Knot IQ: 3D Knot Tying

Edit: I can confirm since the update they said it was fixed, I have had no crashes with this app. Knot only was I compelled to write my first app review ever for Knot IQ, but I was compelled to return and update it. Let that be a testament to how useful this app is! Original review: This will be a five-star app when all the glitches are sorted out, but in its current state it's hardly usable! It frequently freezes up when scrolling through the knot lists, and the only thing to do in that case is shut down the app and relaunch it, losing your scrolling progress. I've also had it freeze during knot display in such a way that prevented me from even turning off my phone screen—in this case, double-tapping the power button to bring up my wallet gave me the escape I needed to shut down the app. If this were most any other app I had paid money for and I was dealing with crashes like this, I would be giving a one-star review and furiously requesting a refund. It is a testament to how well this app presents its knots—and organizes them so you can find the right knot for the job—that I have still given it a three star review. Hands down the best knot-tying resource I've seen yet, which is why the crashes are so distressing! After that gets sorted out, I have just one feature request: a button to mirror knots, just in case they're being tied left-handed or the line is going the opposite way around the anchor for whatever reason.

While the app adequately teaches knot tying and it has some nice features like custom categories, there are a number of issues I have with it. First, Let’s talk about the elephant in the room… literally. This app is huge. It takes up more space on my phone than any other app save my Photos library. If they double the number of knots in the app as they have indicated they plan to do, we are talking over 7GB! Second, The app claims it can be used offline. This isn’t entirely true. I was recently on a flight and while my phone was in airplane mode with no internet, the animations load, but the knot info does not display and I get an eternally loading spinner. Third, when the app is first used you have to wait 15 minutes for the content to download and you have to babysit the download and make sure your phone doesn’t go to sleep. Then if there is a content update, you have to babysit it again to make sure the update completes. If it doesn’t complete you have to start over which is very frustrating. I consider an app offline if it works completely without internet. Since the knot info won’t load without internet and internet access is required for knot updates, I consider the developer’s claim of “offline” false. Fourth, if downloaded on an iPad, the app is just a zoomed in and pixelated version of the iPhone app and is not optimized for iPad and landscape mode isn’t an option either. Fifth, the Search button often does nothing when pressed. Sixth, some of the categories are pretty weak. For example the fishing category only has 4 knots and I don’t think anyone uses the double fisherman’s bend for fishing despite its name. Seventh, the app is slightly slow to load the animations on my iPhone 15 Pro and is much worse on my older iPad and occasionally the app will crash.

Don’t be discouraged by the download process. Just turn off your screen’s auto lock feature for the download and turn it back on after. It took my phone about 45 min to download the app, but now it’s installed for offline use when I’m out in the mountains and really need some knots. The animations are ELITE! You can pause, rotate in 3 dimensions, speed them up, slow them down, slide the progression tab so you see them tied in reverse if you want. There has never been a better way to visualize how to tie a knot. Being a knot, hitch, and bend junkie, I love the look on people’s faces when you transform a rope into a multitool. You’ll hear phrases like “How the heck did you do that” and “Wait, show me that again”. Knots are so useful There are a few bugs to work out with the app, but I’m confident they’ll be fixed. I’ve learned that patience is worth it.