Compass 55
Essentials
- GPS Tracking ▪︎ Voice coach ▪︎ Channels
- Offline maps ▪︎ Map collections ▪︎ Ground image overlays
- Land navigation
- Planimeter
- GPS camera
- Controlling the app - buttons and gestures ▪︎ Customizable screen corners
New:
Version 5.6 (June 2026)
Track together: introducing Channels — plus an adjustable active track line width.
Version 5.6 details (tap to expand)
Channels — go live, solo or with the group. Channels replace GPS Beacons. While tracking, share your live location through a private web link (with optional password protection), or inside a shared group channel where members follow each other directly in the app or on the web. Join an existing channel, or create your own and invite others to follow or participate.
→ GPS Beacons users: your capability didn’t go away — it grew. Everything a beacon did, Channels now do, plus group following.
Voice Coach and Navigation Hints
- Voice Coach and navigation hints now work together in one clearer setup. Configure regular coach announcements, on-course guidance, spoken target distance and bearing, and relative or absolute spoken bearings from the same place.
- Voice Coach can now include target navigation guidance in regular time or distance interval announcements, telling distance and bearing to the current target when one is active.
- New absolute spoken bearing guidance lets you keep the iPhone in your pocket and navigate by voice hints while holding a magnetic compass in your hand.
- Huge thanks to Steve for suggesting absolute bearing voice guidance and testing it in the wild.
Maps and Tracks
- Active tracks are now always displayed above pinned tracks for better visibility while navigating.
- Fixed the Course line that could disappear after sending the app to the background and returning to it.
- Set how thick the active track appears on the map in Map Settings → Common Map Settings → Active Track Line Width. The thinnest width is now the default for better map visibility.
Version 5.5 (May 2026)
More natural automatic voice guidance, upgraded GPS Camera and ground-overlay drawing tools, and import fixes.
Version 5.5 details (tap to expand)
- More Natural Voice Guidance
- Navigation hints, voice coach announcements, and waypoint proximity alerts now use the best available voice automatically, with improved handling of plurals, decimals, numbers, and time or duration announcements across all supported languages.
- Drawing Tools for GPS Camera and Ground Overlays
- GPS Camera drawing tools received a major update with text, dimension, and selection tools.
- The new drawing tools and options can now also be used when editing ground map image overlays.
- Drawings are no longer hardcoded into photos or ground image overlays on save, so they can be edited later.
- Trip Tracks and Offline Maps
- Fixed track numbers not being shown on the map when viewing all tracks for a trip. Start and end markers now match the track numbers from the trip track list.
- Pinned tracks can now be shown on the offline map download screen, giving better spatial awareness when choosing which region to download.
- Import Fixes
- Improved error handling when importing incomplete or corrupted trip archives.
- Fixed GPX import so the import options page closes correctly after import, and the Cancel button works as expected.
Version 5.4 (April 2026)
Multi-track pinning, online map caching, a reworked trip editor.
Version 5.4 details (tap to expand)
- Reworked trip editor to streamline initial mileage setup and ongoing trip counter management (set/reset total and current counters).
- Pinned tracks upgraded : add multiple pinned tracks to the map (no longer limited to one). Customize color and line width, save pinned sets as presets, and apply them when needed.
- Online source map cache : tiles are now cached to improve map browsing and reduce mobile data usage and load on map providers.
Soon:
Version 5.7 (Early July 2026 or late June 2026)
Waypoint Map Labels: Adjustable Size, Backgrounds, and Photos
Version 5.7 details (tap to expand)
- Waypoint labels, your way
- Waypoint names can now be shown as compact or larger map labels, with either the current filled background or a clean no-background style using the waypoint color for the text.
- Waypoints with attached photos can show a thumbnail right above the name on the map, making photo points easier to recognize without opening the waypoint first.
- To set it up, open Map Settings > Common settings > Waypoint labels. Label size, Photo thumbnail, and Label background are separate visible controls.
Version 5.7 is available as the public beta version
Available in public beta (release date TBD):
- Pitch & Roll mode: micro panel to improve spatial awareness and safety (off-road limits, motorhome balancing, etc.). Includes customizable alerts for unsafe angles and recovery back to safe ranges.
GPS TRACKING
How to retrace the previously recorded track?
Tracks colored by speed or altitude.
Control GPS tracking and waypoint creation with Siri shortcuts
MAP
Map collections , allowing you to build a custom map setup—from the base map to a configurable set of map and image overlays—tailored to your mission. Switch between map collections with a single tap when your task demands it. From version 5.0.
Avoid internet/data usage with a Blank Map
Overzoom and underzoom handling for offline maps
Import existing mbtiles, Rmaps, sqlitedb maps
Convert your existing map (e.g. GeoTiff or PDF) into a format supported by the app
LAND NAVIGATION
Route navigation with voice guidance
Route editor and GPX route import, from version 1.7
Use average track speed or instantaneous speed for ETE
Show relative or absolute bearing to target (BRG, course to steer) from version 1.8.2
Zone enter/leave alerts for circular and polygonal zones.
IMPORT & EXPORT
Complete backup and data transfer guide - Moving to a new device, backup strategies, and comprehensive import/export guide
Waypoints export to GPX and Google Earth KML/KMZ from version 1.4
Waypoints and tracks import from GPX files from version 1.5
.kml import - tracks and waypoints, from version 1.8.5.
Export of planimeter objects (Routes and Areas)
Replay tracks and show elevation/speed profile in Google Earth on PC/Mac
TOOLS & INSTRUMENTS
Dual Coordinate Monitor for the current location. View and communicate your position in two coordinate formats at once. Supports also OSGB and SK-42.
Barometric vertical speed indicator
GPS camera - to take photos with location, direction, and notes.
Tap on MENU and then on the camera button inside the new waypoint menu item to open the camera screen.
Text-input based Coordinates Converter , supporting also OSGB and SK 42.
UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
Area and length units of measurement (planimeter).
General units of measurement - Metric, Imperial, Nautical.
Distance units of measurement.
Altitude units of measurement.
Automatic switch from small to big units.
TROUBLESHOOTING
- Low GPS accuracy? Let’s fix it!
- Compass works really oddly, stays at North and then jumps to South. Help!
- I’m at sea level and app shows 80ft (around 25 meters) or more. Why?
- Grid shows instead of an offline map, help!
If the above links didn’t help, please use the top-right star button in the app to let us know about the problem and we will surely reply within 24 hours. Our reply rate is 100%. If there is no reply, please check your spam folder.
You can access the app developer (Stan Dvoychenko @Kalimex-Consulting s.r.o) directly via email: support@blocoware.com or phone number +420 724 730 447.
MODES
Tips & Tricks
Distance, heading, and coordinate tools for the “don’t follow me” map mode. From version 1.6.
Customizable button colors from Version 4.1 .
Pro pack upgrade information
Videos
Brief walk through the main features
Short video on distance, heading and coordinate tools for the “don’t follow me” map mode
Short video on how route navigation works
Short video on creating a route in the app
1m27s video on two ways of adding waypoints
2m17s video on downloading offline map and finding it later on the main map
A bit longer, narrated video on creating or importing the route
MORE APPS FROM US
GPS Camera 55. Capture photos stamped with location, direction, and notes.
GPS Team 55 - Team tracking and collaboration.
Docs ▪︎ Free in AppStore ▪︎ Public beta version (free) .
Speedometer 55 PRO. Mileage and speed tracker.
Planimeter 55. Measure area, perimeter, distance.
Release notes for the most recent versions.
Version 4.0 with overzoom and underzoom handling for the offline maps , improvements for the tracks list, first iteration of Bluetooth sensors integration for heart rate, cadence, and speed, and extra options for automatic check-in option for a land/air/boat navigation.
Version 4.2 with new, text-input based Coordinates Converter , supporting also OSGB and SK 42. This is part of an ongoing and step-by-step effort to bring support of all major EPSG coordinate systems to the app.
Version 4.4 modernizes Siri/Shortcuts integration , enabling track recording control, waypoint creation, and laying the groundwork for Apple Intelligence integration.
Version 4.6 adds:
- The ability to export or share offline maps.
- An option to open or import offline maps directly from disk/Files within the app.
Version 4.7 brings brand-new import features:
- Waypoints & Photos: Import KMZ, KML, GPX, CSV, or TXT files directly from the Waypoints screen by tapping “More."
- Tracks & Trips: Pull in KMZ, KML, GPX, or TRK files from the Tracks or Trips screen—just hit “More” and go!
