Yes, most GPS navigation car solutions don't have a compass. Mind you, the accuracy of GPS (~5m or 16 feet) means that most moving vehicles can easily calculate their direction after travelling such a distance. In a car moving at 30mph, this takes 0.36 seconds. If a human being is walking at 3mph (~average human walking speed), this takes 1.14 seconds. Those are theoretical minimum times with a full gps signal and gps unit that is running at infinite operating speeds. If a human being is standing still trying to work out which direction they need to walk in to follow the map, it cannot calculate the direction at all. This is why the magnetometer is so important.
Picture this: You live in or visit a city and you get on a bus or tube and get off somewhere you've never been before. You need to get to somewhere within walking distance. You have the address, you put it into Google Maps and it calculates a route for you. Now. Assuming the sky is overcast and there are tall buildings around you so you cannot use the position of the Sun to determine North from South, which direction do you walk in? Without the magnetometer you have to take a guess and walk in any direction. After a few seconds you can usually work out if you're going in the right direction or not. This has happened to me loads although it usually takes about 10-20 seconds for my dot on the map to have moved enough for me to work out if I'm walking the wrong way or not.
As for the usefulness of the Compass App. Well its mainly a demo to show off the new feature. If you don't use or like it then move it to the last page of your apps. That's what I've already done with the Contacts and Stocks apps. Yes the functionality is largely built into Google Maps now but it still can have an emergency use. I've already got a third party app which tells me my gps location. This can now replace that. What good is it for? Well, imagine you get stuck in the middle of nowhere while on a climbing/walking/anything trip. You've either got no signal and only a two way radio or you've got minimal signal. You can't use Google Maps because it won't connect. How do you tell emergency services where you are? Now there's an app for that. I know the chances of this ever being used are insanely small but I for one like this added functionality. Yes, I'll probably move it to the end of my apps along with the other official ones I don't use but its still there just in case.
Picture this: You live in or visit a city and you get on a bus or tube and get off somewhere you've never been before. You need to get to somewhere within walking distance. You have the address, you put it into Google Maps and it calculates a route for you. Now. Assuming the sky is overcast and there are tall buildings around you so you cannot use the position of the Sun to determine North from South, which direction do you walk in? Without the magnetometer you have to take a guess and walk in any direction. After a few seconds you can usually work out if you're going in the right direction or not. This has happened to me loads although it usually takes about 10-20 seconds for my dot on the map to have moved enough for me to work out if I'm walking the wrong way or not.
As for the usefulness of the Compass App. Well its mainly a demo to show off the new feature. If you don't use or like it then move it to the last page of your apps. That's what I've already done with the Contacts and Stocks apps. Yes the functionality is largely built into Google Maps now but it still can have an emergency use. I've already got a third party app which tells me my gps location. This can now replace that. What good is it for? Well, imagine you get stuck in the middle of nowhere while on a climbing/walking/anything trip. You've either got no signal and only a two way radio or you've got minimal signal. You can't use Google Maps because it won't connect. How do you tell emergency services where you are? Now there's an app for that. I know the chances of this ever being used are insanely small but I for one like this added functionality. Yes, I'll probably move it to the end of my apps along with the other official ones I don't use but its still there just in case.
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