Apple Maps "Look Around" compass.

[garote]

Does this look right to you?



This is the flagship phone, running the latest software - iOS 18.1.1. This software is deployed to hundreds of millions of devices around the world. Am I holding it wrong or something??

Comments

[garote]

Oh waaait I see what's going on here. I was expecting the red indicator to point in the same direction as the letter indicator.

They have designed the indicator as though it's the top surface of a compass, which has a fixed pointer in the direction of North, and rotates. But you read a compass by looking down at it from above.

This element is rendered in reference to an upright view: That is, a view where "up" is the top of the display, and "down" is the bottom. If you hold a compass the same way, North would point to the sky, and the compass wouldn't work.

Some designer has simplified the compass a bit too much. They need to either remove the letter, or tilt the surface so it's actually in reference to the ground, or both.

[sassa_nf]

Maybe the truth is a bit too hard to handle. Because then we'll end up rendering false perspective, just to make sure boyscouts can navigate correctly while holding the phone upside down above their heads 😹😹😹