Video recording, replay, and data overlays

Compass 55 can work as an action camera on the move or a survey camera in the field. A recording keeps the clean original video together with the location and motion data needed for replay, subtitles, photo and waypoint creation, and optional stamped exports.

The data overlays do not have to be permanently burned into the original. During replay or export, you can use the layout saved when the video was recorded, apply your current layout, or view the video with no overlays.

Open the Video camera

Open MENU > VIDEO. Compass 55 opens its camera in Video mode.

Before recording, frame the view, select the front or back camera if needed, check the microphone indicator, and open Settings if you want to change recording or overlay options.

Viewfinder controls

The central shutter button starts and stops recording. While recording, its appearance changes and the elapsed recording time is shown beside the viewfinder controls.

The Photo/Video control switches capture mode. During a video recording, use the separate camera button to take a location-aware photo without stopping the video.

The microphone control shows whether audio is available and, when enabled in Video settings, displays a live audio level:

• a live level confirms that the microphone is receiving sound;
• tap the microphone to mute or unmute recording audio;
• the mute choice is remembered for the next recording;
• if microphone permission is unavailable, video can still be recorded without audio.

When Loop recording is enabled, a badge shows the retained Loop duration.

The navigation-bar controls provide:

• Videos for the saved recording library;
• camera selection for the front, back, or another available camera;
• Notes for the Video title, note, tags, and address;
• Settings for Video recording, overlays, file naming, and related camera options.

Record a normal video

Tap the shutter button once to start. Confirm that the duration is advancing and that the microphone state is what you expect. Tap the shutter again to stop.

The saved video appears in MENU > VIDEOS. A recording can briefly show as Processing while the app prepares it for replay and makes its recorded data self-contained. You can start another recording when the camera becomes ready; you do not need to keep the Videos list open while preparation finishes.

The recording remains useful if preparation is interrupted. The app keeps the playable original and its recoverable data rather than discarding the whole recording.

Take a photo while recording

Tap the small camera button in Video mode to take a still photo while video recording continues.

The photo uses the location and camera state from the moment you tapped the button. It follows the normal photo save and waypoint workflow and does not replace or split the active video.

Loop recording

Loop recording continuously keeps only the latest configured duration. Older completed parts are removed while recording, and tapping Stop saves the retained window as one video.

This is useful when the important event may happen after a long uneventful period: you can keep a recent window without saving one indefinitely growing file.

Loop recording works only while the camera remains visible. Closing the camera or moving the app to the background stops and saves the retained recording.

To configure it, open Settings > Video settings, turn on Loop recording, and choose:

• Keep latest — the duration retained when you stop;
• Loop stabilization — Responsive, Auto, or Off.

Responsive is the recommended starting point for an accurately bounded rolling window. Auto can provide more smoothing but may take longer to finish after Stop. Use Off only with a stable tripod, gimbal, vehicle mount, or for troubleshooting.

Video settings

Open the camera, tap Settings, then choose Video settings.

Recording

Video quality controls the capture resolution used for new recordings.

Notify when recording stops unexpectedly can add a system notification after the app saves a video stopped by an interruption. The app also shows an in-app message when possible. Pressing Stop normally does not send a notification.

Loop recording and its retained duration and stabilization are also configured in this section.

Audio

Microphone sets whether new recordings start with audio On or Muted. You can still change the microphone from the viewfinder.

Audio level before recording opens the microphone while you are framing and shows its live level. Turn it off if you do not want the microphone opened until recording starts.

Stabilization

Standard is the recommended normal-recording setting. It balances stable video with responsive starting and stopping.

Auto allows iOS to choose stronger stabilization. It can crop more of the frame and may take longer to finish after Stop.

Use Off for a stable tripod, gimbal, vehicle mount, or troubleshooting.

Overlays

Video overlays opens the layout editor for the data and identity panels used during live Video mode, replay, and stamped export.

Export

Include subtitles adds an SRT file containing time, location, altitude, heading, and related recorded telemetry.

Subtitle units chooses between the app’s currently selected units and fixed metric values suitable for editing tools.

Export quality offers:

• Source to stay close to the recorded video quality;
• Smaller file to use stronger compression for sharing.

Keep audio in exports controls whether exported videos contain sound. With Source quality and audio kept, a full Original export can share the stored MOV directly when no additional metadata preparation is needed.

Build the Video overlay layout

Open Settings > Video settings > Video overlays.

The top of the screen is a preview of the camera canvas. Tap an enabled overlay to select it, or drag it toward another corner. The highlighted corner shows where it will snap.

The controls below the preview let you:

• add a hidden overlay;
• hide the selected overlay;
• make a scalable overlay smaller or larger;
• rotate overlays that support horizontal and vertical layouts;
• configure overlay-specific content or behavior;
• move overlapping overlays toward the edge or inward in their corner stack.

The original video stays clean. This layout is saved as the recording’s Historical overlay recipe and can be changed later without rewriting the original.

Watermark

Add a company name, personal identity, vehicle, equipment label, or logo. Watermark content is shared where appropriate, while the Video layout controls its visibility, placement, size, and appearance for video.

QR Code

The QR Code can encode selected recording fields. It can turn a stamped video frame into a map or navigation link for the location represented by that frame.

The QR footprint is fixed to preserve scan reliability.

Map

The live Map overlay follows your current position and can show the trail recorded since the video started. Saved-video replay and stamped export use the recorded route data.

Map options include type, day/night appearance, zoom, orientation indicators, and optional speed-adaptive live zoom.

Speed

The Speed overlay shows the recorded speed in the app’s selected units and tracks the maximum reached so far. If a usable location fix is not available, the live value is shown as unavailable rather than inventing a speed.

Pitch & Roll

Pitch & Roll shows vehicle or device angle during the recording. Choose Ground for gravity-based angles or Relative when the current orientation should become the local zero.

The selected reference and recorded motion data are preserved so Historical replay and stamped export reproduce the recording rather than recalculating it from today’s position.

G-Cross

G-Cross visualizes lateral and longitudinal acceleration, calibration state, and directional peaks. Its live CLEAR PEAKS action affects the recorded peak history; replay and export reproduce the resulting history but do not expose the live command.

Find saved recordings

Open Videos from the camera or MENU > VIDEOS.

Each ready row shows its thumbnail, title, note or location summary, recording date, duration, file size, and the overlays saved with the recording.

Use search to find text in titles, notes, tags, addresses, dates, coordinates, and other video fields. The date filter can limit the list to recent recordings or a selected month or year.

Tap a ready row to replay it. A row marked Processing becomes playable automatically when preparation finishes.

Replay and create a photo and waypoint

For fine positioning, swipe left or right directly across the video; drag upward while swiping to slow the movement.

Pause replay or scrub the timeline to any moment, then tap the camera button to create a normal Photo and waypoint from that exact video frame. The app:

• extracts the correctly oriented frame;
• uses the replay moment’s timestamp, location, heading, and resolved address;
• stores that frame address as Manual, so it stays historical and is not replaced by later reverse geocoding;
• follows your existing Photo capture preference: Save creates the Photo immediately, Preview opens the normal Photo preview, and automatic Photo Notes can open Photo notes automatically.

The new Photo follows normal Photo-note rules. Title, Note, and Collection are not automatically copied from the recording-wide Video notes; add them directly, or use the Notes transfer tools when the Video already has useful context.

This is useful when you notice an important place, measurement, label, or detail only after the recording has finished.

Use video and photo notes together

Photo Notes and Video Notes now include a collapsible source section. In the Photo editor it shows Video notes; in the Video editor it shows Photo notes. A replay-derived Photo shows notes from its actual source video.

Apply Title, Note, Address, Folder field name, and Tags/Folder individually, or use Apply all. Undo reverses the most recent individual Apply, or the complete Apply-all operation.

Clear From: and To: labels explain transfers when fields are named differently, for example From: Tags -> To: Collection. Resolution pills show whether a value transfers as Auto, Manual, or Auto → Manual. Automatic title patterns transfer when compatible; historical resolved values, addresses, and tag/folder values transfer as Manual where needed.

Original, Stamped, and overlay history

The stamp button switches between the clean Original view and the last used Stamped overlay view.

For detailed control, open More > Overlays:

• Historical uses the immutable layout and appearance saved when recording started;
• Current uses today’s Video overlay settings with the data recorded in the video;
• None hides all replay overlays.

Changing replay overlays does not modify the stored Original or the Historical recipe.

Select and export a range

Open More > Select export range.

Move to the beginning of the useful clip and tap Set Start. Move forward and tap Set End, then tap Done. The timeline shows the selected A–B interval.

Export then offers both:

• Selected range with its start and end times;
• Full video.

Each scope offers:

• Original for a clean video without visible overlays;
• Stamped using the selected Historical, Current, or None overlay mode.

The selected range remains available while that replay screen is open, so you can adjust it or export more than one version. Clear export range removes it.

Interruptions, storage, and privacy

Video recording is a foreground camera activity. Closing the camera, moving the app to the background, app termination, or a capture interruption stops the recording. The app saves the playable material completed up to the interruption.

Loop recording limits the retained time window, but it still needs working space while recording and assembling the final video. Check available device storage before a long session.

Original video and recorded telemetry stay on the device until you choose to share or export them. A stamped export is a new presentation file; it does not overwrite the clean Original.

Secure the iPhone in a suitable mount before driving or riding. Set framing, audio, stabilization, and overlays before moving, and do not operate camera controls while responsible for a vehicle.

Good first setup

• Open Video settings and start with Standard stabilization.
• Confirm Video quality and microphone state.
• Turn on the pre-recording audio level and check that it responds.
• Add only the overlays you need and keep important parts of the camera view unobstructed.
• Make a short test recording.
• Open it in Videos, compare Original and Stamped, and test the timeline.
• Export a short range before depending on the setup for a long recording.
• Use Loop recording when the recent window matters more than keeping the whole session.