diff --git a/src/compass.ts b/src/compass.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c43034
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/compass.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+// Compass widget — top-right SVG rose that rotates by -deviceHeading so N points at true north.
+import L from 'leaflet';
+import type { AppState } from './types';
+import { requestOrientationPermission, subscribeOrientation } from './orientation';
+
+const COMPASS_HTML = `<svg viewBox="0 0 40 40" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true">
+  <circle cx="20" cy="20" r="18" fill="rgba(255,255,255,0.92)" stroke="#444" stroke-width="1.5"/>
+  <polygon points="20,4 24,18 16,18" fill="#d33"/>
+  <polygon points="20,36 24,22 16,22" fill="#666"/>
+  <text x="20" y="14" font-size="9" font-weight="700" text-anchor="middle" fill="#222" font-family="sans-serif">N</text>
+</svg>`;
+
+export function addCompassControl(map: L.Map, state: AppState): void {
+  let unsubscribe: (() => void) | null = null;
+
+  const Control = L.Control.extend({
+    onAdd() {
+      const button = L.DomUtil.create('button', 'compass-rose') as HTMLButtonElement;
+      button.type = 'button';
+      button.title = 'Compass — tap to enable';
+      button.setAttribute('aria-label', 'Compass — tap to enable');
+      button.innerHTML = COMPASS_HTML;
+
+      L.DomEvent.disableClickPropagation(button);
+      L.DomEvent.disableScrollPropagation(button);
+
+      // Hide entirely if the platform doesn't expose orientation events at all (desktop).
+      if (typeof DeviceOrientationEvent === 'undefined') {
+        button.classList.add('compass-rose--unavailable');
+        state.compassPermission = 'unsupported';
+        return button;
+      }
+
+      L.DomEvent.on(button, 'click', () => {
+        if (state.compassPermission === 'granted') return;
+        void requestOrientationPermission().then((permission) => {
+          state.compassPermission = permission;
+          if (permission === 'granted') {
+            button.classList.add('compass-rose--active');
+            button.title = 'Compass';
+            button.setAttribute('aria-label', 'Compass');
+            unsubscribe = subscribeOrientation((heading) => {
+              button.style.setProperty('--heading-deg', `${-heading}deg`);
+            });
+          } else {
+            button.classList.add('compass-rose--unavailable');
+            button.title = permission === 'denied' ? 'Compass permission denied' : 'Compass not supported';
+            button.setAttribute('aria-label', button.title);
+          }
+        });
+      });
+
+      return button;
+    },
+    onRemove() {
+      if (unsubscribe !== null) {
+        unsubscribe();
+        unsubscribe = null;
+      }
+    },
+  });
+
+  new Control({ position: 'topright' }).addTo(map);
+}
diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index 0f3bf57..6065f91 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import { onLocationFound, onLocationError, clearLocationMarkers } from './locati
 import { startWatching, stopWatching } from './timer';
 import { addOfflineDownloadControl } from './offline-download';
 import { addGuidanceControl } from './guidance';
+import { addCompassControl } from './compass';
 import { initBattery } from './battery';
 import { registerSW } from 'virtual:pwa-register';
 
@@ -305,6 +306,7 @@ addOfflineDownloadControl(map, showToast);
 addSearchControl(map, state, showToast);
 addReverseGeocoding(map, state, showToast);
 addGuidanceControl(map, state, activatePolling, deactivatePolling);
+addCompassControl(map, state);
 
 // ── Version badge + changelog panel ───────────────────────────────────────────
 const versionBadge = document.createElement('button');
diff --git a/src/orientation.test.ts b/src/orientation.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..768428a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/orientation.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { extractHeading } from './orientation';
+
+function fakeEvent(props: Partial<DeviceOrientationEvent> & { webkitCompassHeading?: number }): DeviceOrientationEvent {
+  return props as DeviceOrientationEvent;
+}
+
+describe('extractHeading', () => {
+  it('prefers iOS webkitCompassHeading when present', () => {
+    const e = fakeEvent({ alpha: 200, webkitCompassHeading: 90 });
+    expect(extractHeading(e)).toBe(90);
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to (360 - alpha) when webkitCompassHeading is absent', () => {
+    expect(extractHeading(fakeEvent({ alpha: 90 }))).toBe(270);
+    expect(extractHeading(fakeEvent({ alpha: 0 }))).toBe(0);
+    expect(extractHeading(fakeEvent({ alpha: 359 }))).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it('normalises negative or out-of-range webkitCompassHeading into 0–360', () => {
+    expect(extractHeading(fakeEvent({ alpha: 0, webkitCompassHeading: -10 }))).toBe(350);
+    expect(extractHeading(fakeEvent({ alpha: 0, webkitCompassHeading: 720 }))).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  it('returns null when neither field is usable', () => {
+    expect(extractHeading(fakeEvent({ alpha: null }))).toBeNull();
+    expect(extractHeading(fakeEvent({ alpha: NaN }))).toBeNull();
+    expect(extractHeading(fakeEvent({ alpha: NaN, webkitCompassHeading: NaN }))).toBeNull();
+  });
+
+  it('skips webkitCompassHeading if it is NaN and falls back to alpha', () => {
+    expect(extractHeading(fakeEvent({ alpha: 90, webkitCompassHeading: NaN }))).toBe(270);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/orientation.ts b/src/orientation.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b3047c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/orientation.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+// DeviceOrientationEvent wrapper: iOS-13+ permission gate + heading extraction. Used by compass.ts.
+
+export type OrientationPermission = 'unknown' | 'unsupported' | 'granted' | 'denied';
+
+interface DeviceOrientationEventStatic {
+  requestPermission?: () => Promise<'granted' | 'denied'>;
+}
+
+// iOS webkitCompassHeading is already true-north clockwise; W3C alpha is anti-clockwise so flip it.
+export function extractHeading(event: DeviceOrientationEvent): number | null {
+  const ios = (event as DeviceOrientationEvent & { webkitCompassHeading?: number }).webkitCompassHeading;
+  if (typeof ios === 'number' && !isNaN(ios)) {
+    return ((ios % 360) + 360) % 360;
+  }
+  if (event.alpha !== null && !isNaN(event.alpha)) {
+    return ((360 - event.alpha) % 360 + 360) % 360;
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+// Must be called from inside a user-gesture handler on iOS or the prompt is suppressed.
+export async function requestOrientationPermission(): Promise<OrientationPermission> {
+  if (typeof DeviceOrientationEvent === 'undefined') return 'unsupported';
+  const cls = DeviceOrientationEvent as unknown as DeviceOrientationEventStatic;
+  if (typeof cls.requestPermission !== 'function') return 'granted';
+  try {
+    const result = await cls.requestPermission();
+    return result;
+  } catch {
+    return 'denied';
+  }
+}
+
+// 'deviceorientationabsolute' yields true-north headings without calibration when available.
+export function subscribeOrientation(onHeading: (heading: number) => void): () => void {
+  const handler = (event: Event): void => {
+    const heading = extractHeading(event as DeviceOrientationEvent);
+    if (heading !== null) onHeading(heading);
+  };
+  const eventName = 'ondeviceorientationabsolute' in window ? 'deviceorientationabsolute' : 'deviceorientation';
+  window.addEventListener(eventName, handler);
+  return () => window.removeEventListener(eventName, handler);
+}
diff --git a/src/style.css b/src/style.css
index 0ef08ba..8493d94 100644
--- a/src/style.css
+++ b/src/style.css
@@ -1714,3 +1714,28 @@ body { height: 100%; width: 100%; padding: 0; margin: 0; }
   margin: 8px 24px;
 }
 
+/* Device-orientation compass (top-right). Initial state is muted; first tap requests permission
+   on iOS, after which .compass-rose--active rotates the SVG by --heading-deg. */
+.compass-rose {
+  width: 36px;
+  height: 36px;
+  padding: 0;
+  border: 0;
+  background: transparent;
+  cursor: pointer;
+  opacity: 0.55;
+  transition: opacity 0.2s ease;
+  display: block;
+}
+.compass-rose:hover,
+.compass-rose:focus-visible { opacity: 0.9; }
+.compass-rose svg {
+  width: 100%;
+  height: 100%;
+  display: block;
+  transform: rotate(var(--heading-deg, 0deg));
+  transition: transform 0.12s linear;
+}
+.compass-rose--active { opacity: 1; cursor: default; }
+.compass-rose--unavailable { display: none; }
+
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index 68a1821..816e6d4 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import type L from 'leaflet';
 import type { Keepalive } from './keepalive';
 import type { Costing, Route } from './routing';
+import type { OrientationPermission } from './orientation';
 
 // Three-state location button: off → active (following) → passive (dot visible, not following)
 export type LocateState = 'off' | 'active' | 'passive';
@@ -58,6 +59,9 @@ export interface AppState {
   lastValidHeadingDeg: number | null;
   lastValidHeadingMs: number;
 
+  // Device-orientation compass: permission state cached so subsequent taps skip the prompt
+  compassPermission: OrientationPermission;
+
   // Hysteresis state for GPS weak-signal badge — prevents flicker in marginal signal
   gpsWeakStreak: number;        // consecutive fixes with accuracy > TRAIL_MAX_ACCURACY_M
   gpsStrongStreak: number;      // consecutive fixes with accuracy < (TRAIL_MAX_ACCURACY_M - 5)
@@ -98,6 +102,7 @@ export function createInitialState(): AppState {
     lastGpsAccuracy: null,
     lastValidHeadingDeg: null,
     lastValidHeadingMs: 0,
+    compassPermission: 'unknown',
     gpsWeakStreak: 0,
     gpsStrongStreak: 0,
     gpsWeakBadgeVisible: false,