In a small update to Maps that went rather unnoticed, Google has replaced the direction guiding arrow on your Maps screen, with an all new shiny blue beam. The beam has a trailing light, which gives you much more precise direction data, removing that confusion you go through about directions, the moment you open Maps.
The beam also tells you how accurate your phone’s direction is at any given time. The narrower the beam, the more accurate the direction. The wider the beam, the more likely it is that your your phone’s compass is temporarily uncalibrated, which means that its sensors aren’t working as they should be.
But even if the beam is wide, there’s nothing much to worry. Small instances like charging your phone or passing by a metal object are enough to uncaliberate your phone’s compass. As soon as you are out of such situations, your phone’s compass would work normally, and the beam would become thinner.
Thankfully, there’s a really easy fix to this issue too. Any time you want to get back on track – not just when you see a prompt or notification – simply move your phone in a figure 8 motion a few times. This should immediately result in a more accurate direction.
Once you master the curving motion, you’re one step closer to having a more accurate compass when you use Google Maps on your Android phone.
