Leave a Review Spyglass
Great App, creator, update
Don’t Panic 🌍👍
It’s a little confusing but it’s safe update.
If you’re new, this is great app and you should definitely try it out.
Kudos to the creator of this app for taking care of the longtime users.
If you’ve been burned by other apps, it’s understandable but don’t worry this dev is managing a transition as well as possible with the App Store framework. I upgraded mine successfully.
There is:
Spyglass, Spyglass Pro, and Spyglass Plus.
If you paid for to upgrade previously to Pro grab the new version, ignore the expired subscription notice, and Restore Purchase in the app’s settings menu. You will have Pro again.
If you had just Spyglass before v3,31 it looks like (ie I may be wrong) the developer is giving you Pro as well, which is generous.
There is also an option to subscribe right now to Plus at a discount for maps and places when offline. The Pro features do not need a Plus subscription.
I really enjoy this app. It’s very cool, has never given me problems, and does what it says. The creator is still maintaining it all these years on and hopefully this transition helps keep it profitable to do so for many more to come.Show lessZæphyr
Good app, terrible customer service, unethical business practices.
This was a good app. I even paid for the full version. Then one day I launched the app and was met with “your Subscription Has Expired.” Basically saying, you paid the price we ask for our app, but now we want more money from you. How about NO! I will bought a hand held compass. Buy once and done. Just like the original agreement I had with this developer. I hate Subscriptions for apps, especially ones I already paid for.
Update; AppDeveloper says; “It OK to hate subscriptions, but they are necessary…”.
In other words, we don’t care that you don’t want to pay for your app multiple times, or that we violate our original agreement with you. We like the money, so you lose.Show lessCaptZaldivar
Developer Response
By design it should have provided a complete premium experience without any annoying messages. I do apologize for the bug because of which you got the message. Though subscriptions are necessary to provide additional licensed content and services, it is OK about NO said to subscriptions, if you do not want to.Loved this app for years
Out of the blocks - what a great-looking app! The UI is totally hip for those into sci-fi tech and it's on my phone. The app does what it says and lots of personal options to be fiddled with which gives hours of “playtime”. All that under the free model.
Now the cinch - Pro FREE - are you kidding me? Sweet and generous. Simply a beautiful, functional app. Well done all the way around.Show lessEyevaan
Paid app to free app with subscription
EDIT: Very quick response from support email. Will fully update review later.
I bought this app back in 2015 when it was a paid app. 9 years later the developer decides to make it a “free” app with subscription. They claimed in the change notes that those who bought the paid version of the app would get a lifetime subscription to the new “Spyglass Pro”. Yet this seems to be false as features I paid for are now behind a paywall asking me to sign up for (yet another) subscription. I will NOT be paying any subscription to something I have already purchased that hasn’t changed at all in the 9 years since I first bought it.Show lessSorcerer Al
Great App
I have had this app for years and I would have used it more except it is hard on a battery. With the new features I do find it more interesting than before. I especially like the satellite location tracker. That is really cool. If this can be a little easier on the battery I would use it morelofidelityrockr
Developer Response
There is a way to quickly turn off things that use the battery power somewhat more intensive - double tap on the main screen to open a menu where you turn off/on camera and maps. Also everything behind the scenes is more modern now and uses less energy because of new technologies (Metal rendering, etc.) - 2 hours of running the app should not consume more than 20% of the charge. Thank you for the warm motivating feedback )Everything a good compass can do but…
Years later and I still live this app. I also still wish you could orienteer like a real compass. All it needs is a direction of travel line, and an orienteering arrow (that little house to keep the needle in) and a way to turn the bezel to a specific azimuthal (without moving the map).
Happy to resend screen shots of what it could look like if that helps. Original review below:
It lacks a direction of travel line and an orienteering arrow. You can certainly shoot an azimuth by setting a way point, and can see direction of travel once you start moving but… It would be nice to be able line up the direction of travel, the needle, and orienteering arrow; then two finger turn the bezel to say 10°, turn your body until the needle is inside the orienteering window and walk following the direction of travel line. Should be an easy UI update. It also lacks a ruler, which I imagine is harder to implement with all the different screen sized (or need to calibrate it) and wouldn’t be easily used with a paper map (and not needed for a digital map). This is a full featured compass that makes use of all the phone sensor data and map data and nicely integrates gps, gyros, and accelerometers. it even emulates a site glass when you hold the phone 90° and “look” through the phone screen.Show lessAS701
Developer Response
WOW ) Thank you for the warm reply and detailed suggestions. I'll add the direction of travel line/mark on the bezel with the soon coming update. Took a while for it to come to me as I rarely read comments. Messaging directly via the support button in the app would work a way faster :]Was good
This was a good app. I even paid for the full version. Then one day I launched the app and was met with “your Subscription Has Expired.” Basically saying, you paid the price we ask for our app, but now we want more money from you.
How about NO! I will bought a hand held compass. Buy once and done. Just like the original agreement I had with this developer. I hate Subscriptions for apps, especially ones I already paid for.Show lessDeveloper Response
By design it should have provided a complete premium experience without any annoying messages. I do apologize for the bug because of which you got the message. Though subscriptions are necessary to provide additional licensed content and services, it is OK about NO said to subscriptions, if you do not want to.3 Stars, Here’s why:
No “map only” function. Sometimes I just want to view the map without the compass blocking my view, and also have the altitude/coordinates track that marker live.
Which brings me to problem 2, a huge one: you better be on location to mark a waypoint, otherwise this compass has no idea what the elevation is. Leaving you to completely guess how much of a climb something is.
This isn’t a replacement for proper orienteering, but even on my day hikes I’d like to know if a certain planned route is doable on app, since it’s more than capable of accessing the elevation data. This is a glaring omission by the developer(s), who have otherwise done an excellent job.
Leading to Point 3: elevation difference on target marker is a forgotten feature as well, apparently. Why I would only want to know straight line distance is beyond me. That’s practically useless on its own in the mountains. So I’m 700’ off target but have a 1000’ elevation difference (55°grade). PRETTY IMPORTANT TO KNOW.
Please fix these inconveniences and I’ll update the review with to reflect this excellent utility.Show lessPwarr201571
Pretty Great but…
I’m having a lot of fun and getting plenty of use from this app but I’m wondering about a couple of things which annoy me to the point that I can’t give it five stars. When adding a new destination via a map location, is there a way to also have the correct elevation of that specific location included? When I add a location, the correct GPS coordinates are there but I believe it is using my current elevation and not the elevation of that desired location.
Also, I read the manual and it mentions a Car Mode but I do not see that option in settings. Has it been removed? Is there an alternative? It appears the manual is a bit outdated.
I’m still trying to learn the full Protektorat of this app. Other than what I mentioned above, I’m loving it!Show lessDougeee
Great tool
Calibration using visual land marks, satellite aerial map and sun make this a very accurate tool. Accuracy is there if you know how to set it up. Metal is no longer an issue when finding an azimuth. Remote tree and building heights is another favorite use of this powerful tool. Take the time to learn this app. Still using frequently and am really impressed. One improvement would be an option for large text for Bering. Or a separate azimuth mode with larger bearing text.
Update:
Years later I still use this app. In fact, it’s only app I pay money for. It is worth it to me. I install communications equipment, and when I have to set specific directional antenna path, I use this tool where I can literally put my phone on the back of the antenna and hit the target, after a local calibration. It works so good.Show lessUhuhuhohhohhhmhmhmhmm
