How to Use the Compass App on Your iPhone to Find Your Way

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How to use the compass built right into your iPhone

Written by Hannah Dillon

Last Updated: February 5, 2025 Fact Checked

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• Find Directions
|
• View Elevation
|
• Open Your Location in Maps
|
• Use True North
|
• Q&A
|
• Tips

|Show more |Show less

This wikiHow guide teaches you how to use the Compass app on your iPhone to check directions, view the elevation of your current location, and use true north. Read on to learn more.

Using Your iPhone's Compass App

• To use the Compass app for direction, tap the compass face, place your iPhone flat in your hand, and spin around until it's pointing in the right direction.
• To use true north, go to Settings > Compass and toggle on "Use Truth North."
• While there's no need to calibrate the Compass app in iOS 10 and later, you can do so on earlier iPhones by laying the phone flat and tilting the screen to rotate the ball.

Steps

Section 1 of 4:

Find Directions

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1. 
   1
   Open your Compass app. If this app isn't on your Home Screen, you'll need to search for it in the App Library by swiping left on your phone until you scroll through all your Home Screen pages.

   • The red arrow on the compass face will always be pointing North.
   • The direction you are facing will appear in white below the compass face.
2. 
   2
   Tap the compass face. This will lock in the bearing (degrees) that you want to travel in on your compass. A red circle will appear on your compass face when you are not following that path.
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3. 
   3
   Place your iPhone flat in your hand. The needle of your compass should stop moving.
4. 
   4
   Spin around until your compass points in the direction you want to follow. Slowly spin, watching the orientation of the compass face. This will help you maintain a sense of direction.
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Section 2 of 4:

View Elevation

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1. 
   1
   Open your Settings app. This is the app with the grey gears icon that can be found on your Home Screen.
2. 
   2
   Tap on Apps > Compass. Your apps are listed alphabetically, so the Compass app will be in the "C" section.
3. 
   3
   Tap Location. If you enable location services, the Compass app can tell you the elevation of your current location.
4. 
   4
   Select While Using the App. Ensure Precise Location is toggled on as well.
5. 
   5
   Open the Compass app. If this app isn't on your Home Screen, you'll need to search for it in the App Library by swiping left on your phone until you scroll through all your Home Screen pages.
6. 
   6
   Locate your elevation at the bottom of the screen. The app will list your current location and elevation.
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Section 3 of 4:

Open Your Location in Maps

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1. 
   1
   Open your Settings app. This is the app with the grey gears icon that can be found on your Home Screen.
2. 
   2
   Tap on Apps > Compass. Your apps are listed alphabetically, so the Compass app will be in the "C" section.
3. 
   3
   Tap Location. If you enable location services, the Compass app can tell you the elevation of your current location.
4. 
   4
   Select While Using the App. Ensure Precise Location is toggled on as well.
5. 
   5
   Open the Compass app. If this app isn't on your Home Screen, you'll need to search for it in the App Library by swiping left on your phone until you scroll through all your Home Screen pages.
6. 
   6
   Tap the coordinates at the bottom of the screen. This will open your current location in Apple Maps.
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Section 4 of 4:

Use True North

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1. 
   1
   Open your Settings app. This is the app with the grey gears icon that can be found on your Home Screen.
2. 
   2
   Tap on Apps > Compass. Your apps are listed alphabetically, so the Compass app will be in the "C" section.
3. 
   3
   Slide the button next to True North to the "On" position. It will turn green when it is turned on. Compass will now use info from your iPhone’s GPS to determine the most accurate North direction, based on the location of the North Pole.
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Community Q&A

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• Question

  How many degrees is Polaris on the compass?

  

  Dashen Siriwardana

  Community Answer

  From New York, it stands 41 degrees above the northern horizon, which also corresponds to the latitude of New York. Since 10 degrees is roughly equal to your clenched fist held at arm's length, from New York Polaris would appear to stand about "four fists" above the northern horizon.

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Tips

• The leveling function of the Compass app was moved to the Measuring app. To use this feature, simply open the Measuring app and tap on the Level tab to measure how level a horizontal or vertical surface is.
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