Hi, new member here and I'm sharing this because it's not well known:
I've been doing some work with Android mapping, GPS logging, and treckin g apps. When you open a map e.g Open Source Maps, you should see a zoomed in map showing your location after the GPS receiver has found satellites and got lock, usually about 35 seconds. As you move about the map rotates to align with your direction of movement. In my case he GPS fix was solid but the map direction was never consistently correct, even after re-calibrating the Android compass. I've also discovered that some devces and mapping apps can use AGPS (Assisted GPS). This is getting a second fix from nearest active cell stations (>3) and can hide a poor performing device GPS. Of course when you out on a mountain or in the boonies with no cells, you can only use satellite GPS. I've now gone through my phones temporarily disabling AGPS so I can compare their actual GPS performance. If you use mapping on Androids and wondered why you get great performance at home or in the city, but not out in the country, that's the reason.
Whilst watching a TV holiday program they showed a family navigating a big city on foot with a phone and getting lost, which started me thinking. I installed a compass app which confirmed North was never in the same direction after each re-boot Then the penny dropped that my Android cases have magnetic case closers. These are small very strong Neodymium magnets, often circular and sewn into a tab and the case. You would have thought that Chinese cases sold specifically for Android models with compass wouldn't have magnets, but they do!
Using a scalpel I was able to open the stitching on a couple of phone cases and remove the magnets. I then attached a small strip of Velcro. My tablet case also had magnets, but these were a bit more difficult to remove. I managed it and added a velcro fold over 'strap'.
Now every time my Androids rebout and I check compass calibration, they always show North correctly and the map orientates itself correctly when I move.
I've been doing some work with Android mapping, GPS logging, and treckin g apps. When you open a map e.g Open Source Maps, you should see a zoomed in map showing your location after the GPS receiver has found satellites and got lock, usually about 35 seconds. As you move about the map rotates to align with your direction of movement. In my case he GPS fix was solid but the map direction was never consistently correct, even after re-calibrating the Android compass. I've also discovered that some devces and mapping apps can use AGPS (Assisted GPS). This is getting a second fix from nearest active cell stations (>3) and can hide a poor performing device GPS. Of course when you out on a mountain or in the boonies with no cells, you can only use satellite GPS. I've now gone through my phones temporarily disabling AGPS so I can compare their actual GPS performance. If you use mapping on Androids and wondered why you get great performance at home or in the city, but not out in the country, that's the reason.
Whilst watching a TV holiday program they showed a family navigating a big city on foot with a phone and getting lost, which started me thinking. I installed a compass app which confirmed North was never in the same direction after each re-boot Then the penny dropped that my Android cases have magnetic case closers. These are small very strong Neodymium magnets, often circular and sewn into a tab and the case. You would have thought that Chinese cases sold specifically for Android models with compass wouldn't have magnets, but they do!
Using a scalpel I was able to open the stitching on a couple of phone cases and remove the magnets. I then attached a small strip of Velcro. My tablet case also had magnets, but these were a bit more difficult to remove. I managed it and added a velcro fold over 'strap'.
Now every time my Androids rebout and I check compass calibration, they always show North correctly and the map orientates itself correctly when I move.
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