What it does: This is the primary navigation interface. It displays a real-time compass with highly accurate bearing, and it surrounds the dial with essential, dynamic data points like your current coordinates, altitude, and atmospheric pressure.
How to Use:
Read the Compass: The rotating outer ring shows the cardinal directions (N, E, S, W) and degree markings (0° to 359°). The main needle or direction marker points to your current bearing.
View Core Data:
Center Display: The large number in the center displays your current magnetic or true heading in degrees.
Surrounding Data Ring: The area around the compass dial displays four key data points for quick reference:
Latitude and Longitude: Your precise geographical coordinates.
Altitude: Your current elevation above sea level.
Pressure: The current atmospheric pressure reading.
Access Other Views:
Radar Screen: Tap the center degree value to switch to the Radar View.
Main Menu: Swipe down to access the main feature list (Waypoints, Route Tracking, Bearing Lock, etc.).
What it does: The Radar Screen provides a visual, top-down view of your current location relative to your saved waypoints. It's a quick way to see the direction and relative distance to nearby points of interest and to view your tracked path.
How to Use:
Access the Radar: From the main compass screen, tap the degrees displayed at the center of the screen to transition to the Radar view.
Understand the Display:
Your Position: You are always at the center of the radar circle.
Waypoints: Your saved waypoints will appear as colored dots on the radar. The closer a dot is to the center, the closer the waypoint is to your location. Waypoints that are far away will be plotted at the edge of the circle.
Tracked Path: If you are actively tracking a route, your path will be drawn on the radar as a green line, showing your recent travel history.
Adjust the View: You can adjust the zoom level of the radar in two ways:
Swipe: Swiping up or down on the radar screen will granularly change the zoom range.
Clicking the Range Button: This will auto zoom between the default range and the furthest distance for a plotted waypoint.
What it does: Waypoints are custom markers you can place on the map to save important locations, such as a scenic viewpoint, a campsite, or your parked car. You can also edit and delete these waypoints.
How to Use:
Create a Waypoint: Tap the "Add New Waypoint" to place a marker. A dialog will appear for you to name and save the new waypoint.
Customize Your Waypoint: You can give your waypoint a unique name and select a color for it from a palette of options.
Navigate to a Waypoint: To be guided to a saved location, tap on the waypoint. The app will show you the distance and direction to it in real-time on the Compass.
Edit and Delete: You can edit your saved waypoints by holding on their names from the waypoint list.
Clear All: Once you add waypoints, you can clear them all with a clear all button at the bottom of the list.
What it does: This feature allows you to record your travel path as you move. It is perfect for tracking hikes, runs, or any journey, and it helps you retrace your steps to return to your starting point.
How to Use:
Start Tracking: Tap the "Start Tracking" button. The app will begin recording your route, and a notification will appear to let you know it's active in the background.
Stop Tracking: When you are finished, tap the "Stop Tracking" button. Your recorded path will be saved.
Return to Start: To retrace your steps, click the "Return to Start" button. The app will then guide you back along your original path. With two views:
Compass: The app will show you the distance and direction to it in real-time.
Radar: Â If you are actively tracking a route, your path will be drawn on the radar as a green line, showing your recent travel history.
Clear Route: This will clear the path out of the app, so that tracking can start over if the user wants to.
What it does: Bearing lock allows you to "lock" the compass to a specific direction (bearing). This is useful for keeping a constant reference point, such as when navigating a long, straight path.
How to Use:
Access the Dialog: On the main compass screen, swipe down and click bearing lock. A "Set Bearing" dialog will appear.
Set the Bearing: Type a specific bearing in degrees (from 0 to 359) into the text field and press "Set" to lock it.
Follow the Bearing: Once a bearing is locked, the compass display will show you how many degrees you are "off" from your locked bearing. A "Target" message will be displayed when you are facing the correct direction.
Clear the Bearing: To unlock the compass, swipe down again and select "Clear Bearing".
What it does: This screen is crucial for ensuring the accuracy of your compass. It guides you through a calibration process for the device's magnetic field sensor to improve compass readings.
How to Use:
When to Calibrate: You can access the Calibration screen manually from the main menu if you are experiencing bad compass readings.
The Calibration Process: Follow the on-screen instructions, which will guide you to move your device in a figure-eight motion. Continue this motion until the sensor accuracy improves.
Monitor Progress: The screen will display your current sensor accuracy. A "Compass calibrated!" message will appear when the accuracy is at a medium level or higher.
Troubleshooting: If the calibration fails, the app will vibrate and display a "Calibration failed" message, and you will be returned to the previous screen to try the calibration again.
What it does: Ultra Compass uses your device's built-in barometer to monitor atmospheric pressure trends. This is a valuable tool for outdoor enthusiasts, as changes in pressure can often precede weather changes.
How to Use:
Access the Feature: Click the "Graphs" button on the main screen.
Read the Data: The app will display a chart showing pressure readings over a period of time. Pressure values are typically shown in hPa (hectopascals) but can be changed in the settings.
Interpret the Trends: A rising pressure trend often indicates improving weather, while a falling trend can signal approaching storms or bad weather.
What it does: This feature provides a visual representation of the sun's path throughout the day, showing its current altitude and azimuth, and provides local sunrise and sunset times.
How to Use:
Open the Chart: Click the "Graphs" button on the main screen. Swipe down past the Pressure Trend chart.
View the Path: You will see a chart that shows the sun's altitude in the sky over the course of the day. Its current position will be marked on the curve with a dot.
Check Key Times: The chart will display the exact times for sunrise and sunset, helping you plan activities around daylight.
Extra Details: Swiping down again will show more information, like exact sun altitude, azimuth and remaining daylight.
Settings Menu
What it does: The Settings menu is your central hub for customizing the app to fit your personal preferences. You can adjust units of measurement, coordinate formats, and various display options.
How to Use:
Access the Settings: Navigate to the Settings screen from the app's main menu.
Adjust Units:
Unit System: Toggle between Imperial (e.g., miles, feet) and Metric (e.g., kilometers, meters) units.
Pressure Unit: Select your preferred unit for atmospheric pressure readings, with options including hPa, psi, and mmHg.
Customize the Display:
Coordinate Format: Choose how your location coordinates are displayed (e.g., Decimal Degrees, DMS, or UTM).
Waypoint Location: Use the toggle to show or hide detailed latitude and longitude information for your saved waypoints.
Hide Details on Compass: Toggle this option to hide the data points like Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, and Pressure that are displayed around the compass dial.
Enable/Disable Features:
Use Magnetic North: Switch between True North (based on your GPS location) and Magnetic North (based on the earth's magnetic field).
Low GPS Signal Warning: You can enable or disable the pop-up warning that appears when your GPS signal becomes unreliable.
Show Time: Toggle this option to show or hide time on the Compass screen.
Low GPS Warning: toggle this option to show or hide low gps warning prompts.
Log Pressure When Graph Opens: Toggle this option to log data in the pressure chart - will require user to manually log data by accessing the Pressure Trend chart.