What happens when your favorite navigation app disappears? It may sound like a joke, but it isn’t: There are times when Google Maps doesn’t work as it should, and the compass built into your Android phone may be responsible. If this has happened to you, don’t panic because there is a simple but effective trick to solving it: the eighth bend.

What does Google Maps have to do with the compass? Although navigation apps use GPS to show our location to get from an exit point to a destination, they also need sensors and tools other than your mobile phone to reach a successful port, e.g. gyroscope (phone accurately relative to three spatial axes above ground), accelerometers (horizontal) and gives information about vertical motion) and the magnetometer tasked with creating a low-precision three-dimensional plane thanks to the magnetic field surrounding it.

This magnetometer function It is essential that the application shows where we are going with a pointer. When you arrive in a city you see where you are on the browser’s map and start walking, that pointer helps you confirm you are going in the right direction and direction. But from time to time the compass loses its calibration and it’s time to fine-tune it.

a little magnetism. Planet Earth behaves as if there was a magnet passing through it, with the south pole of the magnet close to the geographic north of the planet. Because opposite poles attract, the north pole of the compass points to the south pole of the terrestrial magnet (approaching geographic north, as we mentioned). All is well so far, but electromagnetic fields can distort it and stop it from pointing clearly north. It doesn’t have to be the result of large signals, but being close to another electronic device, metal surfaces, or your own circuits causing this drift may be sufficient.

How to calibrate your Android’s compass, when to do it and why does it work?

Calibrate the phone’s compass It’s a pretty simple job, and the key is in the turn of eight. So, you will need to hold your phone firmly with one hand and start rotating your wrist by drawing eights in the air for about 30 seconds. While it is sufficient to do these gestures with the phone open, if you do them while the Google Maps app is open, it will notify you that it has been calibrated.

Why does the turn of eight work? Considering the intervention getting dizzy your mobile phone’s magnetometer is used by the system to track these rotations and compare the readings of the three spatial axes with those it records, eliminating erroneous positions caused by exposure to other electromagnetic fields. Thus, the compass regains its reliability.

Again, you will not need to calibrate your mobile phone’s compass frequently. Firstly, because replacing this sensor is more common on older or low-end devices, but also because in itself it is not just an occasional action. Also, calibration may be necessary if you are in an environment susceptible to magnetic interference, such as inside a vehicle.

A few more tips: While it’s interesting to apply the turn of eight just before opening the Google Maps app, it’s better to dedicate it to the time the Google navigation app demands.

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