SurveyNotes vs Survey Compass
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SurveyNotes
This professional tool assists surveyors, engineers, and contractors with precise grade and elevation calculations in the field. It functions as a digital field book, recording instrument setups, benchmark elevations, and foresight shots with timestamps. Export your data as professional PDFs for easy sharing.
- Differential leveling calculations
- Instrument setup in seconds
- Session-based field book recording
- Professional PDF export
- Offline functionality
- Custom measurement keyboard
- Dark mode interface
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SurveyNotes is a professional differential leveling tool built for surveyors, engineers, and contractors who need a reliable field book in their pocket. Set up your instrument in seconds. Enter your benchmark elevation and backsight rod reading and SurveyNotes instantly calculates your Height of Instrument. From there, enter any desired elevation and get the exact rod reading you need to hit grade. FIELD BOOK RECORDING Every shot you record is saved to a session-based field book — organized by instrument setup, exactly the way a real level book works. Each session stores your benchmark, backsight, HI, and every foresight shot with notes and timestamps. PROFESSIONAL PDF EXPORT Export any session as a clean, print-ready PDF formatted like a traditional differential leveling field book. Share it by email or AirDrop directly from the app. BUILT FOR THE FIELD • Works completely offline — no account, no internet required • Dark mode interface easy on the eyes in all lighting conditions • Custom measurement keyboard supporting decimal feet, feet-inches, and fractions to the nearest 1/16" • Sessions are saved automatically and available across app launches SURVEYING TERMINOLOGY SurveyNotes uses standard differential leveling terminology — Benchmark (BM), Backsight (BS), Height of Instrument (HI), and Foresight (FS) — so it fits naturally into any professional workflow. All data is stored locally on your device and never transmitted anywhere.
Survey Compass
Transform your phone into an outdoor survey tool. Overlay azimuth, pitch, level, and GPS data directly onto your camera view. Measure angles between points, estimate distances, and record site data with stamped photos.
- Live camera overlay for azimuth, pitch, and GPS
- Measure horizontal and vertical angles
- Estimate distance and height with trigonometry
- Multiple coordinate formats (Lat/Lon, UTM, MGRS)
- Capture photos with data stamps
- Save and reuse station notes
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Survey compass app for field angles: aim your phone camera at a target and read its bearing, elevation angle and GPS position on one live screen. It is built for quick outdoor checks such as sighting a ridge, a mast or a tree, logging where you stood, and working out a height from two angles. ▶ LIVE CAMERA HUD • Azimuth ribbon across the top with the bearing in degrees and a 16-point direction (N, NNE, NE…) • Crosshair reticle with a small bubble that shows when the phone is level • Pitch gauge on the side with the elevation angle, percent grade and 1:n slope • Switch between magnetic north and true north (true north appears once your location gives the local declination) ▶ YOUR POSITION IN THREE FORMATS • Latitude and longitude in degrees, minutes and seconds • UTM zone, easting and northing • MGRS grid reference While there is no GPS fix the panel shows a dash instead of a number, so a coordinate on screen always comes from a real GPS fix, never from a placeholder. ▶ A–B ANGLE AND HEIGHT Mark point A, mark point B, and read the horizontal angle and vertical angle between the two sightings. Enter the horizontal distance to the object and the app estimates its height from the base and top angles. If you have a slope distance instead, switch to slope mode to get the horizontal distance and the rise. ▶ READING LOG Save a reading with its bearing, pitch, coordinates and an optional note. Up to 200 readings stay on your phone. A reading saved without a GPS fix is marked as having no position rather than being given a made-up one. ▶ COORDINATE CONVERTER Type any latitude and longitude, or pull in your current GPS fix, and read it as decimal degrees, DMS, UTM and MGRS at once. Add a second point to get the great-circle bearing and distance between them. ▶ SHARE Send an A–B result as plain text to a message, a note or a work order. HONEST LIMITS Bearing and angle come from your phone's compass and motion sensors, and position comes from GPS. Nearby metal, cars and power lines disturb a compass; move away from them and hold the phone steady for a better reading. The app does not measure distance by itself: for a height estimate you enter the distance. This is a field aid for planning and estimating, not survey-grade instrumentation, so confirm critical measurements with proper equipment.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: SurveyNotes at none against Survey Compass's shown. SurveyNotes also leads on monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Survey Compass's advantage is iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.2). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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 — 5.0 for SurveyNotes against 5.0 for Survey Compass. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 3 respectively.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SurveyNotes | Survey Compass |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 3 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Ad-supported |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.2 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 2 MB | 53 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Nicholas VanderKlip | heekyung moon |
Customer experience
SurveyNotes
Survey Compass
In-app purchases
SurveyNotes
No in-app purchases
Survey Compass
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is SurveyNotes free?
Is Survey Compass free?
Which has better reviews, SurveyNotes or Survey Compass?
Do SurveyNotes or Survey Compass have ads?
Which is updated more often, SurveyNotes or Survey Compass?
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