Qibla Finder

It is the initial great-circle bearing from your coordinates to the Kaaba at 21.4225°N, 39.8262°E, using the standard forward-azimuth formula with atan2. The result is degrees clockwise from true north.

Because most compasses point to magnetic north, not true north, and the gap between them (magnetic declination) varies by location and drifts over time. In some places it is under a degree; in others it is more than 20°. Metal objects, phone cases and speakers distort readings too.

Because that device is reporting movement without reporting north. Browsers expose two kinds of orientation reading: one measured from magnetic north, and one measured from whatever way the phone happened to be pointing when the page loaded. Only the first is a heading. Firefox on Android never provides the first, and Chrome cannot when the magnetometer is missing or uncalibrated, so rather than spin the dial by a number that means nothing, it stays north-up and tells you. The bearing above is still correct — use it with a separate compass. If it does work but drifts, lay the phone flat: the reading is only a heading while the device is level.

Flat maps distort direction. On a Mercator map the shortest real-world path looks like a curve, so a ruler line gives the wrong bearing — badly wrong over long distances. From North America, for example, the true Qibla is roughly north-east rather than the south-east many people expect.

Not by the compass. There is no server of ours and no analytics: your coordinates are used by JavaScript in the page and discarded when you close it. The only thing stored locally is your light or dark theme preference. Two caveats, both honest ones. The fonts and stylesheet load from public CDNs, which — like any web request — see your IP address. And if you choose to load the map, its images come from OpenStreetMap, and each request identifies the patch of world you are viewing, which narrows down roughly where you are. The map stays unloaded until you press the button.

The maths is sound and matches published Qibla tables, but the weak links are your device's GPS accuracy and its compass. It is a good practical guide. Where it matters, confirm against your local mosque, a known mihrab, or a direction you already trust.