NESW vs Compass Guide
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NESW
A simple, easy-to-read compass app showing heading, cardinal direction, and magnetic north. It also features a flashlight toggle for convenience during outdoor activities.
- Heading and cardinal direction indicator
- Magnetic North pointer
- Large font degree heading
- Rotating compass rose
- Background color change for North
- Integrated flashlight toggle
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NESW is a clean, fast compass app built for hikers, campers, travelers, and anyone who needs reliable direction at a glance. Get a live compass with large heading readouts, cardinal direction, and a smooth rotating dial designed for quick outdoor use. Switch between true north and magnetic north, monitor heading accuracy, and stay oriented with a minimal interface that keeps the essentials front and center. NESW goes beyond a simple compass: - Save objectives and lock onto a destination bearing - Share your current location quickly - View altitude, speed, and magnetic declination - Track direction with clear turn guidance Whether you're hiking, camping, backpacking, overlanding, boating, traveling, or navigating unfamiliar places, NESW helps you keep your bearings with less clutter and more confidence. Key features: - Large degree heading and clear cardinal direction - True north and magnetic north support - Smooth rotating compass dial - Objective pinning and bearing lock - Live location sharing - Altitude, speed, and declination readouts - Calibration and heading status guidance - Minimal design built for fast readability Great for: - Hiking and trail navigation - Camping and backpacking - Road trips and travel - Orienteering and outdoor exploration - Marine and land navigation Notes: - For best accuracy, avoid strong magnetic interference, metallic objects, and magnetic phone cases - True north accuracy may improve after location access and GPS lock are available If you have questions, feedback, or ideas for future updates, we'd love to hear from you.
Compass Guide
This app provides a reliable digital compass for outdoor navigation and everyday direction-finding. It offers live heading, coordinate display, and the ability to navigate to saved destinations. Premium features like sun/moon positions and custom styles are available.
- Live compass heading
- Coordinate and altitude display
- Navigate to destinations
- Sun and moon position markers
- Multiple compass styles
- Offline functionality
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Compass Guide is a simple, reliable digital compass for hiking, navigation, and everyday direction-finding — no account required. FIND YOUR WAY • Live compass heading in true north or magnetic north • Calibration guidance and an accuracy indicator you can trust • Your coordinates, altitude, and speed at a glance NAVIGATE TO A DESTINATION • Set a destination by map, clipboard coordinates, or manual entry • See live bearing and distance to where you're headed • Save multiple destinations with Premium SEE THE SKY • Sun and moon position markers on the dial (Premium) • Night mode with a red-tinted display to protect your night vision MAKE IT YOURS • Six compass styles: Classic, Field, Nautical, Military, Surveyor, and Minimal • Choose degrees or mils, metric or imperial units • Keep the screen on, add a haptic tick at true north, and use the built-in flashlight SHARE YOUR HEADING • Export a shareable image card with your heading and location details GO PREMIUM YOUR WAY • Unlock every feature with a one-time purchase — no subscription • Or watch a short ad anytime to unlock Premium free for 24 hours Compass Guide works fully offline for core compass features and never asks you to create an account.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: NESW at 5.0 against Compass Guide's 4.5. NESW also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1). Compass Guide's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 57 months) and ratings volume (126 vs 1). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Compass Guide sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. NESW asks for nothing beyond the download.
NESW holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Compass Guide has 126 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 25% of NESW's written reviews are positive against 40% of Compass Guide's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
NESW ships an update every 57 months, Compass Guide fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NESW | Compass Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.5 (126 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 25.0% of reviews | 40.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 126 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 57 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Solaz Dazen srl | APPS BAY LIMITED |
Customer experience
NESW
Compass Guide
In-app purchases
NESW
No in-app purchases
Compass Guide
- Premium$2.99









