Hi All,
I use a several planetarium, compass, photo planning apps which I believe all use the phone magnetometer (and possibly accelerometer and gyroscope) to determine which way the phone is pointing.
Up until a few months ago I had been using a Pixel 4a running Android 11 with very good results for this use case. I upgraded to a Pixel 7 Pro running Android 15 (have since upgraded to Android 16 which has the same issues), and ever since the accuracy of these apps has been terrible ever since. Like 90⁰ out levels of inaccuracy, even after doing a calibration.
To check I wasn't imagining things, I calibrated my 4a and 7 pro, then in turn loaded up my planetarium apps. Pointed at any particular region of the sky, these apps should show what celestial objects are there. I held a phone in each hand at arms length (to prevent interference from each other) and slowly span on the spot, stopping at random intervals and then span back the other way. The Pixel 4a was absolutely spot on, however the display on the Pixel 7 Pro would keep rotating around once stopped, and even take a second or so to start moving at all when I span in the opposite direction.
Long story short, is this sort of inaccuracy a known issue with Android phones and/or versions of Android? If this is likely hardware based, is there any known register/testing of Android phones in regards to magnetometer accuracy? Is there a more established testing method I could use other than what I described above?
I use a several planetarium, compass, photo planning apps which I believe all use the phone magnetometer (and possibly accelerometer and gyroscope) to determine which way the phone is pointing.
Up until a few months ago I had been using a Pixel 4a running Android 11 with very good results for this use case. I upgraded to a Pixel 7 Pro running Android 15 (have since upgraded to Android 16 which has the same issues), and ever since the accuracy of these apps has been terrible ever since. Like 90⁰ out levels of inaccuracy, even after doing a calibration.
To check I wasn't imagining things, I calibrated my 4a and 7 pro, then in turn loaded up my planetarium apps. Pointed at any particular region of the sky, these apps should show what celestial objects are there. I held a phone in each hand at arms length (to prevent interference from each other) and slowly span on the spot, stopping at random intervals and then span back the other way. The Pixel 4a was absolutely spot on, however the display on the Pixel 7 Pro would keep rotating around once stopped, and even take a second or so to start moving at all when I span in the opposite direction.
Long story short, is this sort of inaccuracy a known issue with Android phones and/or versions of Android? If this is likely hardware based, is there any known register/testing of Android phones in regards to magnetometer accuracy? Is there a more established testing method I could use other than what I described above?
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram