Compus is a free travel and navigation mobile app that helps you find your way around. Developed by Ioannis Pinakoulakis, this app turns your phone into a handy digital compass if your device supports compass sensors. However, while this may seem like a cheap alternative to physical compasses, this app is actually unreliable as you still have to turn on location tracking for it to work—and most of the time, it still doesn’t.

Use your phone

If you ever have to find your way somewhere, you can always just enable a GPS tracking system to get a near-accurate map. This feature is a basic function for any device nowadays, after all. However, this can quickly drain your battery. This is why it’s still recommended to have a real compass if you’re traveling. Fortunately, some devices have been designed to have a compass sensor system. 

Compus is one of the numerous compass apps available on the market and it offers its services at no cost at all. When you launch it, it displays a simple and minimalistic compass icon that will move like the real thing when it’s active. The app has a built-in magnetometer and also supports retina display for certain phone models. However, while this app seems easy to use, it’s actually more of a hassle than anything.

First of all, the app will prompt you to enable your GPS location tracking feature. Unfortunately, even when it’s on, the compass doesn’t work at all. Another thing is its interface, which doesn’t offer much help to those who can’t read compasses accurately. Its compass icon is too simple—only the round shape and the pointer are displayed. The degrees are only shown beneath the icon and beginners may not know how to interpret them.

Try another app

All in all, Compass feels like a cop-out of an app. It’s free but you can hardly use it, even with an internet connection. The whole is actually nice in theory but it doesn’t feel like it’s meant to be used by people who aren’t experts at handling a compass. It’s better for you to try out other apps, use a real compass, or even just use your GPS system to avoid wasting your time.