--- title: "Use a phone compass in your browser" description: "Start a browser compass, read its north reference and accuracy, and handle permission or sensor failures." canonical: "https://onlinecompass.lol/blog/use-a-phone-compass" --- [Compass basics](https://onlinecompass.lol/blog/category/compass-basics) # Use a phone compass in your browser Start a browser compass, read its north reference and accuracy, and handle permission or sensor failures. By Online Compass · About 4 min read · Oct 3, 2026 ![Illustration of a hand holding a dark-screen phone beside a mountain trail.](https://onlinecompass.lol/images/blog/use-a-phone-compass.webp) Illustration for this guide. ## Start the browser compass Open the [compass](https://onlinecompass.lol/) on your phone and tap **Start device compass**. If the browser requests motion access, choose whether to allow it. The page waits for a usable sensor report; opening it alone does not prove that the phone can find north. Hold the phone flat and watch the status beneath the Compass title. A heading such as 90° E describes the direction reported by the device. The separate north-reference line tells you how to interpret it. A marked dial is only a scale while the page says No heading. Browser support differs. A phone may have the necessary hardware but withhold orientation data from a website. A desktop may have no suitable sensor. Permission does not guarantee a usable reading. ## Read the reference before the number Online Compass labels an iOS compass report as magnetic north. For other absolute orientation reports, it says the browser's magnetic or true-north basis is unspecified. It does not silently turn that report into a verified geographic heading. The accuracy line shows a device estimate only when the browser supplies one. “Not reported” means there is no number to show; it does not mean perfect accuracy. Compare the reading with a known direction before relying on it. If the browser reports relative rotation, the angle describes movement from a reference that does not establish north. You can rotate the phone and see that angle change without knowing the geographic direction of its top edge. Online Compass labels that state separately. ## When the heading disappears A denied request, unsupported browser or stale reading leaves north unavailable. Read the status rather than treating the last visible dial position as a current measurement. Hiding the tab or rotating the screen can also make the page wait for a fresh report. If you denied access, check the browser's site-permission controls before trying again. Browser menus vary, so a setting from a different phone may not exist on yours. Try a browser that exposes suitable sensor data if the current one cannot. Move away from magnets and large metal objects when the heading drifts. Calibration guidance can help you check the device, but an animation on a webpage does not calibrate its hardware by itself. ## Use manual mode for an angle exercise The manual angle control lets you explore the scale without a working sensor. Use the slider or its keyboard controls to set an angle. The result stays labeled unverified: setting 0° does not locate north. A route bearing is a different task. The [bearing calculator](https://onlinecompass.lol/bearing) uses two coordinate pairs to estimate a geographic direction and distance. To inspect a position report or convert coordinate formats, use [Coordinates](https://onlinecompass.lol/coordinates). Neither requires granting motion access to the compass. ## Check the direction without uploading a position The compass can display a supported device heading without your location. Its optional True North correction needs a correction position, which you can type or request from the browser. Coordinates asks for location separately when you press its location button. Sensor readings and correction calculations stay in your browser. Keep an independent direction reference when errors would affect your route. A browser display cannot replace the equipment, maps or skills you need for navigation where a wrong heading has consequences. ## Read the degree scale The scale runs clockwise: 0° is north, 90° east, 180° south and 270° west, relative to the stated north reference. Northeast is halfway between north and east at 45°. A report of 359° sits one degree west of 0°; the small numerical value after crossing north does not mean the phone suddenly turned almost a full circle. The compass uses the top of the displayed phone as its direction indicator. Keep the phone flat while checking the result. A screen rotation changes the relationship between the screen and the device axes, so wait for the tool to receive a fresh report after switching between portrait and landscape. ## Select True North when the reference is known Open the north-reference controls and choose True North only after setting the correction position. The tool estimates declination with its local WMM2025 model. A recognized magnetic sensor reading can then be corrected to a geographic reference. An unspecified reference remains unsuitable for that correction; adding declination to an already corrected number could produce an error. The sensor accuracy estimate stays separate. A model correction does not fix a magnetized case, a stale report or an inaccurate device. Read both the reference and the warning before comparing a heading with a route bearing. ## Related guides ### [Phone compass not working? Checks to try](https://onlinecompass.lol/blog/phone-compass-not-working) Troubleshoot denied motion access, unsupported sensors, relative-only rotation, stale readings and an unavailable True North correction. ### [Magnetic north vs. true north](https://onlinecompass.lol/blog/magnetic-and-true-north) Separate a phone heading from a geographic route bearing before comparing their numbers. ### [Calibrate your phone compass](https://onlinecompass.lol/blog/calibrate-phone-compass) Check interference, permission and freshness before trusting a drifting phone heading.