Compass

The button that opens the compass is at the bottom of the home screen, in the row of icon buttons.

They say that one of the indigenous peoples of Australia has no notion of left and right. Someone from that people will not say the cup is to the left of the plate. They will say the cup is to the north-west of the plate.

Because of their language and culture, these people work out the points of the compass automatically, from cues that would tell an ordinary person nothing. But even they, dropped into a modern city on an overcast day, might well struggle.

In ordinary circumstances we manage perfectly well without a compass. But circumstances do come up where having one helps. And you do not have to be deep in a forest for that. Here is a real case - the ancient city of Ephesus in Turkey, where there is a map of the city with the sights marked on it. The map is oriented by the points of the compass.

Only where are those points of the compass? A pity we had no compass with us then.

More situations:

• No signal, maps will not load, but the compass works.
• The battery is nearly flat, low power mode will manage a compass but not maps.
• Hiking, walks in the countryside - a map gives you little, a compass can help.
• Camping - working out which way to pitch the tent.
• Coming out of the underground - sometimes you just need to know which way is which to decide where to turn. Maps take longer to load and tell you less.
• Some religions require you to know where the points of the compass are at a particular moment.
• Feng shui - is everything in your room facing the right way?

In short, a useful thing to have.

Works on any iOS device, but not on every Android device (it depends on the model - on whether it has the necessary sensors).