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About Us

Real Online Compass

Who we are

Real Online Compass is a free, browser-based toolkit for navigation and celestial data. We built it because we wanted a compass and navigation tool that simply worked — instantly, on any phone, without signing up, without downloading an app, and without handing over your location to a third party.

The project is maintained by a small team of developers and outdoor enthusiasts who care about clean, fast, privacy-respecting software.

What we build

Every tool on the site is designed around three principles:

  • Free, always. No subscriptions, no paywalled features, no ads. Every tool is completely free for personal and commercial use.
  • Privacy-first. Your GPS coordinates and sensor data never leave your device. We have no analytics, no cookies, and no tracking of any kind.
  • Works offline. Once the page is loaded, every tool — including all celestial and astronomical calculations — continues to work without an internet connection.

Our tools

We currently offer nine tools across two categories:

Navigation

  • Compass — real-time magnetic heading using your device's magnetometer.
  • Sun Compass — a needle that tracks the sun's direction throughout the day.
  • Star Compass — points toward Polaris (true north) with magnetic declination correction.
  • Inclinometer — slope angle, grade %, and roof pitch from your accelerometer.
  • Spirit Level — 2D bubble level with roll and pitch angles.
  • Altitude Meter — GPS elevation in metres and feet with terrain info.

Celestial

  • Sun Position — live solar direction, altitude, sunrise/sunset, and day length.
  • Moon Position — moon direction, phase, illumination, and moonrise/moonset.
  • Moon Phase Tracker — full monthly phase calendar with next full/new moon countdown.

The technology

Real Online Compass is built with Astro and uses the Web APIs your browser already ships with — the DeviceOrientationEvent for the compass, the Geolocation API for position, and the DeviceMotionEvent for the accelerometer tools. Astronomical calculations are based on Jean Meeus's Astronomical Algorithms, implemented entirely client-side with no server round-trips.

Get in touch

We love hearing from users — whether it's a bug report, a feature suggestion, or just a note to say the tools helped you find your way. Reach us any time at realonlinecompass@gmail.com.