Game Oven: “Bounden on Android delayed”

In the Vine above are 7 devices all running the same compass app (ironically named Steady Compass) on Android. Yet, all compasses indicate that North is somewhere else. Unfortunately, this has nothing to do with electromagnetic fields confusing the compass; it has everything to do with the diversity of hardware inside these devices.

Eline Muijres

This reminds me of a funny moment last year, during a trip to northern Norway. I travelled there with a small group of photographers to see the northern lights. One evening we were out in a small city, trying to find North. I had my iPhone, another couple brought their iPhones and iPad along, two other people had Samsung smartphones. Both iPhones and the iPad pointed in the same general direction – after some calibration – whereas the Samsungs pointed somewhere entirely different. Being under open and relatively clear skies and with good knowledge of astronomy, it didn’t take long to recognize which devices had it right: those built by Apple.