How do I reset my compass app

[tpcollins]

My wife and I both have 6s iPhones, but her Apple compass app points to our known north direction where mine is off 15-20 degrees. Sometimes it's of even more but eventually gets back to the 15-20 off.

I know to roll the ball around the circle when needed but is there a way to manually force it to recalibrate? It's been different than my wife's for as long as I can remember. Thanks.

 

[jetsam]

Is it possible that one of you is using true north and one of you is using magnetic north? At my location near Boston, MA, declination is just over 14 degrees.

 

[willmtaylor]

My wife and I both have 6s iPhones, but her Apple compass app points to our known north direction where mine is off 15-20 degrees. Sometimes it's of even more but eventually gets back to the 15-20 off.

I know to roll the ball around the circle when needed but is there a way to manually force it to recalibrate? It's been different than my wife's for as long as I can remember. Thanks.

You do have location services enabled, yes?

 

[Stefan johansson]

Look up if it's set to true north or magnetic north. Declination between them is larger he further north you are.

 

[tpcollins]

Both are set on true north, here's a pic of our 2 iPhones next to my wrist compass. My wife's phone on the left is pretty aligns with my wrist compass, my phone is off by 51 degrees.

I wonder if I delete the app and re-download it would have any affect?

 

[Craiguyver]

Unfortunately the compass app and the ability for the OS to determine its orientation has been notoriously off for a while in iOS, at least in my experiences. I sometimes find it 180 degrees out of sync. Sometimes restarting the phone helps; sometimes not. I've used Night Sky and have pointed my phone in a known south direction only to have the app show Polaris on the screen. If you search these forums, there's been lots of threads related to compass issues over the years.

 

[Gav2k]

If you go into location services and turn compass off then restart your iPhone.

Now launch the compass app and it should pop up with the enable location services box. Enable it. It'll then go through the calibrations process.

Tips...

Take your case off.

Make sure your in the open away from metal objects and power lines.