I’ve just had a check of Google maps and it starts with “Head north east on …… way” then a couple of seconds later says “turn right on … road”
(I tend to use Google maps for walking directions and others for driving - Google lets me click the type of route, my preferred app needs you to click to settings to choose walking rather than driving)
The initial compass direction is to tell you which way you should be heading from the start (in which case you can check the screen as you set the route)
My preferred app is Navmii, which begins with “found two routes, the estimated journey time is …” and I have to look at the display to see the initial direction.
It will subsequently direct as left, right, ahead etc
A few friends use Waze but I’ve never got on with it when trying it
An option if you don’t like looking to the screen or the place you mount a phone is too far from your normal driving line of sight is to use a reversed projection onto the windscreen.
NavMii has a HUD head up display mode that gives a simple view (direction arrow etc) in black and white, with brightness boosted to full and mirrored.
You place the phone on the dashboard and the combination of brightness and contrast reflects the display at the bottom of your windscreen. If it’s night time you can turn the brightness back down, or use a HUD mirror and you can also turn brightness back down
I used a cheap HUD mirror which stuck to the dashboard and held the phone steady