One Thing You Should Know about Your iPhone if You Ever Get Lost in the Woods

Spring is (sort of, hopefully) upon us! Meaning you may soon be venturing into the great outdoors. It’s probably been awhile, so it’s about time you learned how to use iOS 7’s Compass app.

Aside from just telling you the coordinates of your location and which way you’re facing, the app also has a little-known feature that allows you to set your bearing. It’s a helpful tool for anyone who enjoys a brief detour from the hiking trail but doesn’t want to get lost.

Here’s how it works:
1. Open your Compass app.

2. Point your iPhone in the direction you’d like to travel, and then tap once on the screen. This will lock your desired orientation into place.

3. As you veer from your course, your compass will highlight the difference of direction in red.

4. If at any time you’d like to reorient, just tap the screen again and the compass will reset.

OK, it’s not as cool as the working level. But if the sun is setting and you have no idea how to make it back to the parking lot, this might just be the tool that saves you from sleeping with the snakes. 

Or, at the very least, it’ll impress your local Boy Scout troop.