Support Center

When you first open the app, tap a point or the « + » button. iOS will ask for Location (GPS) permission, which the compass and add-point screen need to function. If you accidentally deny it, a Settings button takes you to iOS Settings to enable it manually. The app starts with 3 essential points (Al Kaaba, Al Masjid Al Aqsa, Jabal Arafat); everything else is opt-in.

Browse the online catalog at arrowtopin.com/landmarks for famous mosques, cathedrals, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh and Shinto temples, world wonders, towers and skyscrapers, castles and palaces, monuments and statues, museums, soccer and NFL stadiums, NBA and NHL arenas, tennis courts, mountains, volcanoes, government buildings and natural wonders. Tap Open in Arrow to Pin on any landmark, then Save in the compass screen to add it to your library. Every saved point is then fully editable, deletable and shareable.

Tap the « + » button on the home screen, then choose Manual (create your own point) or Library (browse the in-app landmarks catalog). For Manual: place the marker by tapping the map (use the expand button for full-screen precision), by typing coordinates in DD format with the scroll-wheel pickers, or by tapping Current Location. Give the point a name (and optional alternative name in any script: Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Hebrew…), set initials (A-Z 0-9, auto-generated from the name or customizable), choose a category (Personal by default), select a country (auto-detected from the map or via the searchable list), and optionally add a photo that replaces the initials in the circle. For Library: browse the in-app catalog of famous landmarks and tap to add.

Tap any point in the home list to open the compass. Rotate your body until the colored sector and target marker (triangle with tail) align with the white reference line at the top: red when more than 45° off, orange when within 45°, green when aligned within the threshold (default ±10°). Live distance, speed, bearing, altitude and margin of error update as you move. The screen stays awake during navigation. When you arrive within the arrival distance (default 10 m), a green checkmark with « Arrived » confirms it.

Arrow to Pin uses your iPhone's built-in magnetometer (for heading) and GPS (for position) to compute the great-circle bearing from where you are to any saved destination. The dial shows graduations every 2° with numbers every 30° and the four cardinal letters (N, E, S, W). A colored sector and target marker indicate the direction; the background tints follow the same color logic for at-a-glance feedback.

Arrow to Pin computes the Qibla using the great-circle formula from your current GPS position to the precise coordinates of Al Kaaba in Mecca. Al Kaaba is one of the 3 starter points loaded by default, so it works out of the box. Bearing accuracy is typically better than 1° once your iPhone compass is calibrated. Works correctly anywhere on Earth, including during Hajj and Umrah.

As you rotate, the colored sector and target marker change color: red when you are more than 45° off, orange when you are within 45° (getting close), green when you are aligned within the threshold set in Settings (default ±10°, range 5°-20°). When green, your phone vibrates and plays a sound (both can be disabled in Settings).

When you are very close to your destination (within the arrival distance, default 10 m, range 10 m to 50 m), small GPS fluctuations of ±5-15 m make the bearing jump around erratically and the directional reading becomes unreliable. Instead, Arrow to Pin shows a green checkmark with Arrived. You can adjust the arrival distance in Settings.

The compass shows three live margins of error reported by iOS: Position (Pos) is the horizontal GPS accuracy (e.g. ±8 m). Altitude (Alt) is the elevation accuracy, generally less precise (e.g. ±10 m). Speed (Spd) is the movement speed accuracy (e.g. ±1.8 km/h). Lower numbers mean better precision. Values depend on satellite visibility, nearby Wi-Fi networks, and your environment. The compass works best outdoors with clear sky.

Arrow to Pin displays your real-time movement speed (km/h or mph depending on units), measured by your iPhone's GPS. It is accurate when you are moving (walking, cycling, driving). When stationary it may display « -- » because GPS cannot reliably measure speed without movement; this is normal.

They are the cardinal points: N (North) at 0°, E (East) at 90°, S (South) at 180°, W (West) at 270°, placed inside the dial of dense graduations (every 2°) and degree numbers (every 30°). They rotate in real time with your iPhone's magnetometer. The N and the 0 are highlighted in red so North is instantly recognizable. The fixed white line at the top always shows the direction your phone is pointing.

When enabled in Settings (under Compass), it prevents your iPhone screen from going to sleep while the compass or Astro page is open, so you don't have to keep unlocking your phone during navigation. Normal sleep behavior resumes automatically when you leave the compass. Enabled by default.

Arrow to Pin uses a pure black interface, similar to Apple's Compass and Stocks apps. Pure black gives maximum contrast for compass readability, reduces eye strain during navigation (especially at night), and saves battery on OLED iPhone screens. The dark interface is optimized for the app's primary use case: real-time directional navigation.

Try these in order: 1. Calibrate your iPhone compass by moving the phone in a slow figure-8 motion for 5 to 10 seconds. 2. Move away from large metal objects, magnets, speakers, MagSafe charging surfaces, and electronic interference. 3. Enable Precise Location in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Arrow to Pin. 4. Make sure you are outdoors or near a window for a strong GPS signal. 5. Restart the Arrow to Pin app. 6. Restart your iPhone if the issue persists.

The Astro page shows a live 24-hour solar arc with sunrise, solar noon, sunset, day length, and the three twilight bands (civil at -6°, nautical at -12°, astronomical at -18°). Computations use the NOAA Solar Calculator algorithm, the worldwide reference for solar positions, with altitude correction for the observer's elevation. Accuracy: ±1 minute for sunrise/sunset times, ±0.01° for azimuth and elevation. The sun position is also overlaid as a yellow marker on the compass dial, refreshed every 10 seconds.

The Astro Moon panel shows a live 24-hour lunar arc with moonrise, moonset, transit time, current phase, illumination percentage, Earth-Moon distance, lunar day, and a calendar of the upcoming 8 phases. Computations use Jean Meeus' algorithm (Astronomical Algorithms, Ch. 47 with 60 longitude terms and 30 latitude terms; phase dates from Ch. 49). Accuracy: position ±0.3°, illumination ±0.2%, distance ±24 km, phase boundaries ±27 minutes vs. NASA JPL Horizons ephemerides.

The synodic lunar cycle lasts about 29.5 days: New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Last Quarter, Waning Crescent. The 4 primary phases (New, First Quarter, Full, Last Quarter) are exact instants. The 4 intermediate phases are the periods between them. Useful for photographers (golden vs. blue hour), hikers, sailors, and anyone observing religious calendars based on the moon (Ramadan, Jewish months, Hindu festivals).

The Sky Compass overlays the live sun and moon positions on the dial, each with a circular marker and a dashed line connecting them to their azimuth on the dial. A built-in level indicator shows your phone's tilt. The white direction indicator at the top turns red when pointing North (±2°) and yellow when pointing at the sun or moon (±2°). Positions refresh every 30 seconds.

The online catalog at arrowtopin.com/landmarks groups famous landmarks by type: religious sites (mosques, cathedrals, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh and Shinto temples, Bahá'í sacred sites), tourist landmarks (world wonders, towers and skyscrapers, castles and palaces, monuments, museums), sports venues (soccer, NFL, NBA, NHL, Olympic, multisport, tennis), government buildings worldwide, and geographic wonders (mountains, volcanoes, natural landmarks). The app itself starts with 3 essential points (Al Kaaba, Al Masjid Al Aqsa, Jabal Arafat); everything else is opt-in.

Yes. Every point in your library is fully editable, deletable and shareable, including the 3 starter points and any landmark you saved from the online catalog. Long-press a point in the list to open the context menu with 4 actions: Share, Edit, Favorite/Unfavorite, and Delete. The Edit action (rename, change category/country, swap photo, adjust coordinates) is also reachable from the compass toolbar after tapping the point. If you ever want the 3 starter points back, use Reset App in Settings.

Long-press any point and choose Share. The iOS share sheet opens; pick WhatsApp, iMessage, Mail, AirDrop, Telegram, Signal, Copy, or any compatible app. The recipient gets a Universal Link of the form https://arrowtopin.com/share?n=…&lat=…&lng=… that opens directly in their Arrow to Pin app if installed, or a preview page with Apple Maps and Google Maps fallbacks if not. They can save the shared point to their own library in one tap from the compass screen.

No. Saved points are stored locally on each device, with no cloud sync. This is a deliberate privacy choice: your points never leave your device. To put a point on another device, share it via the Share feature and open the link on the other device.

14 languages: English, French, Arabic (with full right-to-left layout), Spanish, German, Turkish, Portuguese, Italian, Indonesian, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Japanese, Korean. Pick your language in Settings; the change takes effect at the next launch.

You can choose between metric (km, m) and imperial (mi, ft) for distances and altitudes throughout the app. The default is detected automatically from your device locale. Change it anytime in Settings → General → Distance Units. GPS accuracy and arrival distance thresholds are always shown in meters.

Yes. Open Settings → Compass: Alignment threshold (default 10°, range 5°-20°) controls how precise you need to be to trigger « aligned ». Accuracy warning (default 25 m, range 10-50 m) controls when a GPS quality warning is shown. Arrival distance (default 10 m, range 10-50 m) controls when the compass switches to « Arrived ». Lower numbers mean stricter precision.

Open Settings → Data → Import / Export, then tap Export. Arrow to Pin builds a JSON file (ArrowToPin_YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS.json) containing all your saved points (id, name, alternative name, coordinates, initials, category, country code, favorite flag, dates) and opens the iOS share sheet so you can save it to Files, AirDrop it, or send it by Mail / iMessage / WhatsApp. The file is plain text, human-readable, and self-contained.

Open Settings → Data → Import / Export, tap Import, and pick a JSON file previously exported from Arrow to Pin (max 5 MB, max 1000 points per file). The app validates every point before importing anything: name required, valid coordinates, supported category. Existing points (matched by ID) are updated in place; new points are inserted. A progress indicator shows the count, and a final summary lists how many were inserted vs. updated. If validation fails on any point, no changes are written.

Photos attached to your points are stored as separate files in the app's private sandbox (Apple's iOS sandbox model isolates files between apps). For privacy and portability, the JSON export contains only the metadata of each point, not the binary photo data. After importing on another device, the points appear without their photos; you can re-attach photos from the Edit screen. The points themselves (name, coordinates, category, country, initials, favorite status) are preserved exactly.

Long-press the point in the home list to open the context menu, then tap Edit. The Edit screen lets you rename the point, change its alternative name, adjust coordinates by tapping the map or typing them, swap or remove the photo, change initials, category, country, and favorite status. The same Edit action is also available from the compass toolbar after tapping the point.

Push notifications are optional. To enable: Settings → Notifications → Push notifications. Once enabled, the app may occasionally send you a suggested landmark, an app update, or an astronomical event, in your language. To stop receiving them, toggle the same switch off, or revoke permission via iOS Settings → Notifications → Arrow to Pin.

Open Settings → Compass: the Vibration and Sound toggles control the alignment feedback (the "you're aligned" cue when the arrow snaps into the green sector, plus the astronomy alignment cues). Both can be toggled independently. The button-tap haptic across the rest of the app (Settings rows, FAB, save/cancel) is a separate toggle, Haptic feedback, located in Settings → General; it doesn't change the compass alignment vibration.

Arrow to Pin is completely free, with no subscription, no in-app purchases, and no paid tiers. Ads from Google AdMob (a small banner at the bottom and an occasional interstitial after meaningful actions, plus an app open ad) support development. In regulated regions (EU/EEA, UK, California, and others) a consent form is shown on first launch via Google's User Messaging Platform; you can review and update your choices anytime via Settings → Legal → Ad Preferences.

Yes. Open Settings → Security → App Lock and toggle on « Require code at launch ». Set a 4-digit PIN and confirm it. From then on, the app asks for the code at every launch and after returning from the App Switcher. The PIN is hashed with a per-device random salt using SHA-256 and stored only in the iOS Keychain, never in plain text, never synced to iCloud, never readable by us. If you forget the code, the only way out is to uninstall and reinstall the app (your saved points will be lost; the 3 starter points are restored automatically).

Anonymous usage events (screen viewed, point added, compass opened) and crash reports are sent to Google Firebase for product improvement; they contain no GPS data, no point contents, and no personal data. Ads from Google AdMob may use your IDFA only if you grant Tracking permission via iOS App Tracking Transparency. Full details in our Privacy Policy.

iPhone and iPad: Arrow to Pin is a universal iOS app with a layout adapted to each device, larger fonts, wider lists, bigger touch targets and a roomier compass on iPad. The same App Store download covers both. Apple Watch and Android: not yet available. In the meantime, any landmark coordinate from arrowtopin.com/landmarks is universal and can be copied into Google Maps (Android, Web), OpenStreetMap, Garmin handhelds, OsmAnd, Maps.me, or any compatible navigation tool, and each landmark card on arrowtopin.com/landmarks now offers four direct buttons (Arrow to Pin, Apple Maps, Google Maps, OpenStreetMap).