Chosen Solution
Hello, I’m using an iPhone 6 Plus 64GB which I bought 2 Years ago. I installed iOS 10.0.1 and 10.0.2 recently. As I recognized now, the tilting sensor doesn’t work anymore. The compass needle is pointing to north and doesn’t rotate. I can’t even calibrate the compass. Playing games with tilt controlling doesn’t work. It’s possible that this is broken since few weeks, I didn’t used it for weeks. Sometimes it works for a few minutes after a reboot. I tried resetting the phone completely, setup as new phone and tested the compass. It still shows the same problems. GPS is working fine, as well rotating the screen. It got never any water damage at all. I dropped it about 1 year ago, but nothing was damaged after this except a bigger scratch at the corner. Which sensor is affected? Gyroscope? Accelerometer? Magnetometer? Thanks for any support.
The compass won’t work if your iPhone is in a case with a magnetic flap! The magnet freezes the needle!
My compass never worked. After trying a few things I finally went into the compass app settings. I turned off the “True North” feature and now the compass works just fine.
Had the same issue……..Go to settings then to privacy then location services then to system services and turn on compass calibration. Check the compass and it should be working.
I had this problem too. I literally just gave my iphone a hearty whack to the palm of my other hand and the compass fixed instantly.
Try swiping left on the compass app to display the surface leveling tool. Turn the phone on its edge to display the edge leveling tool. Swipe right to return to the compass to, hopefully, see an unfrozen compass. Worked for my iPhone 6 running iOS 11.2. Probably a software bug.
I had the same issue. It was the magnet on the back of my case.
Sounds like you did the logical steps… I’d put the iPhone in DFU mode and restore it(different from iTunes restore). This would rule out possible software issues..
Tried an DFU Restore of iOS 10, same issue. After a RESTORE it worked for a few seconds, maybe a minute, but then the compass stopped working. If I shut it down and leave it off for few minutes and then starting it up, the compass works as well for a minute or so, but then stops working. Even with 9.3.5 I get the same problem. Both without the backup. Any ideas? Probably a temperature issue?
It happens with Touch Disease…It’s on/same area of logic board that control touch. I disassembled my phone 4 times and put a shim where the solder joints loosen (known Apple issue) and you need to get it ‘just right’ or everything will work except the compass (can still rotate phone, etc).
I did something weird but it worked; since the problem is probably a magnetic needle I tried to rub a strong magnet at the back of my iPhone 6 after I tried every other option (except the DFU) and the only thing that worked is turning off the true north (which is unsatisfying cause I Shouldn’t need it in a perfectly well phone), so I rubbed the magnet real good and completely turned off the compass app and turned it back on and as I expected the compass was working but heading to the wrong direction until the ball in the circle appeared and after doing the recalibration it worked perfectly with the true north on !!! I’m a bit of a chatty so I’m sorry if that was a long explanation, but I really hope it helps
It is the same issue/fix as the touch disease problem. You need to take the logic board out and put some folded up electrical tape on the chip that the solder joints come loose over time. I went nuts researching this issue and figured it out when I had to fix the touch disease issue. My compass worked again but I need to put more tape on the chip as the touch works fine but the compass died on me again.
I tried all of the above but nothing worked. So, with the compass app open I gave my phone a really vigorous shake ….. hey presto, it works fine now
Changing the front camera flex is the last answer.
Still have this issue. It’s definitely software. Occasionally it goes away after an update but usually comes back with the next update. I can clear the glitch sometimes by rebooting phone with SIM card removed. It will also , oddly enough, clear up after taking a plane to another geographical area.
Added a Gotit magnet and it messed with all gyro features, compass, measuring and level. Remove from magnet and power off/on. Works again
