GPS Altitude vs Compass mini
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
GPS Altitude
This app provides real-time altitude, latitude, longitude, and direction measurements. It also allows users to share photos with embedded location data and displays air pressure. Ideal for outdoor enthusiasts needing precise navigation information.
- Real-time altitude display
- Accurate compass
- Latitude and longitude locator
- Map integration
- Photo sharing with watermarks
- Air pressure display
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[Introduction] It's an essential APP for outdoor people. It can accurately measure altitude, latitude and longitude, direction and so on. It can also share photos with information such as altitude to social network. [Function] 1. Altitudinal: accurate real-time display of current altitude information. 2. Compass: accurate and real-time display of the current direction. 3. Locator: display the current latitude and longitude and address information and display it on the map. 4. Social sharing: you can take photos of the album or camera in Shanghai to get the watermark and share it. 5.Increase air pressure display. [Contact] cnmaps@qq.com [Weibo] http://weibo.com/cnmaps
Compass mini
This app provides a minimalist compass for identifying direction. It also displays altitude, barometric pressure, and coordinate information for your current location. Additional features include sunrise/sunset times and solar angles, with offline usability and widget support.
- Direction identification
- Altitude and barometric pressure
- Coordinate navigation
- Location bookmarking
- Sunrise and sunset times
- Solar elevation and azimuth
- Offline usability
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Compass mini is an elegant and minimalist compass tool. You can use it to get the current location's altitude, barometric, and coordinate information, and identify direction. • Clean and lightweight, usable offline. • View altitude and atmospheric pressure information. • Coordinate navigation and location bookmarking. • Sunrise and sunset related times. • Solar elevation and azimuth angles. • Desktop and lock screen widgets. • Detailed latitude and longitude values. • Supports dark mode.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Compass mini at 4.8 against GPS Altitude's 4.4. Compass mini also leads on review sentiment (96% vs 79%). GPS Altitude's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.1). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. GPS Altitude sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Compass mini sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Compass mini holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 75 and 61 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of GPS Altitude's written reviews are positive against 96% of Compass mini's.
GPS Altitude ships an update every 2 months, Compass mini every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.
| Parameter | GPS Altitude | Compass mini |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (75 ratings) | 4.8 (61 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews | 95.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 75 — better | 61 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 祥琦 孔 | 鑫 吴 |
Customer experience
GPS Altitude
Compass mini
Bugs and requests
GPS Altitude
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Compass mini
Reported bugs
5 issues- Clicking settings causes frame drops
- Altitude display issues in some locations
- No compass widget available
- Latitude and longitude are阉割 (阉割 means 'castrated' or 'removed', implying it's disabled/unavailable in China)
- watchOS 11 app not available despite update log
Requested features
17 requests- Switch angle to elevation in the center
- More precise location targeting (e.g., to landmarks)
- WatchOS integration
- Change daytime color scheme for solar trajectory widget
- Discount for in-app purchases
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- Display future solar altitude angle changes
- Add a compass widget
- Calibrate using GPS
- Display speed
- Local saving of measurement data
- Virtual query function for past locations
- Change barometric pressure unit to kPa
- Larger font size and black main color
- More comprehensive city name display (including province and district)
- Add Apple Watch version
- More icons and new interfaces
- Visual design for slope display (e.g., crosshair alignment)
In-app purchases
GPS Altitude
- 移除广告$0.99
Compass mini
- Compass mini · Pro$7.99
