The watchOS 9 Compass app shows you the direction your Apple Watch is pointing, your current location, and the elevation. You can also create Compass Waypoints as you go and retrace your steps with Backtrack — with some caveats.
To wit: the Compass app is available on Apple Watch Series 5 and later, and Apple Watch SE. The Compass Waypoints and Backtrack features, however, are available only with watchOS 9 on Apple Watch Series 6 and later, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra.
Also note that The presence of magnets can affect the accuracy of any compass sensor. Apple’s Leather Link, Leather Loop, Milanese Loop, and earlier Sport Loop watch bands use magnets or magnetic material that might interfere with the Apple Watch compass. The compass isn’t affected by Sport Loop bands introduced in September 2019 or later, or any version of the Sport Band.
Got all that? Good. Let’s move on. You can save your current location as a waypoint, and then see the distance and direction to all the waypoints that you create.
To add a waypoint:
- Open the Compass app on your Apple Watch.
- Tap the waypoint button (a “balloon” with an arrow inside) to add your current location.
- Tap the date and time under Label if you want to customize the waypoint’s name.
- Tap the map under Location if you want to adjust the waypoint’s latitude and longitude.
- Select a color and a symbol to make the waypoint easy to recognize.
- Turn off Show Waypoint if you want it to appear in your list of waypoints, but not in the compass dial.
- Tap Done.
If you have Apple Watch Ultra, you can create a Compass Waypoint quickly with the Action button:
- Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch Ultra.
- Tap Action Button.
- Tap Action, then select Waypoint.
Now when you press the Action button, your Apple Watch Ultra creates a waypoint at your current location. Then the Compass app opens so you can customize the waypoint’s information.
View your Compass Waypoints
Your Compass Waypoints appear as dots on the compass dial. Scroll the Digital Crown to see different compass views, and zoom out to see more waypoints.
To view the details of a waypoint, tap a waypoint on the compass dial, then tap Select. The waypoint’s distance and direction appear. Tap the edit button (a pencil) at the bottom of the screen to change the label, the color, the symbol, or edit the coordinates of the waypoint.
To see a full list of the waypoints that you’ve added over time, tap on any waypoint or tap the menu button.
On the compass dial, you can only see waypoints that are within a 50-mile radius of your current location.
Add Compass Waypoints to your watch face
You can add Compass Waypoints complications to your watch face to get a quick view of your saved locations.
- With the watch face showing, touch and hold the display, then tap Edit.
- Swipe left to the Complications screen.
- Tap one of the available complications.
- Turn the Digital Crown to find Compass Waypoints, then select an option. You can choose one of the waypoints listed, or tap More to choose among more waypoints, Last Viewed Waypoint, or Parked Car Waypoint.
- Press the Digital Crown to save your changes, then tap the watch face to select it.
When you tap the complication on your watch face, the assigned waypoint opens in the Compass app. Compass Waypoint complications remain active until the end of the day and can be re-activated by tapping on the complication.
(This how-to is based on my experiences and info on Apple’s support pages — where the images sometimes come from.)
