every time they upgrade. It's pathetic.

Before you flame me... remember - I said this is my opinion.
Most people that are reading this know it's true.

I'm on iOS 6.1.2 (jail-broken), and I'll probably stay there forever until the phone stops working. I'm tired of dealing with problems.

Sadly for us, the old saying "it just works" is no longer true.
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Which company puts out nothing but perfectly working products?

Hasn't Apple always had some issues with their products (going back to when they only made computers)?
 
Mine is off too

I just tested Temple Run 2 and had my 5s sitting vertically on a flat surface and the dude ran perfectly straight.

I then tested Asphalt 8 and had my 5s sitting horizontally on a flat surface and the car pulled sharply to the left.

Definitely a problem. At least in the horizontal orientation.
 
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