How does the mobile know where the North is?
You may not know it, but one of the tools that we have on our mobile and use daily is the compass (also known as a compass). Its operation is exactly the same as that of the traditional ones, with 3 axes sensitive to the earth’s magnetism that it uses to detect our location with respect to that of the earth’s magnetic poles.
East sensor It is used by applications such as Google Maps or games such as Pokémon Go to provide us with directions. Knowing if we are looking north or south, these apps ‘position our face’ and use this information to know the direction in which we are going.
Of course, it is not perfect and many times it becomes unbalanced. That is why it is important that from time to time we make the famous movement in 8, or infinity, so that it is reconfigured and positioned correctly.
Uses and hobbies for which you will need a compass app
Now, this sensor of our smartphones can also be used as what it is, a normal and ordinary compass. In the Google Play Store there are numerous Applications that visually show you your magnetic location in case you need it at any time. And it is that in real life there are many cases in which it is useful to have a compass, especially if you are one of those who like to go out to do sports in the countryside, go on hiking trails, trekking, sail by boat, fly or the one known as geocaching, very fashionable lately.
Apps to orient yourself with maps
The original use of the compass has always been its use accompanied by a map. On the map we indicate a point we want to reach and with the compass we avoid the famous ‘we’ve been circling for hours’.
Currently its use has not changed, although it is true that it has been updated, since we have it on our phones in app format and many of them already come with a integrated map that will tell us exactly the direction to take to get to a point.
Altimeter and Easy Compass
With more than 100,000 downloads and a rating of 4.1 stars, this app is very easy to use and understand. It will help you to know your position on the map, your orientation, your speed and your altitude. A simple app, without complications and that perfectly complies with what can be asked of this type of applications.
The only negative part that can be put to this application is that has ads and there is no payment option.
Compass Maps: Directional Compass
With more than 100,000 downloads and a rating of 4.7 stars, the only bad thing about this application is that it has advertisements and you have no option to remove them.
For the rest, we have a very complete app that allows us to see our location on the map, our address, our altitude and has a very curious option that allows us measure area of an area that we select.
Free compass for Android
With more than 500 thousand downloads and 4.6 stars rating, this app is also a good option if you want to have your location in a Google Maps style map.
You have the options such as seeing our location on the map, our address, the altitude and others. But what really makes it a different app is that it also has an option to mark a point and indicate the direction. The bad? is a payment option and we will have to subscribe for € 18.99 per year or € 3.09 per month.
Digital Compass for Android
With more than 1 million downloads and 4.7 stars rating, this app offers us the particularity that apart from having the option to see us on the map and give us GPS directions, we can also share our location by sms in case something happens to us and integrates a Weather forecast.
It has advertisements, but we can remove them by paying € 2.99.
Specials for excursions
In this section we are going to advise you on applications that are more suitable for mountain lovers, those who enjoy making long excursions or simply those who want to have a purer experience.
Just a compass
With more than 1 million downloads and a 4.7 rating, its name already says it all. This is the most compass app simple that you will find for Android.
Its operation could not be simpler. We will simply have to accept the permissions that it asks us and that’s it. We already have on the screen our very large location and above a couple of data that can matter to us such as the time of sunrise and sunset in the place where we are and at the height at which we are. Easy and simple.
His profile on the Google Play Store says that he has purchases within the application, but when using the app there is no payment option or anything covered.
GPS Tools
This app is insane. It has more than 5 million downloads and a 4.6 star rating and well deserved.
It is a complete pack of tools that you may need at any time during your excursion. To give you an idea, this app gives us data such as speed, time, UV index, a level, air quality and of course, a compass that we can have in a classic way or with respect to an object on the map.
The worst thing about this app is that it has advertisements and also in-app purchases to customize the wallpapers. Of course, it also has something curious that are the credits for use and for sharing the application with friends, which will help us to remove those ads and have a balance for the images.
Compass for directions
With more than 50 thousand downloads and a score of 4.6 stars, this application could be perfectly in the category of orienting yourself with maps, but it is also very good for excursions since it allows us create our own route on the map with the points we want to travel, which makes it ideal for creating circuits to travel.
It has advertisements and you have no option to remove them, but they are not very intrusive.
Compass
With more than 10 thousand downloads and a score of 4.4 stars, this is another very simple one with which we will have a compass, weather information and a forecast of sunlight.
It’s free and has ads, but they don’t bother you too much.
Compass and Level
With more than 1 million downloads and 3 rating stars, this is another very simple app in terms of its interface but with the particularity that we can personalize its appearance depending on the use we are going to give it. It also incorporates a level, an extra function that is not in the other applications and that will help us to see the inclination of objects or the terrain.
Compasses to find treasures in geocaching
Geocaching is a very fashionable activity in which we will have to follow a series of clues to find a series of points on a map and obtain rewards. These places can be in cities or in the countryside, so it is important to have a good locator that allows you to go on a treasure hunt with complete accuracy.
Compass for geocaching
With just over 500 downloads, this compass for geocaching will be essential if you are fond of this activity. It is totally free and its use could not be simpler: a compass and a place to write down the locations you have to find, that’s it.
Geolocator
This app with more than 5 thousand downloads, is just as simple as the previous one, but adds the possibility of putting set a route on the map to know exactly the point we have to get to by following the coordinates that we have been given, showing the distance we are at and what we have traveled. It also allows us to save locations.
It is an app totally free.
