Help & FAQ
How do I get started?
Open Compiss and tap Allow when iOS asks for your location. That's all the setup there is — the nearest toilet appears straight away.
Why does Compiss need my location?
To work out which toilet is closest and which way to point you. Your personal location is used entirely on your device — it's never uploaded, stored as your movements, or shared. If you deliberately submit a missing toilet, the map pin you place for that facility is sent for review. See our Privacy page for the full picture.
How do I read the compass?
The big arrow in the centre points to the nearest toilet and turns as you do, so just walk in the direction it's facing. The outer dial shows N/E/S/W and rotates to stay true to the real world. Smaller icons around the dial are other nearby toilets, placed at their real bearing with their distance labelled.
What do the badges mean?
- Accessible (♿) — has step-free / disabled facilities.
- Baby change — has baby-changing facilities.
- FREE — no payment required to use it.
- RADAR key — locked to the National Key Scheme; you'll need a RADAR key to get in.
- All gender — has all-gender / gender-neutral facilities.
Use Filters (on the map, or under Info) to show only toilets that have the facilities you need. Filters apply to the compass target and backup toilets; the open-now filter hides toilets with unknown hours.
The arrow points the wrong way / spins around
Compiss uses your phone's magnetometer, the same sensor as Apple Maps and the built-in Compass app. If it's jumpy, move away from metal, magnets and phone cases with magnets, then wave the phone in a figure-of-eight to recalibrate. Holding the phone flat also helps.
A toilet is missing, closed, or in the wrong place
On the Map tab, press and hold where the toilet is to drop a pin and add it. Line the pin up over the entrance, add the name, facilities and any helpful details, then send it for review while online. Nothing is published until a moderator approves it — once approved it appears with a Community added label. The bundled data comes from Toilet Map in the UK and OpenStreetMap elsewhere, so corrections to those records should still be made at the relevant source.
What are "Current conditions"?
On a toilet's details you'll see live community reports — whether it's open, closed, out of order, queueing or needs supplies right now. Tap Update to add your own. Reports fade automatically as they age (they stop counting after about six hours), so what you see stays trustworthy, and published opening hours still show if there's no recent report. Anyone can read conditions; adding one needs a free account.
How do ratings, notes and photos work?
You can rate how clean a toilet was — measured in loo rolls (one to five, instead of stars) — and optionally leave a short note or add a photo to help the next person. Everyone can see the average rating; reading notes and photos, and contributing your own, needs a free account. Everything is moderated before it appears, and you can edit or remove anything you've added. Photos are stripped of location data on your device before upload.
Can I check toilets somewhere else before I go?
Yes — open the Search tab and type a postcode, town or station to scout the toilets there ahead of time. You can sort results by Nearest, Cleanest or Free first. Only the words you type are sent to look up the place; your own location never leaves your phone, and the compass keeps pointing at whatever's nearest to you.
What's in History and Favourites?
Tap the heart on any toilet to save it to Favourites. The History tab also keeps your recently viewed toilets so you can jump back to them. It's stored only on your device, works without an account, and you can clear it any time.
Is there an Apple Watch app?
Yes. Compiss on Apple Watch gives you the same radar on your wrist — a compass pointing to the nearest toilet, a map of what's around, distance and facilities, and its own light/dark setting. It runs on its own, no phone in hand required.
Does it work without signal?
Yes. Toilet records are bundled inside the app, so Compiss works with no mobile data and no Wi-Fi. You only need GPS, which works offline.
Still need a hand?
Drop us a line at hello@compiss.app and we'll happily help.