NavList:

David Pike, you wrote:
"If I ensure my next phone does have a compass, will that synchronise with the Stellarium app to allow the Stellarium picture to line up with where the phone is pointing?  Also, if it will, can you switch the sync on and off? "

Yes, and yes. Bear in mind that smartphone compasses are +/-5° on a good day. They have to be calibrated regularly, by waving your hand in a figure-8 sweep usually. When you get your new phone, make sure the compass actually works! Download a common compass app, and check to see that it responds to rotations in azimuth smoothly. Verify that it points more or less correctly after you calibrate it. Some phones have bad compasses. If you get a dud, take it back and trade for another while you can. But don't panic. Test for a few days before concluding there's a compass problem.

Stellarium may not be the necessary choice here. Other (android) options include SkyView, StarWalk 2, and StarTracker. These are not recommendations from me; only suggestions for apps to investigate. One app that I do recommend is the great grandfather of starfinding apps, dating from the Eocene, the Appotherium of them all, "Google Sky Map" --except that Google let it out as an open-source project, and it is now known simply as "Sky Map", but if you read the description in the app libraries it explains the heritage. It's Appotherium googlensis.

Frank Reed