Speed Comp
Questions, with the honest answers
Everything people ask before installing and in the first week after. If yours is not here, the Discord and the support address are at the bottom of every page.
General · Setting up · Compatibility · Subscriptions · Privacy
General
What does Speed Comp actually do?
It reads your speed from GPS and raises your phone's media volume as you go faster, then eases it back down as you slow. You set the speed where it starts and the speed where it tops out; between the two the volume climbs steadily. Below your start speed it leaves the volume alone.
Is it free?
Yes. Speed compensation itself is free and never expires — it is not a trial. Without a subscription each session runs for up to two hours and then stops; start it again and you get another two. Plus removes that limit and adds saved profiles; Pro adds unlimited profiles, a smooth glide between volume steps, and a now-playing card.
Does it work with Spotify, podcasts, audiobooks, YouTube Music?
Yes, with all of them. Speed Comp moves the phone's media volume — the same one the side buttons move — so whatever is playing follows along. There is no per-app list to maintain.
Does it work with my Bluetooth speaker or helmet headset?
If your phone is what you set the volume on, yes. The app changes the volume your phone sends out, so a Bluetooth speaker, a helmet headset, earbuds or a wired connection all follow. A device with its own volume control still receives the change — the phone adjusts the level it sends before the device applies its own.
Will it ever turn my music down below where I set it?
No. The volume you have when you start compensation is the floor. Speed Comp only ever adds to it, and comes back to exactly that level when you stop moving.
Does it work with the screen off, or with the phone in a pocket?
Yes. On iPhone the app keeps receiving location in the background and shows a Live Activity on the Lock Screen with a Stop button. On Android it runs as a foreground service with an ongoing notification, also with Stop. Either way you never need to touch the phone once you are moving.
Setting up
What speeds should I set?
Start with the speed where wind begins to win — often somewhere between walking pace and the speed you cruise at — and top out at the fastest you normally go. The per-vehicle pages on this site each suggest a starting range. Then run the built-in simulation while stopped and adjust until the ramp sounds right.
How do I test it without going out?
Turn on simulation settings in the app, then tap Start Sim on the home screen. A fake speed ramps from a standstill to your maximum through exactly the same code path as real GPS, so what you hear at the dock or in the garage is what you will hear on the water or the trail.
MPH or KPH?
Either. Pick your unit in Settings; the speed range, the readout and the run-status card all follow it.
Why does it need precise location?
Because GPS is the only way a phone knows how fast it is moving, and a reduced-accuracy fix cannot produce a usable speed. The app asks for location while in use (plus background updates for a run you started), never "always", and the readings are used and discarded on the device.
Can I keep different settings for different rides?
Yes — that is what profiles are for. Save a named profile per vehicle and switch between them. Plus keeps three, Pro keeps as many as you like.
Compatibility
Which phones?
iPhone (iOS 17 or later) and Android. Both apps do the same job in the same way; the few places they differ are listed on this site wherever it matters.
What is different between the iPhone and Android versions?
Three things. The Pro now-playing card shows Apple Music on iPhone and any player on Android. The Pro smooth-gain feature is a fractional system volume on iPhone and an audio effect on Android (open Speed Comp before your music app so it can attach). And the run-status card is a Live Activity on iPhone, an ongoing notification on Android. Everything else — the curve, the floor, profiles, simulation — is identical.
Is it for cars?
No. A modern in-dash stereo manages its own volume and often already compensates for speed, so there is little left for Speed Comp to do. It is built for the boat, the bike, the sled — anywhere your phone is the thing driving the speaker and wind is what you are fighting.
Does it drain the battery?
It uses GPS while a session is running, which costs some battery, the same as any navigation app. It uses nothing when a session is not running. If you ride for hours, a power bank or a charging mount is a good idea for the same reason it would be for navigation.
Subscriptions
What do Plus and Pro cost?
The price is on the subscription screen inside the app, quoted by the App Store or Google Play for your country and your account, including any introductory offer you qualify for. That is the only number that is right for you, which is why it is not printed here.
How do I cancel?
Through the store, not through us. On iPhone: Settings › your Apple Account › Subscriptions. On Android: the Google Play app › your profile › Payments & subscriptions. Cancelling keeps the tier until the end of the period you paid for.
I bought Pro on one phone — does it carry to the other platform?
No. Apple and Google subscriptions are separate, so a subscription bought on the App Store applies to iPhones on that Apple Account, and one bought on Google Play applies to Android devices on that Google account.
I reinstalled and lost my subscription.
Tap Restore Purchases on the subscription screen. The app asks the store again and unlocks whatever that account holds.
Privacy
Does the app track where I go?
No. Location is read, turned into a volume level and discarded. No coordinates, no speed history and no trip log are written anywhere — not on the phone, not to us. The one speed figure that leaves the device is the highest speed of a session, sent as a single number in the anonymous usage analytics.
Do I need an account?
No. There is nothing to sign up for and we never ask for your name, email or phone number.
What does the app send anywhere?
Anonymous usage analytics and crash reports to Google (which screens are opened, whether a session or a purchase went through, with no location readings and no advertising identifier). On Android, purchase details go to our verification service so it can ask Google Play whether your subscription is genuine. The iPhone app sends nothing to us at all. The privacy policy lists every event.
Support
Bring a bug, a setup that will not behave, or a vehicle nobody has tried yet. The Discord is the quickest way to reach us, and email works just as well. It is a small server and early — which means the person who wrote the app is the one reading it.