Bearing Support

Does Bearing make me wait for GPS?

No. The photo is taken the moment you press. Bearing then keeps listening for a few seconds (the settle window, 8 s by default) and uses the best fix around the shutter moment. If the result is worse than ±25 m, the record is labelled “below evidence grade” rather than refused.

What does “motion-corrected” mean?

When you are moving, the last GPS fix can be a second old, which is about 17 m at 60 km/h. Bearing moves the position along your measured course and speed to the shutter moment and adds the extra uncertainty to the ± value.

How do I get the most accurate fix?

Touch and hold the shutter. Keep still for 8 seconds while Bearing averages positions. Open sky, away from tall buildings, helps most. An external Bluetooth GNSS receiver is recognised automatically.

What does the stamp say with no network?

City shows the nearest place from Bearing’s built-in list, for example “14 km NE of Munnar”, with state and country. In India a DIGIPIN is shown; elsewhere a Plus Code. The map shows an offline locator. When you reconnect, Bearing looks up the street address, seals it as an addendum, and offers to re-render the stamp. The original stamp is kept.

What is Muted Capture?

Tap the seal button at the top. Photos are saved clean, with no stamp, but every measurement is sealed. Open the record later and tap Recall stamp. The recalled stamp shows both the capture time and the time it was rendered. Muted zones do this automatically at places you choose, such as home.

How do I let someone check my photo?

After taking the photo:

1. Open it in Bearing: tap the thumbnail beside the shutter, or find it in Places.
2. Tap Share, then Share photo and link. Choose how much of the location the link shows.
3. Send it in any app.

The other person taps the link. Their browser shows the sealed time, place and a preview of the photo, with nothing to install, open or type. To confirm the photo they received is the exact sealed file, they can drop it on the same page.

When should I send the Capture Record (PDF) instead?

For formal records: it carries the untouched original, every stamp and every detail, including the exact location. The other person opens critstudios.com/bearing/verify (or Bearing › Verify › Choose a file), drops in the PDF and, if it is locked, types the record code from the photo’s stamp.

Does a check link reveal where I was?

Only as much as you choose: exact, about 100 m, about 1 km, the town only, or nothing. It defaults to what the photo’s own stamp shows. Whatever you hide stays sealed in the record but is not in the link, and cannot be worked out from it. Check links work for photos taken with Bearing 2.3 or later.

Can I check a photo with just its record code?

No. The code alone checks nothing. It only opens a locked Capture Record PDF. Ask for the PDF.

Why does sharing a link need the internet?

To keep the link short (about 60 characters) for WhatsApp, AirDrop and text messages, Bearing stores an encrypted copy of the details on critstudios.com. The key is in the link itself, so only people who have the link can open it. If you are offline, share the Capture Record instead, or try again later.

Can I take a link back?

Yes. Open the photo, tap Share, then Delete the shared link. Anyone who opens it afterwards is told it no longer works. The photo and its seal on your iPhone are not affected.

AirDrop sent only the link, not the photo.

AirDrop can’t receive a photo and a web link together, so Bearing sends the link on its own. It opens straight in Safari with the sealed preview. To send the photo too, use Other ways to share › Photo only.

In WhatsApp, the photo arrived without the link.

Share photo and link puts the link in the photo’s caption. If an older WhatsApp leaves it out, tap Copy link only and paste the link into the chat.

What is the record code?

The 12 characters after RECORD on the photo’s stamp, also shown on the record screen. When the Capture Record is locked, the code opens it, in Bearing, in the browser verifier or in any PDF reader. Upper or lower case both work. Whoever has the stamped photo can read the code; for a muted photo, which has no stamp, send the code separately. The code is never part of the file name.

Why does Verify say “visually matches” instead of “matches”?

Messaging apps re-encode photos, so the bytes change and the seal cannot confirm them. Bearing compares a visual fingerprint and tells you it looks like the same photo. To let someone check it properly, share the Capture Record instead.

Verify says a photo is “Not sealed on this iPhone”. Is it fake?

No. A photo by itself can be checked only on the iPhone that took it. Ask the sender for its Capture Record PDF.

How do I see the tips again?

Capture options, then Show tips again.

Can I take a photo with the volume button?

Yes. Volume buttons, the Action button, Camera Control on iPhone 16 and later, and a press on AirPods stems all capture. To launch Bearing from the Action button, choose Shortcut, then Open Bearing Camera.

Can I edit the coordinates or the time?

No. They are measurements and are sealed.

Where did my photo go?

Everything is kept in Bearing (Places, or the thumbnail beside the shutter). With Save to Photos on, the stamped copy, or the clean photo for a muted capture, is also added to Apple Photos.