Compass Apps

Compass+ is both beautiful and powerful. The compass is not packed with features, but includes just what you need. Six themes are included with Retina graphics. The greatest feature is location tagging. You are able to tag a location and have the compass direct you back to your tagged locations. The tagger integrates with Google maps, which provides yet another way to find your way back. The compass also displays your heading, latitude/longitude, and a few other tidbits. Compass+ is the essential app because of its simplicity, beauty and feature set.

GyroCompass 3D is the essential compass for iPod touch 4th generation owners. Wi-Fi only iOS devices have no compass built in. So iPods and many iPads have no compass. What these devices now have are gyroscopes. You simply point your device’s camera at the sun or moon to calibrate it and from then on out it will know what compass heading your device is facing. The app is very inexpensive and works like a charm.

Digital Compass for iPhone is a fantastic free alternative to Compass+. You can instantly see your latitude/longitude and directional heading. Switch between true north or magnetic display. The simplicity of this app makes it work and the free price tag doesn’t hurt either.

SpyGlass is much more than a simple compass for your iPhone or iPad. Also included is an HUD, sun/moon tracker, rhumb line, sextant, maps, digital zoom camera, and tons of configurations. SpyGlass runs natively on the iPad too. For $3.99 you get tons of features wrapped in a beautiful interface. SpyGlass is a powerful app that complements Compass+ nicely.

Compass Plus has an ugly interface, but some great features. The accuracy is top notch, if possible the app will use the gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, and GPS for fast and reliable navigation. Just like Compass+ you can save locations and navigate back to them with ease. A map is built into this app too. If you are okay with the interface then this could be a good replacement for Compass+.

3D Compass for iPhone 4 is an okay app. The hook into this app is that it shows you a 3D ball of where you are. It uses the gyroscope to do this. The app feels very rudimentary at best. Hopefully in a few months the interface and design of the app will be updated to make this a more complete and usable app.