Heritage Compass — Setup and User Guide

Heritage Compass 1.0.1 — by Bobdesigns2026

Discover the stories around you. Heritage Compass uses your watch’s location and compass to show nearby places from English Wikipedia. It is an exploration app for supported Garmin watches.

Illustrated examples with sample places, not live screenshots. Tap the picture to view it full size.

Getting started

1. Install Heritage Compass and open it from your watch’s app list.
2. Keep your watch paired with Garmin Connect on your phone. Allow Garmin Connect to use the internet.
3. Go outdoors and wait for a GPS fix. The app can show previously cached places while acquiring GPS, if enabled in Settings.
4. After a fresh fix, the app attempts its initial nearby search automatically. If needed, open MENU and choose Fetch nearby.
5. Turn slowly. Pins show places in a 60-degree direction sector. The decorative beam is wider to give pins more room. Let your wrist settle to read the list.

New searches and uncached article summaries need internet through Garmin Connect. No Wikipedia account or personal API key is required. Coverage depends on geotagged English Wikipedia articles; the app does not show every attraction, business or building.

The main screen

The top heading follows the compass. The maximum displayed distance appears by the beam; the inner arcs mark fractions of this distance. Use + and − to switch between 100 m, 250 m, 500 m and 1 km. Zoom changes the view of loaded places; it does not make a new internet search.

The lock holds or resumes the place view. The heart saves the selected place; its brief highlight confirms the action. Hold the heart to open Favourites. The list icon opens Places to Explore. The refresh/hourglass control updates the displayed pins and list using loaded data. MENU → Fetch nearby requests new Wikipedia data and is subject to a 60-second cooldown.

LIVE means automatic view updates. MANUAL means use Refresh view after turning. HELD means you deliberately froze the place view. CACHE refers that the view reflect previously cached information while GPS fix or refresh ongoing. The compass continues moving. While turning, the lower list may briefly show Hold still to keep selection reliable.

Selecting and reading places

Tap a main-screen row to select it. Hold that row to select it and open its actions. In Places to Explore, tapping or holding a row opens its actions. Swipe vertically to scroll lists, or use UP/DOWN. On watches without touch, use UP/DOWN to select, START to open actions and MENU for controls including Refresh view and zoom. BACK returns.

• Open on watch: loads a short Wikipedia introduction. This is a bounded summary, not the full article.
• Open on phone: sends the Wikipedia link through Garmin Connect.
• Show on map: available on supported map-capable models. Displays a temporary pin inside the app’s native Garmin map view. Closing this view removes that temporary marker; it does not save a waypoint.
• Start walk to: available where the watch supports saved waypoints. Saves or reuses an app-owned location named HC- followed by the Wikipedia page ID, then hands over to Garmin. The watch may ask you to choose an activity such as Walk. Confirm and start it using Garmin’s controls. Routing and available maps depend on your model, firmware and map installation; launching an activity does not itself prove that guidance is active. The saved location can remain in Garmin Saved Locations.
• Navigate on phone: sends the destination to Apple Maps or Google Maps, according to the app setting. Follow the phone’s prompts to start directions.
• Add/remove favourite: keeps up to 10 places in the app. Favourites do not create Garmin map pins or saved waypoints.

Phone links and directions — finding them on iPhone

Open on phone and Navigate on phone hand a link to Garmin Connect. The watch message Check phone notification does not mean Safari or Maps will open automatically. During our iPhone testing the link worked from Notification Centre even when no banner appeared on the phone screen.

Recommended tuning as the notification management may suppress the notification:

1. Open iPhone Settings → Notifications → Garmin Connect. Enable Allow Notifications and Notification Centre. Enable banners and Lock Screen alerts if you want them.
2. For prompt delivery, remove Garmin Connect from Scheduled Summary or select immediate delivery where offered. Check Focus / Do Not Disturb allows Garmin Connect.
3. Set Notification Grouping → Off for Garmin Connect if individual links are easier to find. Otherwise tap the Garmin Connect stack to expand it.
4. On supported iPhones, we recommend disabling Summarise Notifications for Garmin Connect. An AI summary can make the original link less obvious; expand the notification to find it.
5. If Prioritise Notifications is enabled, do not look only in the priority area. Check the full Notification Centre; the link may be below higher-priority alerts. Priority sorting does not guarantee a banner.

After sending a place, unlock your iPhone, open Notification Centre, expand the Garmin Connect notification and tap its link. For directions, follow Apple Maps or Google Maps prompts to start navigation. Bluetooth pairing and internet access are needed. Avoid repeatedly resending before checking the notification list. Setting names and availability vary by iOS version and model. Android behaviour still needs device verification.

Apple reference: iPhone notification settings.

Settings

Open MENU → Settings, or the app’s settings in the Connect IQ phone application after installation.

• Default view distance: 100 m, 250 m, 500 m or 1 km. This is the starting zoom; the nearby search radius stays 1 km.
• Display cache before GPS lock: On shows all available cached places without directional pins while acquiring GPS. Off waits for a fresh fix. Cached distances can refer to the last known location.
• Auto refresh: On is the default and updates the place view automatically as you turn. Off keeps the list fixed after its initial load until you press the on-screen Refresh control or MENU → Refresh view, including while viewing cached places before GPS lock. Acquiring a new GPS fix does not refresh the displayed list until you press Refresh. Neither option continuously refetches Wikipedia. Compass animation continues in both modes.
• Screen duration: Watch default, or request 15 or 30 seconds after interaction. Firmware and power controls may limit this request.
• Brightness: Watch default, Low, Medium or High, subject to device support and Garmin controls.
• Colour scheme: Dark city or Porcelain & copper.
• Phone maps: Apple Maps (iPhone) or Google Maps. This chooses the link provider; it does not change the phone’s system-wide default app.

Cache, GPS and troubleshooting

The app requests up to 100 nearby articles within 1 km. The local nearby snapshot can be reused for 15 minutes when applicable. Places to Explore browses loaded and stored places without a new request button to switch between fresh and cached information. A last good location may be reused for display for up to 24 hours while GPS is reacquired; a fresh fix is still required for a new nearby search. Cached places are not a downloaded offline map. GPS position refreshed time to time and if the position changed than a threshold refresh is automatically triggered. 

If nothing appears, check the GPS message, try outdoors, check Garmin Connect and your internet connection, then use Fetch nearby. After moving beyond the search area, Fetch nearby loads the new area. Fewer than 100 results may exist. If a request appears stuck, MENU → Reset requests cancels it so you can retry. Diagnostics shows GPS age, heading, memory and request information.

An uncached article can fail without internet, while a recently cached summary still opens. HTTP/transport errors describe a failed request, not missing saved favourites. If GPS remains stuck, close and reopen the app; do not treat cached coordinates as your current position.

Editions and payment

Full edition: purchased through Garmin’s supported Connect IQ store checkout, with no trial or KiezelPay activation.

KiezelPay edition: with a 72-hour trial and separate activation. The final price will be shown at checkout. Do not pay using another app’s product code.

About the content

Wikipedia text: Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Introductions are shortened plain-text extracts. Open the source article for contributor credits, history and full text. Independent app; not endorsed by Garmin or Wikimedia.

Heritage Compass is an independent app and is not endorsed by Garmin, Wikipedia or the Wikimedia Foundation.

Support: contact@vainqueur.co.uk. Version 1.0.1 preparation, 30 October 2026.