How to Use Compass Waypoints on Apple Watch

The revised Compass app may be used to construct Compass Waypoints and then determine the distance and direction between them on the Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Series 6 and later. This is how it goes.

The Compass app has been updated in watchOS 9 and now features an adaptive watch face that displays your bearing in the middle. You can see your incline, elevation, and coordinates in the inner ring of the compass by scrolling the Digital Crown.

The Compass ring will display the location of any Waypoints you create. You can mark and display Compass Waypoints using the steps below.

How to Mark and Display Waypoints

1. To add a waypoint, press the waypoint symbol in the bottom-left portion of the Compass app's screen.
2. Choose the waypoint's title, color, and symbol (home, for instance) as you choose, and then touch Done.
3. Hit a waypoint on any of the three Compass displays, use the Digital Crown to choose a waypoint from the list, then tap Select to view the waypoint. (Note the waypoint's location and direction, such as "Arrived" or "2.5 miles to your right.")
4. The waypoint will appear on a map with its coordinates when you tap the pen symbol towards the bottom of the screen.

How to Delete Waypoints

1. On any Compass screen, click the three lines in the top-left corner.
2. Swipe left across the waypoint you wish to eliminate as you scroll down to the list of them.
3. The red X that appears should be tapped.

A Delete Waypoint button may be found by tapping a waypoint and scrolling to the bottom of its screen. Instead of removing a waypoint, you might choose to conceal it instead: Simply flip the Show Waypoint switch off.

Add a Compass Waypoint to your Watch Face

You may rapidly travel to waypoints you've set, the last waypoint you viewed in the Compass app, or your parked car using the Compass Waypoint complication on your Apple Watch face.

1. Choose a watch face with complications, then touch and hold the display while it is visible, then hit Edit.
2. Tap one of the complication slots after highlighting them with a left swipe all the way to the end.
3. To add a waypoint as a complication, either scroll to "Compass Waypoints," select one of the first three listed waypoints, or press More, then tap a waypoint, Last Viewed Waypoint, or Parked Car Waypoint.
4. Tap the face to switch to it after pressing the Digital Crown to save your changes.

Once the complication has been added, you may press it to have the waypoint shown in the Compass app.

Did you know that the Backtrack function allows you to track your path before going backwards? To find out how, see our special page on Backtrack.