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iPhone 5s accelerometer/gyroscope/compass values incorrect

Nolander07 said:
This thread is out of hand. I understand that the compass, level and inclinometer are off by a few degrees. I understand that everyone (including me) wants their brand new phone to be perfect. Does this problem really affect the use/enjoyment of your phone? How many people have the compass app hidden away in a folder on the last page? I bet a lot. I never even knew the compass app had a level feature before this thread.
All this calling Apple and returning phones is hysteria, after the info is already out there on this thread that these actions will not be a fix. All it does is take time and money away from Apple fixing the problem.
Why is it that we accept imperfections and glitches with our much more expensive items. Cars have idiosyncrasies, expensive watches, even houses and appliances. We accept these. No other company would be so liberal with all these returns or exchanges.
It would be a big deal if you couldn't make calls, connect to the internet, screen was messed up, buttons didn't work, etc. The phone works. It's not like if the compass and level don't work then the phone is useless. Enjoy your new devices. It will be fixed and forgotten soon.
My rant is over.
Click to expand...

Your rant is very short-sighted & didn't cover the implications of this issue at all.

Yes, this issue affects the enjoyment of the iPhone. Why? Because games, video apps, panaromas that use the gyroscope/level are all off.

  • So, in a racing game, while holding your iPhone level, it would pull your racecar to the left.
  • Stabilization in the video app uses the gyroscope. If it's off, the stabilization is off.

And so on...It's like having your car's alignment off - you can still drive it but it is negatively affecting other parts in the car.
 
I've encountered the issues with apps that use motion/position not working properly with my iPhone 5s. Like others I've checked units in my local Apple Store and all the units I checked had similar problems.

This is not the only issue with my phone because it also exhibits an annoying sleep/wake button rattle.

It's down to each of use to decide what to do depending on the options open to us. I've requested a refund and USP will collect the phone shortly.

I may purchase again when the issue is resolved but if it doesn't meet my expectation it will also be returned for refund.
 
Nolander07 said:
This thread is out of hand. I understand that the compass, level and inclinometer are off by a few degrees. I understand that everyone (including me) wants their brand new phone to be perfect. Does this problem really affect the use/enjoyment of your phone? How many people have the compass app hidden away in a folder on the last page? I bet a lot. I never even knew the compass app had a level feature before this thread.
All this calling Apple and returning phones is hysteria, after the info is already out there on this thread that these actions will not be a fix. All it does is take time and money away from Apple fixing the problem.
Why is it that we accept imperfections and glitches with our much more expensive items. Cars have idiosyncrasies, expensive watches, even houses and appliances. We accept these. No other company would be so liberal with all these returns or exchanges.
It would be a big deal if you couldn't make calls, connect to the internet, screen was messed up, buttons didn't work, etc. The phone works. It's not like if the compass and level don't work then the phone is useless. Enjoy your new devices. It will be fixed and forgotten soon.
My rant is over.
Click to expand...


maybe you should aim your rant at apple for not saying anything about the issue and fuelling this madness, some apple engineers say it's hardware some say its software, many of popular games are not playable, a lot of people paid over $1000 for the device and have a short return/exchange period and want to know what to do, the shine has gone out of the "experience" for a lot of people over this and they maybe just venting or trying their luck with exchanges. why are you and other members so annoyed by that. you worried about apples money being wasted? seriously?
I understand customer loyalty and all that, but being annoyed at people on a rumours forum for sharing their thoughts and experiences is riddic.
 
highlightshadow said:
It's not that the compass app is wrong. It's that any game that uses gyro for control; driving, balance, puzzles require that the phone be tilted to be level

Photography apps with a horizon level bar shows incorrectly
Pano feature isn't quite right

So yeah. Damn right I want my £650 expense item to be fully functional without error
Click to expand...

You are correct but we can't expect a fix over night. Swapping out a phone that was -6 degrees off for one that is -2 degrees off is a waste of time at this stage. If Apple fully ignores this issue it will have a damaging effect. I can see anandtech running a article that could pick apart this issue and put Apple in a bad light. Just enjoy your phone but don't use it as a level.
 
cdmoore74 said:
You are correct but we can't expect a fix over night. Swapping out a phone that was -6 degrees off for one that is -2 degrees off is a waste of time at this stage. If Apple fully ignores this issue it will have a damaging effect. I can see anandtech running a article that could pick apart this issue and put Apple in a bad light. Just enjoy your phone but don't use it as a level.
Click to expand...

I've had a case opened with apple for 10 days now. Still using my original 5s although less than I used my 5. I'm providing apple with info and videos/ pictures as required. I'm not expecting a fix overnight but still annoying that I'm unable to enjoy my new thing.

1st world problem I know. But I work hard to afford luxuries and I have a basic expectation that they work as designed and advertised.
 
gCloud said:
maybe you should aim your rant at apple for not saying anything about the issue and fuelling this madness, some apple engineers say it's hardware some say its software, many of popular games are not playable, a lot of people paid over $1000 for the device and have a short return/exchange period and want to know what to do, the shine has gone out of the "experience" for a lot of people over this and they maybe just venting or trying their luck with exchanges. why are you and other members so annoyed by that. you worried about apples money being wasted? seriously?
I understand customer loyalty and all that, but being annoyed at people on a rumours forum for sharing their thoughts and experiences is riddic.
Click to expand...

Calm down. It's ok. Everything will be alright. Don't let this control you. Time to put on the big boy pants.
 
It's a premium product with a price tag to match. As the sensor works fine on the old model (5) it's not acceptable for it to be faulty on the new model. I'm not going to accept it on mine anyway, if you want to it's your decision. I'm certainly not going to rant at you for accepting the fault.
 
highlightshadow said:
I've had a case opened with apple for 10 days now. Still using my original 5s although less than I used my 5. I'm providing apple with info and videos/ pictures as required. I'm not expecting a fix overnight but still annoying that I'm unable to enjoy my new thing.

1st world problem I know. But I work hard to afford luxuries and I have a basic expectation that they work as designed and advertised.
Click to expand...

By the time your case is closed every tech site would have reported the fix. Trust me! We all knew about the gold iPhone before Apple even announced it right? There were even signs leading to a 64bit iOS. A Apple genius is clueless at this stage.
 
highlightshadow said:
It's not that the compass app is wrong. It's that any game that uses gyro for control; driving, balance, puzzles require that the phone be tilted to be level

Photography apps with a horizon level bar shows incorrectly
Pano feature isn't quite right

So yeah. Damn right I want my £650 expense item to be fully functional without error
Click to expand...

Exactly. Apple presented this phone to the world as something amazing. We didn't declare it amazing and the best iPhone ever, Apple did. New homes come with a warranty, and owners it to have every little issue addressed. Same with cars. Who buys a new car, and doesn't complain every little problem? If your new car pulled in one direction just a bit, you'd be at tbe dealer complaining. Lemon laws give car dealers 3 shots at fixing tne problem, and then they have to take it back. Apple uses the return/exchange period as sales tool, and not because they're saints. Those returns are also made into refurbhs, and that gives Apple a supply of warranty replacement devices at low cost.

My wife and I were chomping at the bit after seeing the 5s presentation, as were millions of others. Great marketing can bite you in the butt if things go wrong, and this is one such case. My wife and I returned her 5s, and replaced it with a phone frkm another manufacturer (NOT a plastic Samsung). Apple's brand and marketing still lingers in our minds, and a fixed 5s is not out of the question.
 
cdmoore74 said:
You are correct but we can't expect a fix over night. Swapping out a phone that was -6 degrees off for one that is -2 degrees off is a waste of time at this stage. If Apple fully ignores this issue it will have a damaging effect. I can see anandtech running a article that could pick apart this issue and put Apple in a bad light. Just enjoy your phone but don't use it as a level.
Click to expand...

why is it a waste of time? they could get a good one. otherwise it will be flagged up to apple's powers that be sooner.
people are not enjoying their phones because of this. IT IS NOT JUST THE LEVEL APP BEING AFFECTED.
almost everyone who reported this including myself first got the we never heard of this, then the it's is almost certainly a software issue, then it could be hardware. Make you mind up and tell us, or issue a statement saying return periods will be extended.
I think everybody who can exchange should exchange time after time after time until the get a good one or a statement is released.
 
Are there any exchanged/replaced iPhone 5s that work correctly ?

Is there anyone out there with a replaced device that works properly ?

I am just wondering because the nature of such a forum is that you only meet people that have problems with their devices.
The ones without problems maybe leave this forum or do not appear here anyway.

ONE MORE THING:
I just realized that not only my camera app is affected by this error.
I also use 2 apps to determine the position of the sun for professional photography and film work:
Helios and
Sunseeker

These values are incorrect as well.
I won't go into detail why I use an iPhone for that matter because there are far more professional methods and devices out there.
BUT the phone is something I always carry with me on (a potential) location and in the past these tools were quite helpful for my commercial and advertising work.
If it does not work on a newer, more expensive and (presumably) better device - well, that is quite a bummer....
 
gCloud said:
why is it a waste of time? they could get a good one. otherwise it will be flagged up to apple's powers that be sooner.
people are not enjoying their phones because of this. IT IS NOT JUST THE LEVEL APP BEING AFFECTED.
almost everyone who reported this including myself first got the we never heard of this, then the it's is almost certainly a software issue, then it could be hardware. Make you mind up and tell us, or issue a statement saying return periods will be extended.
I think everybody who can exchange should exchange time after time after time until the get a good one or a statement is released.
Click to expand...

So far there are about 1200 comments with most people posting more than once. Even if 60,000 individual people out of 6,000,000 reported this as an issue it is still only 1%. And you got to figure by now that the number sold would be closer to 10 million. The vast majority of people don’t visit tech sites or blogs and are very happy with their iPhone 5s; they don’t even know that they have the issue. And many people don’t use their phones as a compass or level and they don’t play games. Big red lights and alarms are not going off if their readings are bad.
Let’s be honest here. I would not have known about this issue if I never entered this forum. We are the minority here. This is why an issue like this will not be fixed over night. This is not considered a safety issue. The maps fiasco from last year was a safety issue and I did not see people swapping their phones out to improve the situation. In my eyes Google maps was the real fix. And once this issue is resolved are you guys going to level out everything in the house or take that camping trip you were putting off? My phone is off about -2 degrees and I do not notice any issues while playing games. But I’m not swapping my phone because everything else is perfect. If this issue can be fixed with software many of you swappers are going to look like fools. And if the issue can be fixed with revised hardware many of you early swappers will still look like fools. Just give it some time. I could even see Apple setting up a recalibration station with Apple stores. We don’t have all the details yet.
Your going to go insane swapping devices one after another.
 
cdmoore74 said:
So far there are about 1200 comments with most people posting more than once. Even if 60,000 individual people out of 6,000,000 reported this as an issue it is still only 1%. And you got to figure by now that the number sold would be closer to 10 million. The vast majority of people don’t visit tech sites or blogs and are very happy with their iPhone 5s; they don’t even know that they have the issue. And many people don’t use their phones as a compass or level and they don’t play games. Big red lights and alarms are not going off if their readings are bad.
Let’s be honest here. I would not have known about this issue if I never entered this forum. We are the minority here. This is why an issue like this will not be fixed over night. This is not considered a safety issue. The maps fiasco from last year was a safety issue and I did not see people swapping their phones out to improve the situation. In my eyes Google maps was the real fix. And once this issue is resolved are you guys going to level out everything in the house or take that camping trip you were putting off? My phone is off about -2 degrees and I do not notice any issues while playing games. But I’m not swapping my phone because everything else is perfect. If this issue can be fixed with software many of you swappers are going to look like fools. And if the issue can be fixed with revised hardware many of you early swappers will still look like fools. Just give it some time. I could even see Apple setting up a recalibration station with Apple stores. We don’t have all the details yet.
Your going to go insane swapping devices one after another.
Click to expand...

I think to say that swappers are going to look like fools is harsh. Being told by apple support people that it's a hardware issue and requires swapping is not our fault. We are listening to the 'geniuses'.
 
Nolander07 said:
Fine, I was wrong then. It will never be fixed and the iPhone 5s is essentially useless.
Click to expand...

lol. You can just admit you were wrong without being sarcastic. You thought people were just complaining because the compass app/level was off (which is hidden in a folder anyways) but you failed to see the whole picture.

No one thinks their iPhone is useless but it's still an important issue.
 
A question and an observation:

  1. What would be the point of Apple issuing a statement? Those of us that are affected a) already know there's a problem and b) have already been told, either directly from Apple or by others on here who've been told by Apple that they're aware of the problem and an upcoming software update will correct the issue.
  2. There are a lot of armchair engineers on this forum.
 
cwosigns said:
A question and an observation:

  1. What would be the point of Apple issuing a statement? Those of us that are affected a) already know there's a problem and b) have already been told, either directly from Apple or by others on here who've been told by Apple that they're aware of the problem and an upcoming software update will correct the issue.
  2. There are a lot of armchair engineers on this forum.
Click to expand...

Many have been told it's a hardware problem and been given replacements. The point of Apple issuing a statement is
  1. Officially acknowledge the problem
  2. Clear up any discrepancies arising from previous statements
  3. Outline the likely procedure and timetable for a fix
  4. Receive feedback from the user base to help develop and test a fix
 
cwosigns said:
A question and an observation:

  1. What would be the point of Apple issuing a statement? Those of us that are affected a) already know there's a problem and b) have already been told, either directly from Apple or by others on here who've been told by Apple that they're aware of the problem and an upcoming software update will correct the issue.
  2. There are a lot of armchair engineers on this forum.
Click to expand...

statement to acknowledge the the problem tell people what to do/expect if it turns out to be a hardware issue, whether they will replace/repair/extend return period etc so people can decide what to do.
 
Just been on to support again. It's a known fault, apple are looking in to it and a software update will fix this. I should not have been given a replacement for this problem apparently.

Make of that what you will. I am going to retire from this thread now :)
 
Khedron said:
Many have been told it's a hardware problem and been given replacements. The point of Apple issuing a statement is
  1. Officially acknowledge the problem
  2. Clear up any discrepancies arising from previous statements
  3. Outline the likely procedure and timetable for a fix
  4. Receive feedback from the user base to help develop and test a fix
Click to expand...

Apple already HAVE officially acknowledged the problem to those customers who contacted them because the issue affects them. Those people have a contact at Apple who has updated them on the status of the issue (see above post). There is no procedure as an upcoming software update will fix this, and there isn't a hard and fast timeline for that. As soon as the fix is written, it is put on a prioritization schedule for release, likely sooner than later given some of the previous comments. Apple has a warehouse full of faulty phones with which to develop and test a fix. They're not likely to test externally before releasing the software update.

----------
gCloud said:
statement to acknowledge the the problem tell people what to do/expect if it turns out to be a hardware issue, whether they will replace/repair/extend return period etc so people can decide what to do.
Click to expand...

They HAVE told people what to expect: a software update that will fix the issue.

This is the DEADEST horse I've ever seen beaten.
 
I called the Apple Support multiple times and the last "senior advisor" I spoke to also told me it's a software problem. No need to swap the phone.

Hope he's right and 7.0.3 will fix the problem.
 
And like as has been said. Either apple fix the hardware silently or tweak software so it's not an issue. Either way we'll never really know unless Apple come clean. Unlikely
 
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