How can we help?

Hold your phone and move it slowly in a figure of 8 for about five seconds, turning your wrist as you go. Northwise shows this guide automatically when accuracy drops, and you can open it any time from Settings › Calibration guide. The accuracy indicator turns to “Accuracy good” when it has settled.

A phone compass senses the Earth’s magnetic field, so anything magnetic nearby can pull it off: cars, steel railings or beams, speakers, laptops, and magnetic phone cases or mounts. If Northwise warns that something magnetic is nearby, step a few metres away, take the phone out of any magnetic case, and the reading will settle on its own.

Magnetic north is where a compass needle points. True north is the direction of the North Pole, the north used on maps. The gap between them (called declination) depends on where you are and is shown in the app. Northwise uses true north by default, which needs your location. You can switch to magnetic north in Settings › North.

Some phones have no compass sensor, or theirs has stopped working. Northwise gives you three ways that still work:

• Sun compass: point the top of your phone at the sun (or the moon at night) and the app works out the directions from where it is in the sky. It is accurate to about 5°; point at it again every few minutes. Never look straight at the sun.
• Walking direction: walk about 20 m in a straight line and GPS shows which way you are going.
• Line to a saved place: the map draws the direction to a place you have saved.

Yes. The compass, coordinates, sun and moon times, your saved places and the field guide all work without a connection, because GPS does not need the internet. Weather and air quality show the last readings until you are back online, and the map may not load areas you haven’t viewed recently.

• Check that Northwise can use your location: iPhone Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › Northwise › While Using the App.
• Both need an internet connection. Offline, the app shows the last readings and when they were taken.
• Air quality comes from public monitoring stations. If there is no station close enough to you, the app says so rather than guessing.
• Still nothing? Close and reopen the app, then send us a message below.

Open Settings › Restore purchases in Northwise while signed in with the same Apple Account you used to subscribe. Premium will switch back on for that phone.

Subscriptions are handled by Apple. Tap Manage subscription in Northwise’s Settings, or open the iPhone Settings app › your name › Subscriptions › Northwise. Cancel at least 24 hours before the renewal date to avoid being charged again. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription.

Refunds are handled by Apple. Visit reportaproblem.apple.com, sign in, choose the purchase and select “Request a refund”.