Compass

A real-feel digital compass — true heading, cardinal direction & bearing.

A digital compass with a classic brushed-metal dial, degree ticks and a real needle — not a toy. Uses your device's magnetometer/orientation sensor to show your live heading in degrees, the nearest cardinal/intercardinal direction (N, NE, E…), and lets you set a target bearing to see how far off you are. Works on phones and tablets with an orientation sensor; on desktop it shows a static demo with an explanation. Nothing is uploaded — the sensor reading never leaves your device.

About Compass

Compass features

How to use Compass

  1. Open on a phone or tablet

    A compass sensor needs real hardware — open this page on a phone or tablet for a live reading.

  2. Tap Enable compass

    On iOS Safari you'll see a one-time permission prompt — allow it to start reading orientation.

  3. Calibrate if needed

    If the amber dot shows, move your phone in a slow figure-8 a couple of times until it turns green.

  4. Read your heading

    The big number is your heading in degrees; the dial's fixed top pointer always shows the direction you're facing.

  5. Set a target bearing (optional)

    Pick a direction from the dropdown to see a green mark on the dial and how many degrees left or right to turn.

Popular use cases

Hiking & orienteering

Get your bearing quickly without a physical compass.

Direction finding

Find a specific compass bearing for prayer, navigation or photography.

Camping & outdoors

Orient a map or tent without extra gear.

Photography planning

Line up a shot against a known compass direction (e.g. for sunrise/sunset).

Learning cardinal directions

See exactly how N/NE/E/SE map onto real-world degrees.

Quick direction check

A fast 'which way is X' check without opening a maps app.

Frequently asked questions

I tapped 'Enable compass' but nothing happened — why?

If you're on a laptop or desktop (or any device without a magnetometer), the browser has no sensor to read from — the dial still appears with a clear 'No compass sensor detected' message after a few seconds, rather than silently doing nothing. Open the page on a phone or tablet for a live reading.

Why do I need to tap 'Enable compass' on iPhone?

iOS Safari requires an explicit, user-initiated permission prompt before any page can read motion/orientation sensors — that's an Apple privacy requirement, not something this tool can skip.

Why is my reading inaccurate or jumpy?

Phone magnetometers pick up interference from nearby metal, magnets, speakers or a case with a magnetic clasp. Move away from those, then wave your phone in a slow figure-8 a couple of times to recalibrate — most phones do this automatically once the sensor initialises properly.

Is this true north or magnetic north?

It shows magnetic heading as reported by your device's sensor (most phones apply their own magnetic declination correction internally to approximate true north, but this varies by device and OS).

Is any sensor data sent to a server?

No. The orientation reading is processed entirely in your browser and shown on screen — nothing about your heading, location or device is uploaded, logged or stored.

Does this work on a laptop with a webcam or gyroscope?

No — a webcam doesn't provide a compass reading, and most laptops don't expose a magnetometer to the browser even if one exists internally. Use a phone or tablet for a live reading.

Related tools — Everyday lookups: holidays, sun & air