Why Are Compass Apps Not Reliable? By Kartar Diamond

I help many clients house hunt remotely all over the world and even local clients have me do quickie readings on a place they are interested. Often, the clients try to be helpful by taking their own compass reading. Additionally, clients often like to compare their own reading with mine, after I have done a full consultation. I don’t mind anyone checking up on me. What I do find, however, is that usually we have a discrepancy on the compass reading when the client is using a Compass App.

I was glad when Compass Apps first became available. I thought that everyone, including me, would have a reliable compass with them at all times. Then I quickly discovered they were not accurate most of the time, sometimes WILDLY off. One memorable time, a realtor was suspicious of the compass reading I was doing with my old fashioned Cammenga Military compass. He whipped out his cell phone and got a very different reading than me. I tried to explain to him that his cell phone was reading geographic north instead of magnetic north, which is what we refer to in Feng Shui. And there can be a small difference or a very large difference between magnetic north and geographic north, depending on where you are in the world.
This same realtor thought I was nuts until he pulled out his I-Pad and saw that his I-Pad contradicted his own cell phone by about 30 degrees. Massive.

There are a number of reasons why Compass Apps are often inaccurate. And I have read complaints about this on the Internet, by people who have nothing to do with Feng Shui. Here are some definite reasons, as well as some suspected reasons.

1. The Compass App has not been calibrated properly and is showing the geographic directions instead of the magnetic reading. (The whole point of the compass is to get the local magnetic reading.)
2. The person handling their cell phone Compass App hasn’t been trained in how to do a precise reading and they may be holding the cell phone haphazardly. (Ballpark reading instead of precise reading within a couple degrees of accuracy.)
3. Local magnetic fields and radio frequencies may be throwing the compass App off.
4. Person does a reading INSIDE the building, which is not to be done. They need to be done outside.
5. Person is unaware that there is metal too close to the cell phone or compass and it is throwing off the accuracy (such as standing near a car, on a manhole, too close to a metal framed building, standing over a parking garage or some other void in the land below.
6. There are still more reasons why the compass app can be inaccurate, as well as a regular compass can be inaccurate. One client actually used a Chinese Feng Shui compass (called a luo pan) and still got an inaccurate reading because of inexperience in using one. Some compasses have even been known to just go “lame” and stop working. This is one reason why it is recommended that a compass NOT be stored in a car or on its side.
7. Other local phenomenon (including the paranormal or underground water) can through a compass off.

For all these reasons, I do remote readings with GoogleCompass (not to be confused with Google Earth), in order to get an accurate reading without any in-person disturbances. If it is a local job, I compare with my old fashioned compass in person and I always get the same reading within a degree or two.

Next, you can see a comparison in compass readings. Client emailed their Compass App reading of their building, the back wall direction. They got 115 degrees. With GoogleCompass, I got 128 degrees. That is a 13 degree difference!