MBCompass is a modern, free, and open-source compass and navigation app built from the ground up for Android, without ads, IAP, or tracking. Built with Jetpack Compose, it supports compass and navigation features while being lightweight, simple and battery-efficient.
Not just a compass. Not a full navigation app.
MBCompass sits in between, a focused navigation app for hiking, trekking and everyday use, combining direction, live location, and track recording without unnecessary complexity.
- Accurate compass with magnetic north and true north
- Sensor fusion for improved accuracy (accelerometer, magnetometer, gyroscope)
- Real-time magnetic field strength display (µT)
- Live GPS location tracking on OpenStreetMap
- Keeps screen on during navigation
- Real-time track recording with start, pause, and resume
- Smooth polyline rendering for clear path visualization
- Track statistics: distance, duration, average speed, elevation gain/loss, min/max altitude
- Export tracks as GPX files via the system file picker
- Share tracks via Android share sheet
- View, star, and sort all saved tracks in one place
- Light, Dark, and AMOLED themes
- Extremely lightweight (<2 MB) and battery efficient
- Landscape orientation support
- Clean Jetpack Compose UI with Material Design
- No ads, no tracking, no in-app purchases
- No Google Play Services dependency (Works on Custom ROM's too)
- Supports Android 6.0+
Q2 planned features
- Offline vector maps (lightweight, under evaluation)
- Topographic map support
- Navigation UX refinements
MBCompass has gained recognition from the global developer community:
- #13 Product of the Day on Product Hunt
- Featured in two consecutive issues of Android Weekly
- Reached the front page of Hacker News
- OSM newsletter
MBCompass only requests the minimum permissions required for navigation and tracking features:
-
Location
- Used to detect and display your current location on the map
- Required for real-time track recording and navigation features
-
Notification (Android 13+)
- Used to show foreground service notifications during active tracking
- Enables track progress visibility and quick controls (pause/resume)
MBCompass does not collect, store, or share any personal data. All location and tracking data stays on your device unless you explicitly export it (e.g., GPX files).
MBCompass is open for community translations on Weblate!
You can help make the app accessible to more users by translating it into your language.
Contributions are welcome! If you encounter bugs or have feature suggestions, please open an issue or submit a pull request. See Contributing Guidelines for details.
MBCompass is independent, ad-free, and self-funded. If it's useful to you, consider supporting development, it directly funds app maintenance on publishing platforms, vector map hosting (upcoming), navigation improvements, and long-term maintenance.
MBCompass is Free Software: you can use, study, share, and improve it at your will. You may use, modify, and redistribute this project only if your modifications remain open-source under the same license.
Proprietary use, commercial redistribution, or publishing modified versions with ads or tracking is strictly prohibited under GPLv3 or later.
Note
AI Notice Due to the increasing use of AI/LLM tools in modifying and redistributing FOSS projects, this notice is provided for clarity.
Redistributing this project (modified or unmodified) without proper attribution is a violation of the GPL-3.0 license.
This includes cases where modifications are made using AI/LLM tools.
All redistributions must retain copyright notices, provide attribution, and indicate changes.
See more information here.
Compass rose : MBCompass rose © 2025 by Mubarak Basha is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
