Compass doesn’t work on new Watch 11

Well, huh. Here’s a real forehead-slapper.

I’ve been trying this in my habitual spot on the sofa, forgetting that it’s a fold-out sofa-bed (never use it) that has a metal frame, springs, etc. A quick check of the compass off-sofa seems to work.

I’ll check it further when I’m out and about. It did seem odd that a core feature of a generally-reliable Apple device would malfunction.

Feeling slightly redfaced and sheepish here. Oh well. I’ll report back to confirm.

Thanks for your response.

Nothing magnetic anywhere close. No magnets, no iron. Using the fabric/Velcro band from Apple.

If I go to Settings > Privacy & Security … there is no “System Services” as you list it.

There is Compass under the Settings. That allows location access and precise location. No option for calibration.

iPhone SE third version. iOS 26.1

Ah, ok, thanks. All the apps are listed in alphabetical order and then “System Services” is inscrutably listed at the very bottom.

The compass seems to work on my iPhone. Compass calibration was and is turned on. Nevertheless i turned off compass calibration, shut down the phone completely, restarted the phone, and turned Compass Calibration back on. The Watch compass is still wildly inaccurate and inconsistent.

I shut the watch down cold and turned it back on. For the direction that’s actually north the compass on my watch is indicating west. Before I shut down and restarted the Watch it was indicating east.

Thanks. I’ll try that tomorrow.

I don’t anticipate going anywhere really wild anytime soon, but i assume that even street directions using maps would benefit from an accurate compass.

i appreciate your efforts.

If I go to the Settings on the Watch itself there is a System Services > Compass Calibration. It’s grayed-out but I can see that Compass Calibration is set to “on.”