Comparison

TrueBearing vs Navigation Almanac

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

Head to head
About

TrueBearing

Read full description

TrueBearing is a precision field instrument panel for iPhone — True North compass, GPS, barometer, and solar cycle in one focused app. No maps, no account, no tracking. Fully offline. FREE - True North compass with rotating dial - Altitude, elevation gain/loss, odometer - Flashlight: white · strobe · SOS · red - Stopwatch & countdown timer - MAX LIGHT mode for direct sunlight PRO - GPS coordinates (decimal & DMS) and speed - Barometer with trend and weather alerts - Solar cycle: sunrise, sunset, BMNT, EENT, dark-adaptation timer - Track GPX: record routes, drop PINs, export GPX Track GPX records your route and exports a standard .gpx to Gaia GPS, Organic Maps, and other tools. Lightweight and fully offline. Privacy: all data stays on your device. Nothing is uploaded. No account. Unlock Pro with a yearly subscription (7-day free trial) or a one-time lifetime purchase. For recreational and informational use only. Do not rely on this app for safety-critical or emergency navigation. Privacy Policy: https://solrfire.github.io/4Apple/truebearing-privacy.html

About

Navigation Almanac

This app provides a comprehensive offline celestial navigation toolkit. It calculates celestial body positions, sunrise/set times, and sky charts. It also offers tools for compass error correction and position fixing, all without requiring an internet connection.

Highlights
  • Offline celestial almanac data
  • Sight reduction calculations
  • Rise, set, and twilight times
  • Sky view chart and dome
  • Live GPS position and course
  • Compass error correction
  • Fix calculator
Features
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Navigation Almanac is a complete celestial-navigation toolkit for iPhone and iPad. It reduces a sight, tabulates the almanac data you would otherwise look up on paper, and works entirely offline - no signal, no subscription, no account. SIGHT REDUCTION Enter your position and the date and time in UTC or local time, then pick a body. You get azimuth and computed altitude, GHA, LHA, SHA and declination, semi-diameter and horizontal parallax, along with the magnetic variation from the WMM-2025 model and the current value of ΔT. ALMANAC The Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn together with the 57 navigational stars, each with azimuth, altitude, hour angles and declination for the moment you have chosen. RISE, SET AND TWILIGHT Rise, meridian transit and set for any body, with civil and nautical twilight at the Sun's standard altitudes (-0°50′ / -6° / -12°), shown in UTC or local time. SKY VIEW The sky drawn as a chart of azimuth against altitude, or as a full-sky dome with the zenith at the centre. Background stars, constellation lines, and a predicted GNSS satellite layer computed from a bundled orbital catalogue. GPS Live position, course and speed over ground, altitude and horizontal accuracy, the magnetic variation at your position, and the ephemeris of the selected body. One tap fills the observer position for a reduction. COMPASS ERROR Solve gyro and magnetic compass error from an observed bearing, with variation and deviation kept separate, the way the correction is actually applied on the bridge. FIX CALCULATOR Cross two lines of position from your reductions, advance the first line for the vessel's run between sights, and read off the observed position. WORKS OFFLINE The ephemerides are computed on the device from the VSOP87 and ELP2000 series with IAU 1980 nutation - they are not downloaded. Everything above works with the phone in airplane mode, weeks from shore. SIXTEEN LANGUAGES English, Russian, Ukrainian, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Dutch, Polish, Swedish, Danish, Greek, Turkish, Latvian and Simplified Chinese. The navigation terminology in each was taken from that country's own nautical almanac and navigation textbooks rather than translated word for word. NAVIGATIONAL WARNINGS Warnings in force from the national coordinators of the worldwide navigational warning service, grouped by country and by NAVAREA, with the full text of every message and the positions read out of it. The feed is rebuilt every hour and the last copy stays on the device, so it is there when the signal is not. This is an experimental feature and the screen says so: the data is gathered automatically, it can lag behind the broadcast, and it can be incomplete. It does not relieve you of the requirement to receive Maritime Safety Information over NAVTEX and SafetyNET as provided for by SOLAS. Navigation Almanac is a computational aid. Carry the official almanac and tables required for your voyage.

Screenshots

TrueBearing4 screens
Navigation Almanac4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Navigation Almanac at none against TrueBearing's 2. On price, update cadence, ads 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. TrueBearing sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per year. Navigation Almanac asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
TrueBearing versus Navigation Almanac: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTrueBearingNavigation Almanac
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer光 韩Vladyslav Zenchenko

In-app purchases

2 purchases

TrueBearing

Subscriptions1
  • TrueBearing Pro7 Days trial$3.991 Year
One-time1
  • TrueBearing Pro$9.99
None

Navigation Almanac

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TrueBearing free?
TrueBearing is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Navigation Almanac free?
Navigation Almanac is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do TrueBearing or Navigation Almanac have ads?
Neither TrueBearing nor Navigation Almanac shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TrueBearing or Navigation Almanac?
TrueBearing ships an update weekly, and Navigation Almanac weekly. Most recently, TrueBearing was updated on October 13, 2026 and Navigation Almanac on October 17, 2026.

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