Global Position vs Great Circle Map
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Global Position
This app transforms your device into a precision navigation tool. It offers multiple coordinate formats, a compass, altimeter, speedometer, and a live world daylight map. Calculations are performed on-device, ensuring functionality even without a mobile data signal.
- Multiple coordinate and grid formats (MGRS, UTM)
- Integrated compass, altimeter, and speedometer
- Live world daylight map and Celestial View
- HUD mode for windscreen display
- On-device calculations for offline use
- Home and Lock Screen widgets
- Siri and Shortcuts integration
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Turn your iPhone into a precision navigation instrument: every major coordinate and grid format, a compass, altimeter, speedometer, HUD mode, a live world daylight map and the new Celestial View. Coordinates, grid references and astronomy are calculated on your device, so they keep working without a mobile-data signal. COORDINATES IN EVERY FORMAT - Latitude and longitude in decimal degrees, DD-MM, DMS or radians - Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) - Military Grid Reference System (MGRS) - Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS), shown automatically near the poles where UTM and MGRS are undefined Get a complete MGRS reference even on a ridge with no mobile signal. NAVIGATION TOOLS - Compass with true and magnetic headings side by side - Altimeter with a four-minute trend graph and session maximum - Speedometer in m/s, km/h, ft/s, mph or knots - HUD mode: rotate to landscape for a mirrored windscreen display that keeps the screen awake - G-force gauge with gravity excluded, plus maximum G-force and speed records - Flashlight for reading a map after dark SUN, MOON AND SKY Swipe across the astronomy card: - Solar Times: sunrise, sunset, day length and a daylight arc - World Time Zone Map: live daylight, civil, nautical and astronomical twilight and night, the points where the Sun and Moon are overhead, and the local time in 15 world cities - Celestial View (new): the Earth from space, lit by the Sun, with the Moon on its orbit and your position marked. Look down on either pole, or from the side to see the Earth's 23.4° tilt. Read the Sun's and Moon's elevation and bearing from where you stand. - Moon Status: phase, next full and new moon, distance and days into the lunar cycle WIDGETS (NEW) Position, Sun, Moon and Celestial View widgets for the Home Screen, with Position, Sun and Moon on the Lock Screen too: your coordinates and grid reference, the next sunrise or sunset with a countdown, today's moon phase, or the Earth, Sun and Moon from the viewpoint you choose. SIRI AND SHORTCUTS (NEW) Ask "Where am I in Global Position?" or "When is sunset in Global Position?". Hear your coordinates, altitude, the next sunrise or sunset, the moon phase or where the Sun and Moon are, copy your coordinates or share your location. Every action also works in the Shortcuts app. KNOW HOW GOOD YOUR FIX IS See the measured accuracy of your fix in metres, colour-coded Good, Fair or Poor, so you know whether to trust it. Choose how hard the GPS works: High, Medium or Low to save battery. SHARE YOUR POSITION One tap sends an Apple Maps link that opens on any phone or computer, with your address, coordinates, grid reference, altitude, accuracy and the local time of the fix. LOCATION AND MAP - Automatic address lookup when online - Standard, satellite and hybrid maps - Follow your location, or your location and heading MAKE IT YOURS Light, dark or system appearance; metres or feet; your choice of speed unit. AVAILABLE IN 24 LANGUAGES Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. Grid references stay in standard notation in every language, so your screen matches your paper map and everyone else's radio call. BUILT FOR THE FIELD Made for hikers, sailors, pilots, surveyors, field researchers, search-and-rescue teams, off-road drivers and travellers: anyone for whom knowing exactly where they are is not optional. On iPad, GPS positioning requires a Wi-Fi + Cellular model. Download Global Position and always know your position.
Great Circle Map
Visualize flight paths on a 3D globe that allows full rotation, including over the poles. Input two airports to see the shortest route, distance, and bearing. Add waypoints for weather data and customize map visuals.
- 3D globe with full rotation
- Great circle route calculation
- Airport search by code or city
- Waypoint creation with weather data
- Customizable map projections and layers
- Route sharing as flat map images
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A globe you can turn in any direction, including straight over the poles. Great circle routes cross the poles, so we built a globe that follows them there. Enter two airports and the shortest path between them is drawn on the Earth itself, with distance and bearing on every leg. A Globe With No Pole Clamp Most map apps clamp the view at the poles. North stays up, and the globe stops turning right where great circle routes go. Great Circle Map uses a quaternion arcball instead. Drag in any direction and the globe follows, straight over the North or South Pole. Drag along the outer edge and the view rolls, so any direction can face upward. Find Any Airport • Search the full OurAirports database by IATA code, ICAO code, or city name. • Enter two airports and the great circle between them is drawn with its distance. • Recent routes save automatically and recreate with one tap. Waypoints and Weather • Double-tap anywhere on the globe to drop a waypoint. Double-tap it again to delete it. • Add as many waypoints as you want. There is no limit. • Every waypoint shows current conditions, temperature, and wind direction and speed in knots, from Open-Meteo. Distance on Every Leg • Each leg carries a sliding distance label and its initial bearing. • A running total stays pinned at the top of the screen. • Units switch between kilometers, nautical miles, and statute miles. Choose Your Earth • NASA Blue Marble satellite imagery or Natural Earth relief. • Toggle borders, airports, labels, and the grid. • View the globe in perspective or orthographic projection. Share the Route • Create Map exports your route as a flat map projection image. • The map unrolls across the antimeridian, so polar routes render cleanly. Privacy There are no analytics and no tracking. Weather requests send only waypoint coordinates to Open-Meteo. The privacy policy is at https://greatcirclemap.app/privacy-policy-great-circle-map Learn More The guide at https://greatcirclemap.app/guide.html walks through every feature.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Great Circle Map at every 2 days against Global Position's every 6 weeks. Great Circle Map also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and device support (4 vs 2). Global Position's advantage is chart position (#151 vs unranked) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). On ads and in-app purchases 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
Global Position costs $0.99 and Great Circle Map $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Great Circle Map holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.
Global Position ships an update every 6 weeks, Great Circle Map every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Global Position | Great Circle Map |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.7 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 72.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #151 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 87 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nik Psaragathos | The NFC Mint LLC |
Customer experience
Global Position
Great Circle Map
In-app purchases
Global Position
No in-app purchases
Great Circle Map
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Global Position free?
Is Great Circle Map free?
Which has better reviews, Global Position or Great Circle Map?
Do Global Position or Great Circle Map have ads?
Which is updated more often, Global Position or Great Circle Map?
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