App Profile: Rock Garden

sub2pewdiepie420

Rating: 4/5

This app totally outclasses mountain project and any other online guidebook I’ve seen. You can definitely tell it’s still in beta, but the what they have already done is incredible. Can’t really recommend it to actually use as of right now unless you plan on climbing in Utah or Arizona, but very excited to see where this thing goes.

play outside

Rating: 3/5

I really want this to be one star, but it’s a killer idea, and the devs are definitely headed in the right direction. Honestly, this is probably the next evolution of the guidebook, and it’s sick. That said, I don’t think it was ready for publication. Both 2D and 3D nav are more complicated than they need to be, and 3D isn’t using established methodology for navigating a 3D space with a touch device. It’s much more intuitive to control the camera as opposed to controlling the 3D object. That said, again, those are just wrinkles and the idea is awesome. I loved being able to zoom in on a route and start trying to think my way through it. And being able to find routes quickly is almost game changing if visiting a new area. I wish there was some sort of scale on the route so i understood what I was looking better, maybe bolt placements would fix that. It really is a cool idea, Just maybe released a bit early.

doodonrock

Rating: 2/5

Why is this app so heavy and cumbersome? I should not run into performance issues on an iPhone 12 when simply scrolling the menu. It has tried to be too flashy and fancy, which hinders ease of use. Mountain Project is minimal, maybe even ugly, but it's a smooth and quick experience. IMO this app's menus need to get rid of the high-res photos, move to a list view rather than a card view, make the menus quicker to navigate (MP-style filtering), and get rid of the obnoxious animations (e.g. when loading). I'm a sucker for aesthetics, so I really appreciate the sleek design, I just think it isn't necessary, and really takes away from any usability that would make this app worth long-term usage. The 3D topos are cool, but it took me lots of clicking to find one. Plus, the database is obviously too small to be used by most people, but assuming it remains small, I think it really needs to interface with MP in some way to make it any more than a novelty.