Crowsflight vs Wherigo®
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Crowsflight
This app offers intuitive, mapless navigation using GPS and a compass. It displays distance and heading, allowing you to drop markers, search for destinations by address or what3words, and view saved locations on a map. It works offline for navigation and supports iCloud sync.
- Mapless GPS navigation
- Heading pointer
- Drop location markers
- Search by address or what3words
- Offline navigation
- iCloud location sync
- Apple Watch support
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Crowsflight is a GPS compass that simply points. No instructions, maps to read or paths to follow. When we ask for directions on the street, a friendly finger pointing towards the destination is often more than enough. By combining location data (GPS) with the compass, Crowsflight provides mapless navigation in an intuitive, glance-at-it kind of way. It uses only GPS to navigate, so once you’ve loaded your destination/s, you don’t need a data connection to navigate. Crowsflight is perfect for wandering around foreign cities. MAIN VIEW -Displays distance in metric or imperial units -Drop a marker at your current position (if you have a data connection, Crowsflight will attempt to autoname your location) -Heading pointer changes width as the compass/GPS accuracy increases or decreases LIST VIEW -Search for a new destination by address or placename -Input latitude and longitude manually (e.g. open search, enter 40.692,-73.944) -search for what3words (offline) -Location list view shows your relative distance to each location, so you can see how places compare (distances are scaled logarithmically, so shorter distances show greater difference) -Rearrange your location list by long-pressing the row -Share your current location via email -Launch Maps to get turn-by-turn directions MAP VIEW -Map view shows and allows you to select all your saved locations. It’s another way to see what is around you. -Drag and drop pins in map view to pinpoint and adjust locations -Longpress in map view to save a new location on your map. (if you have a data connection, Crowsflight will attempt to autoname your location) OTHER FEATURES -Works offline (searching is the only function that requires an internet connection) -Opens custom url schemes (e.g. crowsflight://&ll=42.923580,-78.793953&q=BUFFALO). You can send Crowsflight destinations to yourself and friends via email. To get the browser bookmarklet for easy sharing, go to http://cwandt.com/#crowsflight -Backup your locations to your computer through iTunes file sharing -save and sync locations to iCloud APPLE WATCH - same pointing interface as iPhone app - swipe to select from locations that you've add on your phone. -pro tip: If your running app keeps taking over as frontmost app, you can double press the crown to switch back to the last app. *Crowsflight is not meant for driving. Most cars have too much magnetic interference to show the compass reliably in the car anyways. You probably want turn by turn directions if you’re driving, but just in case you were thinking about it...we don’t recommend it.
Wherigo®
Embark on GPS-enabled real-world adventures. Navigate to physical locations to interact with virtual objects and characters. Download and play free cartridges at your own pace.
- GPS-enabled adventures
- Interact with virtual objects
- Navigate to physical locations
- Download free cartridges
- Cartridges do not expire
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Play Wherigo™ cartridges on your iPhone! Wherigo™ cartridges are GPS-enabled adventures in the real world. Use GPS technology to guide you to physical locations and interact with virtual objects and characters. Download cartridges for free from the official Wherigo™ web site right from the app and play at your leisure. Note that cartridges are retained for as long as you need them and do not expire. Time estimates given on the web site and in the cartridge description are for expected playing time. 1) With newer devices, you can download cartridges with your computer and drag and drop to the Wherigo app folder in iTunes. 2) You can also drag and drop .gws files to upload with your browser if you have trouble uploading from the app. 3) Be sure to select "PocketPC" as the device when downloading cartridges for best results, although any device should work.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Wherigo® at free against Crowsflight's paid. Wherigo® also leads on ratings volume (989 vs 33) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 14.0). Crowsflight's advantage is review sentiment (72% vs 42%). On price, rating, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Crowsflight against 4.5 for Wherigo®. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Wherigo® has 989 ratings behind it against 33, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 72% of Crowsflight's written reviews are positive against 42% of Wherigo®'s.
Crowsflight ships an update every 3 months, Wherigo® every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on August 2, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Crowsflight | Wherigo® |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (33 ratings) — better | 4.5 (989 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 72.2% of reviews — better | 42.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 33 | 989 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CW&T | Groundspeak Inc. |
Customer experience
Crowsflight
Wherigo®
User reviews
Crowsflight
From 33 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple, intuitive interface design
- 🧭 Accurate directional compass pointing to destinations
- 📍 Offline functionality without requiring data/WiFi
- 🚶 Excellent for walking and urban exploration
- 💡 Innovative concept - shows direction and distance instead of turn-by-turn
Room to improve
- 🐛 Compass calibration issues and inaccurate readings
- 🔍 Search function returns incorrect or distant locations
- 📱 Small font sizes difficult to read
- 🎯 Inconsistent location accuracy
- ⚠️ Persistent warning messages that can't be dismissed
Wherigo®
From 989 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Flawless performance
- 👍 Easy to use
- 💡 Innovative features
- 🎉 Great fun
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and bugs
- 🔒 Authentication issues
- 📚 Confusing instructions
- 🔋 High battery consumption
Bugs and requests
Crowsflight
Reported bugs
13 issues- Compass won't calibrate properly
- Directional readings off by 90+ degrees
- App freezes at instruction screen
- App opens spontaneously after unlocking phone
- Search function returns locations in wrong countries
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- What3Words integration no longer works
- Location name disappears when tapped, preventing copy/paste
- Pop-up info bubbles won't disappear and block navigation
- App thinks user is in wrong location (e.g., New York when elsewhere)
- Distance calculations wildly inaccurate (e.g., 1.26 miles when at saved location)
- Yellow compass arc doesn't move/respond
- Search buttons disappear from bottom of screen
- App stopped tracking after updates
Requested features
18 requests- Apple Watch support
- Gyroscope-based active pointer for hands-free navigation
- Metric kilometers display option
- Ability to organize locations into groups/categories
- GPS-based accuracy instead of compass-only
Show 13 moreShow fewer
- Larger, configurable font sizes
- Dark mode or color theme options
- Help/tutorial menu for new users
- Elevation information for destinations
- LED light option for night navigation
- Search by intersection (e.g., 6th Ave & 3rd St)
- Sort search results by proximity
- SMS sharing of locations in addition to email
- Integration with What3Words addresses
- Multiple location list organization
- Ability to enter GPS coordinates in DMS format
- Alias/naming system for GPS coordinates
- Train transit option in addition to walk/bike/car/plane
Wherigo®
Reported bugs
4 issues- Inability to download cartridges
- Cartridges not showing up
- App freezing and crashing
- Login/authentication problems
Requested features
4 requests- Dark mode option
- Improved Wherigo support
- Better integration with Geocaching
- Save state functionality
In-app purchases
Crowsflight
No in-app purchases
Wherigo®
No in-app purchases









