Best free compass app for iPhone and Android — what actually matters

Your phone already has a magnetometer. A compass app just has to read it honestly and show it clearly. Here is what to look for, what to ignore, and why we built ours around one extra button.

Do you even need an app?

On iPhone, Apple’s built-in Compass is decent: it shows heading, coordinates and elevation. Many Android phones have no compass app at all, only the sensor — so an app is the only way to see a dial. Either way, a third-party app earns its place only if it does something the stock one does not.

Five things a good compass app must get right

• True north vs magnetic north. The sensor measures magnetic north; true north differs by the local declination (up to 20° in places). A good app lets you choose and says which one is on screen.
• An honest accuracy warning. Near a car, a laptop or a steel railing the reading is off by tens of degrees. The app should tell you, not pretend.
• Big, readable numbers. Heading in degrees, the cardinal name, coordinates, altitude — legible in sunlight, not buried under decoration.
• No internet dependency. The magnetometer and GPS work with airplane mode on. If an app refuses to open without a network, it is showing ads, not a compass.
• No permissions it does not need. Location is fair (for coordinates and declination). Contacts, microphone, photos for a plain compass — no.

What most compass apps miss: getting you back

A compass tells you which way is north. It does not tell you which way is your car. That is the gap Compass: Find Way Back fills: tap Save This Place once, and from then on a second, orange arrow points to that spot, with the straight-line distance and a rough walking time. It works with no signal at all, because it only needs your GPS position and the one you saved.

The free version is a full compass — heading, true or magnetic north, coordinates, altitude, GPS accuracy, three dial faces — plus one saved place. Compass Pro (a single purchase, no subscription) removes the ads and the limit and adds photos and notes to each place.

A quick checklist before you install anything

1. Does it show true north as an option?
2. Does it warn when the sensor is uncalibrated or disturbed?
3. Does it work in airplane mode?
4. Does it ask for permissions it obviously does not need?
5. Can it bring you back to a place, not just point north?

Questions

Why does my compass app point the wrong way?

Almost always magnetic interference — a phone case with a magnet, a car, a metal table — or an uncalibrated sensor. Move away from metal and move the phone in a figure 8. If the app never warns you about low accuracy, it is not a good app.

Does a compass app need internet?

No. The magnetometer and GPS are hardware in the phone. Some apps load maps or ads over the network, but the compass itself works offline.

Is the iPhone compass true or magnetic north?

Magnetic by default; you can switch to true north in Settings → Compass. Compass: Find Way Back has the same switch inside the app.

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