Big North: a navigation app for Apple Watch
BIG NORTH. Giant, readable outdoor information for Apple Watch.
Can’t read the tiny compass on your Apple Watch?
Big North takes the opposite approach: giant, high-contrast compass headings, with elevation, GPS distance and step count just a swipe away.
Built for hiking, walking, boating and travel. No clutter. No subscription. $3.99 one-time purchase.
Written first for Kim.
THREE SWIPES. THE INFORMATION YOU ACTUALLY WANT.
COMPASS Giant, high-contrast, color-coded direction letters designed for a quick glance.
ELEVATION Swipe once for elevation in both feet and meters.
DISTANCE + STEPS Swipe again for GPS distance in miles or kilometers, plus your pedometer step count.
That’s it on purpose. Big North is not a mapping app or a route planner. It is the outdoor information you want to read immediately, without digging through menus.
GIANT FONT, COLOR-CODED COMPASS HEADINGS
• Red for West (port)
• Green for East (starboard)
• Yellow for northerly bearings
• Black for southerly ones
$3.99 ONE TIME | NO SUBSCRIPTION | NO ADS | NO TRACKING | DATA STAYS ON YOUR WATCH
WHY I BUILT BIG NORTH
Big North began with a simple request from my wife, Kim.
When I was younger, I spent years involved in wilderness search and rescue, professional whitewater river guiding, mountaineering, backcountry hiking and skiing, and long-distance bicycle camping, with outdoor experience spanning four continents. I learned early that outdoors, the most useful information is often the information you can understand immediately.
Years later, while Kim and I were hiking, she pointed out a very ordinary problem. When she wanted to check our direction or elevation on her Apple Watch, the information was difficult to read quickly without reaching for her reading glasses.
So she asked me to make something simpler.
That became Big North. It isn’t intended to replace a mapping or route-navigation app. It puts the basic information we actually want outdoors, direction, elevation, GPS distance and steps, into large, uncluttered displays that are easy to read at a glance.
Written first for Kim.
Founded in 1998, Wild Tree Designs is a consulting and design firm. Our prior projects have included designs in print, film, music, science, healthcare and technology. We are particular experts in out-of-the-box solutions for complex and unique problems.
Information We Collect: NONE!
Big North respects your privacy. This app was designed to work entirely on your device and does not collect, store or transmit personal data. Specifically, Big North does not collect personal information, location history, identifiers, analytics, usage data, diagnostics, contacts, photos or health data.
In addition, all compass, altitude, step, and movement information is processed locally on your Apple Watch and never leaves your device. Any sensor data (compass, motion, altitude, steps) is used only to display information on your watch, processed in real time, never stored remotely, never shared and never sold.
Big North does not use advertising networks, analytics SDKs, tracking libraries or third-party data services.
No data is shared with anyone.
Big North does not knowingly collect any information from children under 13.
If this policy ever changes, updates will be posted on this page.