Bubble Level + Compass vs Shade Compass
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Bubble Level + Compass
This utility app provides a precise bubble level for horizontal, vertical, and surface angle measurements, along with a true-north compass. It offers advanced calibration options and works on iOS devices. A Pro version is available for additional features.
- Horizontal and vertical level measurements
- Surface angle readings
- True north compass
- Advanced calibration
- Magnetic declination reading
- Accelerometer/Gyro switch
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Bubble Level + Compass combines a bubble level and a compass, with advanced controls for users who want more than the basics. Use it to check horizontal/vertical/surface angles, or get compass direction relative to either true or magnetic north. For users who work with physical compasses, magnetic declination is also provided to convert magnetic readings to true north readings. The level includes gyroscope calibration, which is especially useful on phones with a raised camera bump or an uneven back/case. No nagging popups or interruptions. The free version only includes a small banner ad at the bottom. Features • Bullseye level plus horizontal and vertical levels with 0.1 degree precision. • Compass with true north and magnetic north. • Magnetic declination display for converting magnetic readings to true north readings. • Gyroscope calibration for phones that do not rest perfectly flat. • Gyro or accelerometer sensor mode. • Clean interface with no popup interruptions. If you enjoy the app, leaving a review would help. An ad-free Pro version is also available, with more features including Apple Watch support, night mode, slope/inclination %, and pitch, yaw, and roll rotation rate.
Shade Compass
Visualize the sun's path and your shadow's position throughout the day. Plan outdoor activities, photography, or gardening with augmented reality features and detailed celestial data.
- Live sun and shadow visualization
- Augmented reality sun path
- Object shadow casting
- 24-hour time scrubber
- Golden hour and twilight alerts
- Moon and planet tracking
- Seasonal sun path analysis
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See where the sun will be, where your shadow will fall, and exactly where the shade lands — at any hour, at any spot on earth. Then keep going: garden planning, fishing and hunting windows, UV, air quality, tides, golden hour, and the night sky. Point your phone and the live compass orients to the world around you. Sun direction and altitude sit right on the dial, your shadow is drawn opposite it at true length, and sunrise and sunset are marked at the exact bearings they cross the horizon — with times corrected for the ridge in front of you, not just the flat math horizon. Drag the time scrubber and watch the whole day play out — perfect for a campsite, a patio, a photo shoot, a garden bed, or the shady side of a trail. SEE THE SHADE IN AUGMENTED REALITY • Point the camera and watch the sun's real path trace across your actual yard • Drop a tree, canopy, umbrella, vehicle, pergola, or solar panel and see its true cast shadow • Play a sunrise-to-sunset time-lapse and watch the shade sweep the scene • Tap any spot to read its hours of direct sun — today, or averaged across the year • Scan the whole yard for a full sun-and-shade map (iPhone Pro models with LiDAR) FOR THE GARDEN • "What grows here" — plants scored against your hardiness zone, soil, and measured sun • Frost-anchored planting windows: start indoors, direct sow, transplant, harvest • Projected harvest date and frost margin before you commit to a seed • Lock in a grow plan and push its reminders to your calendar in one tap • Watering guidance from rainfall, evapotranspiration, and a running soil-water balance • A household planner that sizes a garden to actually feed your family FOR ANGLERS, HUNTERS, AND SURFERS • Best Times windows for trout, bass, big game, birds, small game, and surf • Built from sun and moon position, season, and light at your exact coordinates • Fly hatch charts by region, lures with how to fish them, and a reading-water guide • Knot library with step-by-step instructions and a 200-term field glossary • Tides from NOAA harmonic data, plus buoy wave height, period, and direction • River flow and water temperature wherever there's a gauge nearby FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS AND STARGAZERS • Golden hour, blue hour, civil, nautical, and astronomical twilight, and true dark • Sunset quality scored from the cloud layers overhead before you drive out • Starting exposure for the light you're in, plus light direction and polarizer guidance • Moon phase, rise, set, and bearing; visible planets and an AR planet finder • Milky Way, meteor, and aurora windows, with live Kp and solar activity A WEATHER APP BUILT FOR BEING OUTSIDE • Current, hourly, and 10-day, plus a 7-day strip you build from 23 metrics • UV burn timer tuned to your skin type, with safer windows • Air quality with a likely cause — wildfire smoke, ozone, a winter inversion • Weather alerts, frost warnings, and a Lock Screen rain nowcast where available • Thirty years of local storm history and the months that carry the most risk • A plain-language read on whether today is actually worth going outside for ON YOUR WRIST, LOCK SCREEN, AND HOME SCREEN • Apple Watch app — dial, today, live conditions, and best times — plus complications • Widgets for sun, shadow, moon, UV, and the day ahead • Live Activities for golden hour, rain, UV burn, and your next prime window • Ask Siri for a shade report anywhere ANYWHERE, EVEN OFFLINE • Sun, moon, shadow, planting, and every field guide compute on the device itself • 32,000 cities offline, exact coordinates, dropped pins, saved places carried by iCloud • Any date, past or future — plan an October trip, or compare June to December • Month-by-month daylight hours, sun path, and bearings across the whole year One purchase covers iPhone and Apple Watch. No ads. No accounts. No subscriptions. No tracking. No data collection. Just the sun, your shadow, and a straight answer about the day ahead. Frequent and Responsive updates for feature requests and bug fixes!!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Bubble Level + Compass at Free against Shade Compass's $0.99. Bubble Level + Compass also leads on ratings volume (35 vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). Shade Compass's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 4 months). On rating, in-app purchases and device support 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
Bubble Level + Compass is free to download; Shade Compass costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Bubble Level + Compass against 5.0 for Shade Compass. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bubble Level + Compass has 35 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 90% of Bubble Level + Compass's written reviews are positive against 100% of Shade Compass's.
Bubble Level + Compass ships an update every 4 months, Shade Compass every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bubble Level + Compass | Shade Compass |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (35 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 90.5% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 35 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 1.2 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dimitrios Kechagias | Ira Seferovich |
Customer experience
Bubble Level + Compass
Shade Compass
In-app purchases
Bubble Level + Compass
No in-app purchases
Shade Compass
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Bubble Level + Compass free?
Is Shade Compass free?
Which has better reviews, Bubble Level + Compass or Shade Compass?
Do Bubble Level + Compass or Shade Compass have ads?
Which is updated more often, Bubble Level + Compass or Shade Compass?
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