How do we know which direction we should face when we pray?
There are ways of calculating this - you need to know your current location, the location of the qiblah and also some way to determine direction.
Most android phones have built in GPS (and most/others can also use other means to determine a good approximate of the location), and a built in compass. This should be enough for some app to combine the data and let you know which direction to face.
I am not the first with that realisation - there are a few apps on the Angroid Marketplace which say they can locate the qiblah/direction to face when praying. I tested the free options.
A note - I am using the Sony Ericsson Xperia x10 for this test with version 1.6 (Donut) of Android, and some of the issues may be due to the apps not supporting the relevant apis from this version of Android.
Onto the Apps
Al Muathen
By Islamic App
This seems to be an app for more than just finding the qiblah - it also is supposed to give you prayer times and play the Adhaan at the correct times (which is where the name comes from).
However there is a big fail - it does NOT use the built in phone GPS to get your location and asks you to manually select country and city.
After entering my location, the app crashed and exited.
Fail.
Where is Mecca? Free Edition
By Windmill Apps
This is an ad supported free version of the app and the blurb mentions that it supports two methods to find the qiblah/direction.
There are two options on there to point to the qiblah - Shortest direction and direct path (while choice is good, we want the "direct path" for the qiblah. Shortest route is more for travelling and journey planning.)
Upon start it asked me to turn on the GPS service and then promptly informed me that the service was not started and crashed.
Fail.
Qibla Compass
By Binary Solutions.
This looks like a professional App with good presentation, but unfortunately it points in the wrong direction. It seems to point where others point for "shortest route" and does not have an option to select the "direct path".
More while I was turning the phone, the direction of "North" seemed to change, so while it looks good, I would personally not be too trusting of this app.
Qibla Finder
By Mustafa Ferhan Akman
This app is a bit different from the others - it does not show a compass asking you to face a specific direction. Instead it asks you to turn (the phone) by a number of degres to the left or right until you are facing the right direction.
It seemed to work.
Qibla Compass
by Vahid Mansoori
This goes back to the compass approach and shows a compass to show which direction to face - with the small problem that the displayed compass is a bit small on my phone, the needle a little thin.
This app has the option to find the direct path (default) and also the shortest route.
It seemed to work.
Caveats and Addendums
- Any magnetic interference would cause the compass to not work too accurately.
- When facing the qiblah you do not have to be dead on - and being dead on is dificult where even mosques in Makkah itself have been found to be pointing slightly different directions when there line of sight was obscurred by eg mountains. Upto 45 degrees or so either direction of the correct qiblah is allowed and using either direction method for where I am would fit within that envelope.
- I am comparing the results to where I suspect the qiblah direction is from my current location, based on the direction face by the local mosque. This information can be innacurate.
In my comparison, the last two apps (Qibla Compass and Qibla Finder) came across as the best of the free options.
I am interested to hear the views of others on such apps and their own deductions.
Comments
The satellite dishes point to the Qibla.
"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi
too cheap for apps but ... caveats and addendums?! is this like pros and cons?
Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
Is no one else fascinated by this :/
"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi
They do?
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
Yes they do!
"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi
I find that hard to believe. they will be all ovre, pointing all sorts of places depending on their tasks and on whatever makes those tasks/staying in space/staying charged easier.
Maybe it is at the qiblah.
but I don't think I have read that before.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
Oh I meant the tv ones. I'll try and find the link again
"How many people find fault in what they're reading and the fault is in their own understanding" Al Mutanabbi
That is an interesting observation.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
i thought you meant just yours.
Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?