ASUS - ZenTalk

CbIP · ‎11-28-2019

Hello!
I have just faced with an issue with the compass. Most of the time (>70% of cases) when I open the Google maps (or any other maps app) it shows the wrong direction. E.x. I am walking north and the app shows that I am faced south as if I was walking my back forward. After calibrating the compass everything becomes back to normal until next time.
I use a plastic case (which came with the phone): it should not interfere with the compass/magnetometer. The firmware is: WW_17.1810.1910.73 (Android 10). The phone is not rooted and the bootloader is not unlocked.
This issue annoys me because I often use maps for pedestrian navigation. Besides that this is the second Zenfone 6 I own. The first one was replaced/refurbished due to camera defect.
This time though I believe it is a software bug because after calibration the compass works well until a restart.
I am attaching a screenshot to show the bug. The red arrow shows my real direction and the Google maps sector shows that I am faced ~90 degrees clockwise.This is not even the worst case I got.
In this thread: https://zentalk.asus.com/en/discussion/comment/13349 it is said that the issue has been fixed, but it hasn't.
Could anybody help me with the issue?

_jis_ · ‎11-29-2019

After calibrating the compass
Can you please describe exactly what you will do?
Run the maps, find that they show the wrong orientation and do what?

When this happens to me, I leave the display lit, I start drawing horizontal eights in the air with my phone and revolve around my own vertical axis, it takes two to three seconds and everything is normal then.

CbIP · ‎11-29-2019

_jis_
After calibrating the compass
Can you please describe exactly what you will do?
Run the maps, find that they show the wrong orientation and do what?
When this happens to me, I leave the display lit, I start drawing horizontal eights in the air with my phone and revolve around my own vertical axis, it takes two to three seconds and everything is normal then.

View post

To calibrate the compass I open the Google maps app, tap on the blue dot (which shows current location) then tap on the "calibrate compass" button in the bottom left corner, then the app asks to draw eights in the air. After that the Google maps app either says that compass has been calibrated successfully or not, but it starts to show correct orientation. If that didn't help (i.e. the orientation is still incorrect) I will try to calibrate the compass with a different app (e.x. Yandex.Maps).
This procedure only works until I restart the maps app or reboot the phone. After restart/reboot the orientation resets to a random value.

_jis_ · ‎11-29-2019

There is no need to do it in that explicit way.
See my procedure:
Run the maps, find that they show the wrong orientation, I leave the display lit, I start drawing horizontal eights in the air with my phone and revolve around my own vertical axis, it takes two to three seconds and everything is normal then.

CbIP · ‎11-29-2019

_jis_
There is no need to do it in that explicit way.
See my procedure:
Run the maps, find that they show the wrong orientation, I leave the display lit, I start drawing horizontal eights in the air with my phone and revolve around my own vertical axis, it takes two to three seconds and everything is normal then.

View post

Yes, that does help, as well as calibrating the compass with the procedure I mentioned above. But don't you think this "Android dance" is quite inconvenient and embarrassing to perform in the public every time I want to get somewhere by foot and don't know the route and direction?
My previous phone kept the compass calibrated even when I exited the subway.
I don't need a precise measurement, I just need to know whether to go right or left. For now I cannot be sure that the compass is calibrated and the phone doesn't confuse right and left.

ASUS - ZenTalk

Compass issue with the Google maps and other maps apps - Android 10