How to Find House Directions with Your Phone

Start with a clear plan

Use a floor plan that shows the boundary and room positions clearly. Identify a straight wall or another line you can recognise both in the room and on the plan. Do not assume that the top of a drawing is North unless the drawing explicitly marks it.

Check North away from interference

1. Open the mobile app’s compass and follow its calibration instructions if prompted.
2. Move away from steel furniture, speakers, magnetic cases and other obvious sources of magnetic interference.
3. Hold the phone in a consistent position and let the reading settle.
4. Repeat at a nearby clear position. Large unexplained differences mean you should investigate before using the reading.

Phone compass conventions can differ. If your plan specifies true North, check whether the reading you are using is true North or magnetic North. Do not mix the two without accounting for that difference.

Align the drawing and review its centre

Match a known wall on the drawing to its observed orientation, then set North in the layout tool. Review the traced boundary and centre before assigning room zones. An incorrect rotation affects every direction on the report, even when the plan itself looks clear.

For example, if North points to the right-hand side of your drawing, the top edge is West. It is not North just because it is at the top of the page.

Record what you used

Save the plan, the orientation and the point or reference line used for the reading. For an entrance, identify the actual opening on the plan rather than using only the direction you happen to face while standing outside.

If readings remain unstable, do not average unrelated headings and call the result accurate. Resolve interference or check the plan against a reliable orientation reference first.