Choose a destination on the map
Press and hold the map to place a pin, drag it to refine the destination, then use that point for navigation. A location button recenters the map on your current position.
Support Center
Homing Pigeon
Simple directional navigation for people who want to head toward a destination without following turn-by-turn routes.
Navigation
420 m
▲
Cafe de Jaren
18 degrees off course
Support overview
Find a place, point the arrow, and keep moving.
Homing Pigeon shows the direct bearing and distance to the destination you choose. It is useful when you want a clear sense of direction while walking, exploring, crossing a park, returning to a saved point, or navigating without a full map route.
Features
Everything the app helps you do
Search addresses and places
Use Apple Maps search to find addresses and points of interest. Selecting a result moves the pin to that coordinate so you can confirm it before navigating.
Visual direction arrow
The navigation screen rotates a clear arrow toward your target and shows how far off course you are in degrees.
Live distance readout
Distance is displayed in meters nearby and kilometers for longer trips, with updates based on your current location.
Directional sound feedback
Optional sound cues can guide you while the phone stays in your pocket. The base sound interval can be adjusted from 1 to 10 seconds.
Haptic feedback
Optional haptic taps help you feel when you need to correct course. Taps become more frequent when the destination is farther away from your current heading.
Arrival detection
Set the arrival radius to 5, 10, 25, 50, or 100 meters. When you enter that radius, Homing Pigeon marks the destination as arrived.
Background navigation
When enabled and permitted by iOS, Homing Pigeon can continue location updates while the app is in the background.
Stationary options
Separate settings control whether sound and haptic feedback should continue while you are stationary.
Apple Watch
Keep direction on your wrist.
The Apple Watch app mirrors your iPhone destination and navigation settings. Set the destination on iPhone first, then use the watch to see the arrow, remaining distance, and off-course angle at a glance.
- Watch app with visual arrow and distance.
- Haptic guidance from the watch when enabled.
- Complications for circular, corner, rectangular, and inline watch faces.
- Complications refresh more often while navigation is active.
Support
Common questions
Open the Destination tab, search for a place or press and hold the map to place a pin, then tap “Use this point.” Open the Navigation tab and tap “Start Navigation.”
Homing Pigeon needs location permission, GPS accuracy, and heading or movement direction. Move outdoors, grant location access, and walk a few steps so iOS can provide a reliable course.
Choose the destination on your iPhone first. The watch receives the destination and settings from the phone, then shows the directional arrow and distance.
Background navigation requires iOS location permission that allows updates outside the foreground app. You can disable background navigation in Settings at any time.
Open Settings and turn off Sound, Haptic feedback, stationary feedback, or the visual arrow. You can also increase the base sound interval for less frequent sound cues.
Need more help?
Send a short description of the issue, your device model, iOS or watchOS version, and what you were trying to do.
Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy for Homing Pigeon
Effective date: May 15, 2026
Overview
Homing Pigeon is designed to provide directional navigation using your device’s location, heading, and destination choices. The app stores navigation settings and the selected destination locally on your device so the app can continue a navigation session and share it with the Apple Watch app.
Information the app uses
The app may use your current location, movement course, compass heading, selected destination coordinates, destination name, navigation state, and app settings such as sound, haptics, arrival radius, and background navigation preferences.
Location and background use
Location is used to calculate distance, bearing, arrival status, and feedback timing. If background navigation is enabled and you grant the required iOS permission, the app may continue receiving location updates while it is not visible so navigation feedback can continue.
Address search
Address and place search uses Apple Maps services through MapKit. Search queries and selected search results may be processed by Apple according to Apple’s privacy practices.
Apple Watch and complications
When you use the Apple Watch app or watch face complications, Homing Pigeon shares the active destination, navigation state, settings, distance, bearing information, and update time between your iPhone and Apple Watch. This is used to display watch navigation and complication content.
Local storage
Homing Pigeon saves your current navigation session and settings in local device storage. Watch complication snapshots may be stored in the app group shared by the iPhone app, Watch app, and complication extension.
Data sharing
The app does not include account creation, advertising tracking, or an analytics service. Homing Pigeon does not sell your personal information. Data is used for the app features described in this policy.
Your choices
You can stop navigation inside the app, disable sound or haptic feedback, turn off background navigation in app settings, and manage location permissions in iOS Settings. Removing the app deletes app data managed by iOS.
Children’s privacy
Homing Pigeon is not designed to collect personal information from children. The app provides device-based navigation features and does not offer user accounts.
Changes to this policy
This policy may be updated when the app changes. The effective date above indicates the current version.
Contact
For privacy questions, contact homingpigeon@turen.nl.