Spyglass vs Theodolite
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Spyglass
This app is a comprehensive offline navigation tool for outdoor and off-road adventures. It combines a high-tech compass, GPS receiver, and augmented reality display with numerous tools for tracking, measuring, and celestial observation.
- Offline GPS and maps
- Augmented reality display
- Advanced compass and gyrocompass
- Waypoint tracking and navigation
- Sun, Moon, and star finder
- Optical rangefinder
- Camera with GPS data overlay
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Spyglass is an essential offline GPS app for outdoors and off-road navigation. Packed with tools it serves as binoculars, heads-up display, hi-tech compass with offline maps, gyrocompass, GPS receiver, waypoint tracker, speedometer, altimeter, Sun, Moon and star finder, gyro horizon, rangefinder, coordinate converter, sextant, inclinometer, angular calculator and camera. It saves your custom places and waypoints, navigates precisely to them later, shows them on maps and using real-time augmented reality displays detailed GPS info, measures distances, sizes, angles, and does a lot more. COMPASS & GYROCOMPASS Accuracy improvement techniques, special compass modes and calibration methods available in Spyglass only make it a real instrument – the most advanced and accurate digital compass. FINDER, TRACKER & AR NAVIGATION Spyglass operates in 3D and uses augmented reality to show real-time object positions, info and directions to them overlaid over camera or maps. Save current position, add points from maps, manually enter location coordinates and bearings, add stars by hand or use a built-in star catalogue. Find saved places and objects later simply by following directional arrows. Spyglass tracks multiple targets simultaneously and shows their info – distance, direction, azimuth, elevation and estimated time of arrival. Copy, paste and share locations, coordinates and map links using many supported formats. GPS, SPEEDOMETER & ALTIMETER Find and track your location and get detailed real-time GPS data – coordinates in dozens of formats, altitude, course, current, maximum and vertical speed, using imperial, metric, nautical and surveying units. OFFLINE MAPS See your and targets’ positions on maps using different map styles and alternative map providers – plan waypoints and measure distances. Offline maps optimized for retina displays are available for download. TRACK STARS, SUN AND MOON & NAVIGATE BY STARS Track positions of stars, Sun and Moon with arc second precision – use them as a reference to calibrate compass for maximum accuracy. OPTICAL RANGEFINDER Measure distances to objects in real time with a rangefinder reticle similar to sniper sights. SEXTANT, ANGULAR CALCULATOR AND INCLINOMETER Find out heights of objects and distances to them – measure visually and calculate dimensions and distances. CAMERA Take pictures overlaid with all available GPS, positional and directional data. DEMO & HELP Videos: http://j.mp/spyglass_vids Manuals: http://j.mp/spyglass_help If you need specific map sources for hiking, cycling, skiing and many more outdoor activities, feel free to enjoy Spyglass PLUS. At confirmation of the Spyglass PLUS purchase, payment will be charged to your iTunes account, and it will be charged for renewal within 24-hours before the end of the current period. Automatic renewal can be turned off at any time in your Account Settings after purchase. After the cancellation of the renewal, Spyglass Plus will expire at the end of the current period. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact us at https://spyglassnav.com Privacy Policy: https://www.unblip.com/tmp/privacy_and_terms/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.unblip.com/tmp/privacy_and_terms/terms.html
Theodolite
This app combines a compass, inclinometer, rangefinder, GPS, and map with augmented reality features. Capture photos and videos with overlaid geographical data, and navigate using detailed offline maps. Share locations and collaborate with others for various outdoor and professional uses.
- Augmented reality viewfinder
- Compass and inclinometer
- GPS and map navigation
- Data-overlay photo/video camera
- Offline map support
- Rangefinder and nav calculator
- Coordinate system support
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Theodolite is a multi-function viewfinder that combines a compass, two-axis inclinometer, rangefinder, GPS, map, nav calculator, and geo-overlay photo/movie camera into one indispensable app. Theodolite was one of the very first augmented reality (AR) apps when it was released in 2009, and it’s been downloaded and used by millions of customers since then. Uses are endless, and the app is great for land measurements, outdoor sports, sightseeing, navigation, and finding your way around. Theodolite is a pro grade app and is used extensively by surveyors, geologists, architects, engineers, competitive sportsmen, first responders, military personnel, and search and rescue workers around the world. Theodolite lets you take data-overlay photos and movies with 2X-8X zoom. Overlay geographical data, angle markings, date/time, author/company info, and project notes directly on photos and movies for later reference. The same data is written into the metadata record of images, making image files self-contained data records. Third-party apps can tap into Theodolite's advanced camera functions with a camera sharing feature. View current position on the built-in map with optional offline Outdoors maps that include topo contours, roads, trails, landmarks, campgrounds, ski lifts, and more. Live map markers continually update distance/heading relative to the current location and also show wayfinding info in the main viewfinder. Draw polygons on the map to mark things like property boundaries and trails, and import/export polygon data via KML. Share map markers and nav calculator points with other users of Theodolite via text messages or e-mail. This powerful capability opens up a wide range of collaborative uses including team land surveying, accident investigations, spotting wild fires, triangulation of landmarks, and advanced tactical observation and targeting. With an optional in-app purchase to enable team tracking, you can share location with up to 20 people on Theodolite's map. Theodolite includes features for serious users like a reference angle mode, nav calculator, map marker import/export, manual and automatic data logging with CSV and KML export, clipboard integration, %grade display, mil compass readout, optical rangefinders (including a mil-based reticle, sniper-style stadiametric graphs, and a variable 4X-24X scope), and night filters to improve use in dark conditions. Theodolite can provide location in military grid reference system (MGRS) coordinates, Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates, British/Irish National Grids, US National Grid, Maidenhead locator system, Map Grid of Australia, and six latitude/longitude formats. Optional US State Plane coordinates include SPCS27 and SPCS83 zones covering all US States. The optional Datum Pack adds over 230 geodetic datums to the app to improve position computation from GPS data, covering regions and countries on all continents around the world. AR Layers include navigational aids like the sun, moon, planets, and Polaris (North star), and the optional US Mountain Summits layer that shows over 70,000 US mountain summits in the viewfinder. Theodolite has been shown in Apple Keynotes, featured on the App Store, and has been a #1 selling Navigation app in App Stores around the world. Since its introduction in 2009, Theodolite has defined augmented reality navigation. The app continually introduces new technologies, pushing the limits of iOS app development and taking advantage of new hardware capabilities. Find out why Apple named Theodolite one of the most amazing apps available and showed it being used to explore the Great Wall of China. Where will you take it on your next adventure? Note: Theodolite is an iPhone app -- see “Theodolite HD” for use on an iPad. And be sure to check out the all-new "Theodolite for Watch" and put Theodolite on your wrist!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Spyglass at Free against Theodolite's $8.99. Spyglass also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (3.9K vs 906). Theodolite's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#8 vs #162). On rating, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Spyglass is free to download; Theodolite costs $8.99 up front. Spyglass sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and Theodolite sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Spyglass against 4.7 for Theodolite. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.9K and 906 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Spyglass's written reviews are positive against 88% of Theodolite's.
Spyglass ships an update every 6 weeks, Theodolite every 4 months. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.
| Parameter | Spyglass | Theodolite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $8.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (3.9K ratings) — better | 4.7 (906 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.6% of reviews | 87.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3.9K — better | 906 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #162 | #8 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.4 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 66 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pavel Ahafonau | Craig Hunter |
Customer experience
Spyglass
Theodolite
Bugs and requests
Spyglass
Reported bugs
3 issues- Compass not always accurate or consistent
- Freezing or unresponsive issues after updates
- Difficulty syncing waypoints and locations
Requested features
5 requests- Improved waypoint and location management
- Larger text and UI elements for better readability
- Integration with popular mapping and navigation apps
- Offline elevation data and terrain analysis
- Apple Watch companion app for on-the-go use
Theodolite
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Spyglass
- Spyglass Plus$3.991 Month
- Spyglass Plus (Month)3 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Spyglass Plus (Year)7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Spyglass Pro (Lifetime)$39.99
Theodolite
- 1,000 Outdoors Map Tiles$0.99
- Team Tracking$1.99
- World Datum Pack$2.99
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- US Mountain Summits AR Layer$2.99
- 5,000 Outdoors Map Tiles$4.99
- 10,000 Outdoors Map Tiles$8.99
- 20,000 Outdoors Map Tiles$17.99
- US State Plane Coordinates$24.99









