A warning about magnetic iphone/ipad cases

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by StuM

It's because phones generally have 3 directional magnetic sensors so that they can tell which way they are being held.

Stu, do you have any idea how the information from the three compass sensors is used (if at all) by nav apps like Navionics, Google Maps etc to display position on a map? I ask because in most of these nav apps you have the option to have the app display the orientation of the phone in addition to COG heading data from GPS.

I wonder if good data from the compass is necessary to properly display position on these apps and a screwed up compass is preventing that.

[StuM]

No idea how iThingies do it, but on Android, AFAIK, those mapping apps just use the Location Services API for position - which doesn't use the magnetic sensors. The magnetic sensors are used for the direction arrow when stationary in Google Maps, but I don't think Navionics does so.

[Peregrine1983]

Originally Posted by StuM

No idea how iThingies do it, but on Android, AFAIK, those mapping apps just use the Location Services API for position - which doesn't use the magnetic sensors. The magnetic sensors are used for the direction arrow when stationary in Google Maps, but I don't think Navionics does so.

Thanks. I would imagine it’s similar on the ithingies. I’m stumped. Welp, as others have said it’s probably time for a new phone anyway.

[Peregrine1983]

Because this horse isn’t completely beaten to death, I figured I would update FWIW...

My phone has now gone 3-4 days without its magnetic case - and its compass is functioning normally again. All my navigation apps are now working properly as well. I’ve not uninstalled anything or changed any settings as I purposely wanted to leave things alone to see if taking away the case fixed it. The compass has gradually gotten better over the course of the last few days and is now calibrating within 5 degrees of my wife’s.

This could of course be due to something totally unrelated, but I’m fairly certain now the magnetic case was screwing up my compass and affecting my nav apps.

[GRIT]

Thanks for the update. That's useful information.

Cheers.
Paul.

[transmitterdan]

Glad it is working for you now.

The iPhone has an automatic compass calibration system. A strong magnetic field near the phone confuses the automatic calibration feature. But none of this has anything to do with GPS accuracy. Only the compass function is affected by magnets.

[boatman61]

Ahhh.!!! The joy of new things.. created with no thought to consequence.. but then how many folk these days even know their position.. or even care..

[Rhenley]

I seriously doubt that the magnet damaged your iPhone. I would contact Navionics and get their opinion. I was under the assumption that software only works from the gps. Not sure though.

[Marxtr6]

What an ass.

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

And you omitted any of that relevant info until now?

I don't like guessing games. Hopefully, someone else can help you.

[jblue]

I had the GPS receiver replaced in my iPhone when the same thing happened, regardless of magnetic cases. Did not fix the problem which was determined to be on the iPhone 6 motherboard. "It happens, especially in model 6" was the response from the several techs I spoke with. No one mentioned anything about a magnetic case issue!
Just sayin'......

[gscriba]

Had Apple tech evaluate my iPhone 6 due to GPS malfunction and I was told there was nothing that could be done. Fortunately they had new phones available for me to purchase. I declined, went home and did a bit of research online. The GPS antenna (as well as the cell phone antenna) can be purchased online along with a set of tools to repair the phone for approx $30, and with step-by-step instructions on youtube, I like many others have replaced the GPS antenna resulting in a fully functional iPhone 6 in less than a hour of my time. That was more than 6 months ago. Still working great!!

[St Pete Gipsii]

I’ve had the same thing happen with my iphone6 and Navionics this past weekend. I had another iPhone aboard that showed correct information so it’s not the app. It seems that the GPS in the iPhone can show incorrect information after upgrading to IOS 11.4. It looks like you went through the steps of turning off your location setting and back on. One of the recommended fixes is also resetting the network. The next step is to roll back your phone to the earlier IOS release. Best of luck.

[crazyhorse]

Introduction of a small magnetic field will not effect GPS satellite signals in the way of accuracy. They might attenuate reception if covering the antenna. Their influence on fluxgate and iron core magnetic compasses would be noticeable but its my understanding nether are used in smart phones or tablets?

[gscriba]

To be clear. I had exhausted all options/actions/resets/ons/offs/blessings/cursings/etc. Replacing the GPS antenna worked for me. Just be sure you are willing to replace the phone in case you screw up the GPS antenna replacement process.

[Tampabayfireman]

I ran into the same issue with my iPhone SE last dec. here in KEy West. Did not have any magnets near it. The GPS suddenly would just stop and show us .4-2 miles away. Now with the phone running the anchor alarm at night you can see the panic this caused a few times.

3 hr on phone with both providers and Apple did no good . And as suddenly it resumed normal.
Found out later a few other people had same issue here. Best guess was the proximity to military training area and was during a very active training week. Either interference or GPS blocking