Is this normal behavior?

2018 Rogue. Android phone and Google maps. While the vehicle is actually moving, the view on the screen shows the direction towards the destination, taking into account whatever direction (N, S, E, W) the vehicle is headed.

But when I come to a stop sign or red light, the view spins around and no longer shows that. So in stop and go traffic, it's like watching a roulette wheel. I checked the settings - it's not set to "keep map North up," since that's not what I want.

Just checking is this normal or is there a setting I can change to stop the screen view rotation. Did a search, didn't see anything like this. Thanks!

Altair 4

That sounds like the unit's internal compass has failed and it's only getting a proper direction indication from the GPS. Since the GPS can only determine direction of travel when you're in motion, a bad compass or IG chip will cause the kind of behavior you're describing.

Is this in the head unit?

Yep.

Requires replacement of the head unit? IOW, non-serviceable part?

It's usually part of the GPS board assembly, often integrated into the GPS chip. Some of the late models also have inertial guidance capability and the compass is in the IG chip. Either way, yes, it means changing the head unit or sending it out for repair/reman.

Thanks for your incredible knowledge. I'm your opinion, would the unit act the same way with a different phone?

I think I'm going to be testing it over the weekend with my daughter's (apple) and wife's (another android) and see what happens. I'll post what I find. Thanks again.

Only if it's getting map data from the phone and not the onboard navi. If the phone is in charge then all bets are off. For apps that allow video transfer, the car is just a dumb terminal. I suppose a phone could be doing something in the background that makes the compass point "due phone", but it would be a first, I've never seen that happen.

Okay, it just occurred to me that there's a way to check it. There should be a compass rosette that you can select from the available info display screens for the cluster. That information comes from the navi via the CANbus. So if your rosette in the cluster is jumping around at the same time the navi screen misbehaves, it definitely means a bad compass in the navi.

Wait a sec, I need clarification. Are you saying that the compass rosette is available on the instrument cluster (between the tach and the speedo)? Or is this in the settings on the display in the center of the dash? I've got an '18 SV. I'll drill down through the various menus, but I can't recall ever seeing the that information. I don't have built-in navigation - I have to use my phone for that.

My daughter's apple phone running their maps app doesn't have the spinning display issue. My wife's android is so screwed I can't get Android auto to run on it. I need to try and clean up her phone and try it again.

If it isn't a navi and you're streaming the map, then the phone is in charge and it's causing the issue, not the car. I was assuming you had a navi. The compass I mentioned won't be present in the cluster with a regular radio, and the car can't be causing the issue. Like I said, when you're streaming the display screen, the car is basically acting as a dumb terminal.

Thanks for your patience explaining it to me. I can't figure out what setting on the phone is driving this - I've been through the settings on the apps for Maps and for Android Auto. Meh, I'll live with it until I get a new phone. Thanks again!