True North? Maps not showing correct direction...

[VidJunky]

My phone won't show accurate direction of travel when using maps. It always points in some other direction, no matter if I'm walking or driving. Didn't maps used to assume you were looking in the direction of travel and orient the map that way? Mine has shown me moving sideways and even backwards while just using maps. This is sometimes more than a little confusing if you're trying to navigate and not use navigation. Navigation works fine, but I'm assuming that it either doesn't care how the phone is oriented or it assumes that you are looking in the direction of travel. The compass seems to work in another app I use called C:Geo, although it seems to have a hard time finding North reliably all the time too. I've done the whole figure eight thing with no success. Is this an issue with all Ones or just my One or Maps?

 

[srkmagnus]

My phone won't show accurate direction of travel when using maps. It always points in some other direction, no matter if I'm walking or driving. Didn't maps used to assume you were looking in the direction of travel and orient the map that way? Mine has shown me moving sideways and even backwards while just using maps. This is sometimes more than a little confusing if you're trying to navigate and not use navigation. Navigation works fine, but I'm assuming that it either doesn't care how the phone is oriented or it assumes that you are looking in the direction of travel. The compass seems to work in another app I use called C:Geo, although it seems to have a hard time finding North reliably all the time too. I've done the whole figure eight thing with no success. Is this an issue with all Ones or just my One or Maps?

Press on the compass icon and see if that helps reorientate the device. Otherwise, try downloading and using a sensor tester in the Play Store and see if everything is in good working order. Here is on such app: Sensor Tester - Play Store. Hope it helps.

 

[VidJunky]

Thank you for the advice. Pressing the globe in the corner is what makes this issue an issue for me. If the map is locked into North up mode it's not much of an issue if the little pointer points up down or sideways. It's when I want the map to track up, meaning your direction of travel is up and the map rotates around you based on your direction of travel, that I see this and it becomes an issue. I like the track up option because it makes finding roads and turn offs easier if you can see that it's coming up on the left, for example, and not have to determine if I'm moving left across the screen and the road comes in from the bottom I need to turn left, for example.

I did go and look at some of the Sensor test apps and read their reviews, but none offered anyway to calibrate the sensor if in fact it was just not correctly calibrated. I know it works. The phone in every other way changes orientation when it should.

Meanwhile, I've been trying to voice other beefs with Google about it's maps app and there is not place to post questions, comments, or problems either in the app or on line. I've tried posting them at Google maps but since I've never gotten a response I again am left to assume that this is not the correct place to be heard. None of the options there deal with the app, or even refer to the app.

Since I only have one other app that uses the compass I may try to download something like Waze my friend keeps going on and on about just to see if it works better or at all.

 

[joansin]

I get the same thing; going true north and the blue circle location identifier shows me in the correct co-ordinance but the arrow is pointing in some odd direction. It bothers the hell out of me too and if you find a fix, please stop back and let me know as I will do the same.....!

 

[VidJunky]

Glad I'm not alone. Will do.

 

[VidJunky]

Not sure I understand. On the Maps app, when navigating, there is a compass in the top right. Tap that to toggle between north up and direction-of-travel up.

Are you saying that's not working?

I mean this right here.

Ok, north up and direction of travel up both work, tapping the globe changes the mode. However, when in direction of travel up mode my direction of travel is never up because in order for my direction of travel to be up the phone has to know what direction it is facing while traveling. For example, if I am traveling west but the phone thinks it is pointing north, according to the phone I am heading north and puts north at the top, but in reality I'm moving west. Therefore my screen scrolls to the left with north at the top. So on the map I appear to be moving across the screen left to right instead of top to bottom, as one should in direction of travel up mode. In this example, if I turn south, change my direction of actual travel while really moving, the map may rotate but now west is up. I'm truly moving south, west is up on the map, and so I still appear to be moving across the screen not up the screen.

 

[VidJunky]

First I'd just like to say that I'm not a word artist, nor am I a diplomat, so there could be a better way for me to say I don't feel like you're reading my posts. But I don't feel like you are reading my posts.

Not sure I understand. On the Maps app, when navigating, there is a compass in the top right. Tap that to toggle between north up and direction-of-travel up.

...Pressing the globe in the corner is what makes this issue an issue for me. If the map is locked into North up mode it's not much of an issue if the little pointer points up down or sideways. It's when I want the map to track up, meaning your direction of travel is up and the map rotates around you based on your direction of travel, that I see this and it becomes an issue. I like the track up option because it makes finding roads and turn offs easier...

Here is a case where I didn't read exactly what you wrote, or assumed we were talking about the same thing. I said globe, because in map view it is a globe in the corner, you said compass because in navigation it is a compass. I saw and read Navigation in your post but assumed that you were just referring to using the map to navigate, because I've only been talking about the map view, and having issues with the map view. Plus I couldn't see your screen shot. When I got the notification that someone had commented on my thread I was on my device and what ever app opened the link it didn't show me your screen shot. Your screen shot is of Navigation. I mentioned this in my OP the way you described it should work, only in less detail.

Navigation works fine, but I'm assuming that it either doesn't care how the phone is oriented or it assumes that you are looking in the direction of travel.

How it should work is it pings the GPS satellite and knows where the phone is at (call this point A). A second later it pings the GPS again so it knows where the phone is at (call this point B). It extrapolates the data so it knows the phone was at point A a second ago, and point B now, so it knows your direction of travel and how fast you're going. I haven't tested this, but if it functions like my hiking GPS does, then it also assumes the top of the phone is pointing in the direction of travel.

Do you have the phone like sitting in the cupholder or on the seat beside you where the top of the phone isn't towards the front of the car?

It always points in some other direction, no matter if I'm walking or driving.

Here we go back to my OP where I'm saying it doesn't matter what my surroundings are, ruling out metal in the car or orientation of the device, because it would be difficult and awkward to hold the phone in a way that it wasn't pointing in my direction of travel while walking. I didn't say anything specifically about the orientation of the device and therefore my inference may not have been clear.


I would like to say thank you for the time you've given me and this thread. I hope pointing these things out will not affect how we move forward or encounters we have in the future. Now that we are hopefully on the same page maybe this will spark something new, or you'll try it and just let me know if the same is true for you One or if it is just me and joansin.

 

[Jaggrey]

I have this problem also. I've had this problem actually ever since I first got the One on Sprint. I switched to T-Mobile and this one has the same problem as well.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[VidJunky]

Yeah, it's not a major issue, just a little annoying if all you want to do is open the map and go. Using navigation for every little thing may not use any more resources but the directions they give sometimes are way out there. Recently I sent a trouble report to Google through the app about not being able to exclude roads during a route. It just annoying that if a road is closed or for other reasons you would prefer to go a different route Google acts like it only knows one way to get to where ever. In my case excluding highways and toll roads made no difference and all of the reroute options used this same closed road. So for 22 miles I was constantly being prompted to get back on that closed road. I haven't tried Wayz yet, only because I haven't tried to use the map to navigate lately, but the next time I need it I will probably download it just for S&G. I tried it once on my Inc, and maybe once on my Rezound. On my Inc it just didn't work. On my Rezound I did it for one specific thing and then gave up on it. I'm sure there have been a few updates since then and maybe if I try it now I'll like it a bit more.

 

[Melodie Turk]

Thanks. I never knew this.

Not sure I understand. On the Maps app, when navigating, there is a compass in the top right. Tap that to toggle between north up and direction-of-travel up.

Are you saying that's not working?

I mean this right here.