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iPhone 5s accelerometer/gyroscope/compass values incorrect

This has to be good news for those owners who stayed with their iphones and are now satisfied that the update fixed their issues.

My iphone went back and I don't regret that decision. There were so many conflicting stories about whether it was hardware, software or a mixture of both, that I wasn't going to pay for something that wasn't right on the vague supposition that it might be fixed in a software update. Enough informed commentators have questioned the resolution of the new setup.

On the basis that it is fixed I will probably now purchase my 5S early in the new year and in future I do not intend buying on initial release of an Apple product.

What is still remarkable, is why this problem wasn't sorted before the phone was released for sale. I love Apple products. Apple make great emphasis on the pleasure we can get from owning their products and this hasn't been a pleasure for a considerable number of owners who have posted on this forum, including myself.
 
Morac said:
Not for 35% of us.
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If you still have a problem after the official fix then I would swap it out if it’s that critical to you. You got some people complaining about +/- 1 degree difference after the fix so there is no helping them on this thread. Now that Apple has officially acknowledged the issue and if the fix does not meet your expectations then swap it or return it (if your within the return time).
For me I’m very anal when it comes to just 1 dead pixel. So I can understand to some “degree” but sometimes you got to be realistic. Did anyone really notice if all the iPhone’s before the 5s had zero’s on all sides?

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WilliamG said:
0-1 degrees difference is pretty normal. Even the iPhone 4s, 5, and 5c have some variances like this.
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You took the words right out of my mouth. People are expecting a $200 highly calibrated level on a component that cost a few bucks.
 
flat on its back, mine still reads -1. On it's base, it's 0, on its side it's 0. Am I bothered? nope, it's a phone, not a spirit level. If the GPS read half a mile out, that would bother me. 1 degree is tiny.
 
I was a -4 back, -2 short side, -2 long side. After update I'm 0 on all three!

Haven't actually tested an app bc I don't play racing games or use the gyro except for the exceedingly rare panorama.
 
rogtuf said:
What is still remarkable, is why this problem wasn't sorted before the phone was released for sale. I love Apple products. Apple make great emphasis on the pleasure we can get from owning their products and this hasn't been a pleasure for a considerable number of owners who have posted on this forum, including myself.
Click to expand...


It probably wasn't deemed important enough to miss a month of sales over. I'm guessing the vast majority of people wouldn't have noticed (or perhaps even didn't notice). People who play games relying on the level are the most likely to notice, but a lot of us don't.
 
I decided to call Apple Support as my 5S is still off by more than 1 degree on the sides. Apples compass app rounds, but other apps show decimal points and I'm off between 1.4,and 2.3 on the sides. When lying on it's back, rotating the phone in a circle causes a change of 1 degree which doesn't seem correct on a level surface. My 4S doesn't do that.

Anyway I explained to the support guy that the level on my phone was still off after upgrading to 7.0.3. He recommended the 90 DND trick, which I'm certain won't make a difference as my phone is plugged in and in DND every night. He said if that didn't work, my software is bad and I should do a restore, which I really don't want to do because it takes so long and likely won't fix the problem anyway. I highly doubt the software on my phone is "bad" as it wouldn't have upgraded if it was.

He said after I do all that, in the "rare chance" I'm still having an issue, to call back. He said Apple is tracking calls on this to verify the fix worked. I don't know if that's true or not, but if it is, everyone who's still off by 1 or more should call in to Apple. I'm still convinced my 5S can be fixed with software and that Apple didn't completely fix the problem.
 
Morac said:
I decided to call Apple Support as my 5S is still off by more than 1 degree on the sides. Apples compass app rounds, but other apps show decimal points and I'm off between 1.4,and 2.3 on the sides. When lying on it's back, rotating the phone in a circle causes a change of 1 degree which doesn't seem correct on a level surface. My 4S doesn't do that.

Anyway I explained to the support guy that the level on my phone was still off after upgrading to 7.0.3. He recommended the 90 DND trick, which I'm certain won't make a difference as my phone is plugged in and in DND every night. He said if that didn't work, my software is bad and I should do a restore, which I really don't want to do because it takes so long and likely won't fix the problem anyway. I highly doubt the software on my phone is "bad" as it wouldn't have upgraded if it was.

He said after I do all that, in the "rare chance" I'm still having an issue, to call back. He said Apple is tracking calls on this to verify the fix worked. I don't know if that's true or not, but if it is, everyone who's still off by 1 or more should call in to Apple. I'm still convinced my 5S can be fixed with software and that Apple didn't completely fix the problem.
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Just make a Genius Bar Appt.
 
Still bad, eh?

I just got my iPhone 5S after hearing about the fix. So I load it up. 2 degrees on its back and then I went to load up 7.0.3. Problem is was not 4 degrees. I decided to do a wipe and do the DND 90-Minute thing. Hopefully that will fix it. Crossing fingers here :p :(
 
Gurashieruro said:
I just got my iPhone 5S after hearing about the fix. So I load it up. 2 degrees on its back and then I went to load up 7.0.3. Problem is was not 4 degrees. I decided to do a wipe and do the DND 90-Minute thing. Hopefully that will fix it. Crossing fingers here :p :(
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This "DND" thing - why would anyone think that would help?
 
Ew....

Xenomorph said:
This "DND" thing - why would anyone think that would help?
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I actually don't. However, for the sake of just in case, I will do it. Besides, I'll be sleeping so what better way then to do it while I sleep. Either way, I finally got my hands on a 64GB (Returned 32GB at the beginning of October). Whether it works or not, I'll stick with it. Complaining too much about a problem will cause more harm then anything. So long as orientation is fine, I'll be fine. 1 degree of would work at the very least but it was really bad, as in 4 degrees off after the update. So its a give or take. I decided to restore the device completely fresh with hopes of helping. So again, its a hope.
 
Worked!

After reseting and doing DND 90-Minute, it worked. Not really sure if the resetting after installing 7.0.3 was the thing that made it work but at least its good :D:D:D:D
 
iPhone 5s accelerometer/gyroscope/compass values incorrect

Gurashieruro said:
After reseting and doing DND 90-Minute, it worked. Not really sure if the resetting after installing 7.0.3 was the thing that made it work but at least its good :D:D:D:D
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Did you do a restore or a reset all settings? Did you check after the restore/reset but prior to the DND?
 
Morac said:
Did you do a restore or a reset all settings? Did you check after the restore/reset but prior to the DND?
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Unfortunately, I did not check before I turned on DND. I did a full reset with no backup. So I deleted everything. I have a feeling just doing a full-on complete reset (Nothing is on the device) did the trick. DND kind of seems farfetched. However, I would assume that 90-minutes DND might change the values in the sense of the device registers surfaces it lays on.
 
iOS 7.0.3 improved functionality, but...

Updated to iOS 7.0.3 and now my iPhone 5S reads 1º off for surface, 1º off for horizontal, and 0º off on vertical (spot on). This is a definite improvement. I am fairly confident of these results as I used equipment from my physics lab.

Do I wish all three were 0º? Yes. Granted, it's a phone. But, 1º off on level over the length of an 8 feet 2x4 means one end is about 1.7 inches higher than the other. So, no home building with my iPhone…or leveling a moderate size picture. :)

Using iHandy Carpenter or Clinometer, the iPhone is spot on. This leads me to believe that the calibration method used is all important. Both iHandy Carpenter and Clinometer rely on known perfectly horizontal and vertical surfaces to calibrate. This is not totally convenient, but it allows for spot on calibration. The native level app uses the "rotate the ball" method. This is clearly more convenient, but not as reliable. I understand Apple's aversion to using a calibration method like that used for iHandy and Clinometer. Those are not "It just Works" methodologies. You have to find, or create, a perfectly horizontal and vertical surface. But, it would be nice to have the option to use an OS wide calibration method like those two apps for those who desire greater accuracy.

Or…as a compromise, Apple could use a calibration method employed by many digital levels. This involves calibrating by taking readings of horizontal and vertical with the instrument in two orientations-180º different from each other. This removes the need for a perfectly horizontal and vertical surface.

Update: I've posted some corrections to my statements here in another post below. Sorry for the errors.
 
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Mr. Luigi said:
Both iHandy Carpenter and Clinometer rely on known perfectly horizontal and vertical surfaces to calibrate. This is not totally convenient, but it allows for spot on calibration.
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I don't know about iHandy, but this is incorrect regarding Clinometer. Clinometer provides the ability to either calibrate to a known level surface (one-step calibration), or to any surface using two-step calibration. In the two-step calibration, Clinometer takes two measurements in 180º opposition and computes calibration data from that. So even if the reference surface you use is tilted, Clinometer will still calibrate correctly for level using two-step calibration.

Mr. Luigi said:
The native level app uses the "rotate the ball" method. This is clearly more convenient, but not as reliable.
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I could be wrong, but I don't think the "rotate the ball" procedure has anything to do with the orientation (level) reading. That appears to be for the magnetometer (compass) only.


Mr. Luigi said:
Apple could use a calibration method employed by many digital levels. This involves calibrating by taking readings of horizontal and vertical with the instrument in two orientations-180º different from each other.
Click to expand...

Agree. This is the approach Clinometer uses, and it works perfectly. I wish Apple would add a similar calibration routine somewhere in Settings for those who are not satisfied with the 1-2 degree variance still present on many phones even after the 7.0.3 update.
 
iOS 7.0.3 seems to have fixed it for me. 0 on all sides. Tested Real Racing 3 and it veered to the right at first. Did the in game recalibration and now drives straight and true even after quitting and restarting the game. I didn't have to do the in game calibration again.
 
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