North by Northwest

August 24, 2010 9:47 AM

I want an iPhone app that will allow me to get back to where I've been using the GPS, Compass and (optionally) mapping software. Essentially, I would bookmark places I want to return to. Then, to get back to them, I can just open the app, hit the bookmark and it tells me which direction to travel and how far to go.

Because I'm usually walking or biking, I don't need directions. All I want is to know which way to face and how far to walk. I can figure out how to get there.

Must have:
Name-able "map"marks.
Compass.
Distance.

Optional:
Map
Directions

posted by 47triple2 to technology (11 answers total)

The inbuilt google maps does very nearly all of this by dropping Pins and assigning bookmarks - it won't give you as-the-crow-flies distances so much as walking/road distances, but all the other requirements are met.
posted by Simon_ at 9:54 AM on August 24, 2010

Which iPhone do you have? In my experience there is no working Compass app for iPhone 3G, and google maps doesn't know which way you're pointing either. It just doesn't have the hardware to know like Blackberry does.

But I understand this has been fixed with iPhone 4.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:07 AM on August 24, 2010

Compass was introduced in the 3GS. I'm assuming you must have a 3GS or more recent, otherwise it's just not going to be possible at all.
posted by Simon_ at 10:12 AM on August 24, 2010

Assuming you have a 3GS or 4, there's a Car Finder app from AugmentedWorks:

AugmentedWorks - iPhone Apps

It's for finding your car after parking it, but it works for your application too. You go outside, push a button, it records your location. Later you push return and it tells you (using the Compass and the camera) which direction to go and how far it is. Only one location is stored, but this one is free. I'm sure there are several that can store more than one location.
posted by meowzilla at 10:17 AM on August 24, 2010

MotionX GPS Lite should do exactly what you need, but without maps or directions. You can mark a nameable waypoint, and have it give you direction and distance back to that point using GPS and compass. As far as I know it doesn't have a map, so it can't direct you via streets etc.
posted by ocha-no-mizu at 10:26 AM on August 24, 2010

"The inbuilt google maps does very nearly all of this by dropping Pins and assigning bookmarks - it won't give you as-the-crow-flies distances so much as walking/road distances, but all the other requirements are met."

This. Give it a look if you haven't already. You have to tap the little rolled-page button in the bottom-right corner of the Maps app to access Pins functionality, and then you can store it as a bookmark.
posted by BurntHombre at 10:39 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

You can create bookmarks in the standard Apple Maps app, then navigate back to them.
posted by kenchie at 10:40 AM on August 24, 2010

Any Trail.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:38 PM on August 24, 2010

Yes, I do have an iPhone 4.

Looks like I'll start with the maps app and go from there. Thank you all!
posted by 47triple2 at 4:07 PM on August 24, 2010

I wasn't going to post since it doesn't meet all of your criteria, but maybe it will be good enough:

Take me to my car
posted by Sonic_Molson at 7:05 PM on August 24, 2010

Sorry, I meant EveryTrail, but I'm now realizing the markers might not be quite what you want.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:57 PM on August 26, 2010