Comparison

True Wind vs Compass Observation App

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

True Wind

This app provides a clear visual display of wind direction, speed, and sail angles, helping sailors understand points of sail. It offers real-time data, spoken alerts, and manual setup for offline use, enhancing sailing confidence.

Highlights
  • Real-time wind direction and speed
  • Points-of-sail visualization
  • Haptic feedback
  • Spoken alerts
  • Manual wind direction setup
  • Night mode
  • Apple Watch support
Features
Read full description

True Wind is a clean sailing companion that makes wind direction, wind speed, and points of sail easy to understand. Designed for sailors learning the basics or refining technique, True Wind shows real-time wind direction and sail angles relative to your heading. Instantly recognize close-hauled, beam reach, broad reach, running, tacking, and gybing with a clear visual wind display. Whether you’re learning how to sail or want a simple wind compass for your sailboat, True Wind helps you understand wind angle and boat orientation at a glance. Features • Real-time wind direction and wind speed • Clear points-of-sail visualization • Haptic feedback for all points of sail • Spoken alerts for current sail position • Manual wind direction setup for offline use • Wind change notifications (15-minute and 1-hour alerts) • Night mode with red display for night sailing • Multiple appearance modes • Metric, nautical, and imperial units • Optional sail position labels • Apple Watch support for hands-free wind awareness True Wind is intended for educational and recreational use. Always rely on proper marine navigation equipment when required. Understand the wind. Sail with confidence.

About

Compass Observation App

Features
Read full description

The compass check and celestial navigation toolkit for deck officers, yachtsmen and navigation students. Everything is calculated on your phone, offline, with no account, no ads and no data collection. PHONE COMPASS • Your heading, magnetic or true, with the Sun, the Moon and your chosen body marked on the dial • Find your phone's own compass error by aligning it to the Sun or the Moon; AR Sky uses the same correction COMPASS & GYRO ERROR • Gyro and standard compass error from any body's true bearing, with variation (World Magnetic Model) and deviation worked out for you • SOLAS gyro-error limit check for your latitude • Amplitude worksheet: compass error at sunrise or sunset, with the exact bearing for the Sun's centre on the visible horizon (dip, refraction and parallax applied) as well as the classic formula • Deviation cards with a fitted deviation curve and a PDF report SIGHT REDUCTION & FIX • Enter your sextant altitude in degrees and minutes as the sextant reads it • Index error, dip, refraction (with air temperature and pressure), semi-diameter and parallax, including the Moon's augmentation • Intercept and azimuth (Marcq St-Hilaire), drawn on a plotting sheet • Show calculation: every step written out with its formula, then with your sight's numbers • Fix from two or more saved sights by least squares, including running fixes with course and speed, plotted with every line of position • Meridian Passage: the time of noon for your DR, course and speed, and your latitude from the noon sight, every step shown; a morning sun line run up to noon gives the noon position • A countdown to meridian passage on your chronometer, in UTC or ship's time: it ticks faster over the last minute and sounds a tone at the passage • Latitude by Polaris at any time of the night, worked out exactly for the moment of the sight (northern hemisphere) • Ship's time: set the zone your ship keeps, and times are shown on the ship's clock • Twilight Stars: the best 3 to 5 stars for a fix at the next morning or evening twilight, spread round the horizon, with the altitude to preset on the sextant and the bearing to face; tap one to find it in AR Sky COASTAL NAVIGATION • Distance off a lighthouse, cliff or charted peak by its vertical sextant angle, to its waterline or to the sea horizon, with the tide below high water springs, your height of eye, the earth's curve and refraction (Bowditch's tables) • The vertical danger angle: the most the sextant may read to stay outside a clearing distance • Where a light rises or dips over the horizon: its distance from its height and yours, for a fix with one bearing SKY & EPHEMERIS • Sun, Moon, planets and the 57 navigational stars plus Polaris, computed to almanac accuracy (VSOP87 and Meeus algorithms, with nutation, aberration, refraction and ΔT) • Rise, set, transit and twilight times • Star Dome: the whole sky at a glance, with GoTo to any body • AR Sky: point your camera at the sky to see stars, planets, the Sun and Moon, all 88 constellations, classic Hevelius constellation art and the Milky Way. Search any star, planet or constellation and the app points you to it. AT SEA • Logbook of compass checks, sights and fixes, with CSV export • Dark, light and red night-vision themes that protect your night vision on the bridge Star data: HYG Database (CC BY-SA 4.0). Moon and Milky Way imagery: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio. Constellation art: Johannes Hevelius (1690), public domain. Compass Observation App is a training and cross-checking aid. It is not a substitute for official nautical publications or the ship's primary means of navigation; always verify with approved sources.

Screenshots

True Wind4 screens
Compass Observation App4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Compass Observation App at every 3 days against True Wind's every 9 days. Compass Observation App also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.2). On price, ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

True Wind ships an update every 9 days, Compass Observation App every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
True Wind versus Compass Observation App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrue WindCompass Observation App
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS26.215.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB36 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChristian MunozBurak Yesilirmak

In-app purchases

None

True Wind

No in-app purchases

None

Compass Observation App

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is True Wind free?
True Wind is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Compass Observation App free?
Compass Observation App is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do True Wind or Compass Observation App have ads?
Neither True Wind nor Compass Observation App shows ads.
Which is updated more often, True Wind or Compass Observation App?
True Wind ships an update every 9 days, and Compass Observation App every 3 days. Most recently, True Wind was updated on October 24, 2026 and Compass Observation App on October 24, 2026.

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