Write to support@codedrealities.com and a person will read it. Telling us the iPhone model, the iOS version, and the pin and pair arrangement you were setting up makes a real difference.
Corrections to the terminology are genuinely welcome. House terms differ between teachers, guilds and traditions, and if the words in the app do not match the ones you use, we would like to know which ones you use.
What it is for
- Will it tell me how many pairs my pattern needs?
- No. That is the first thing to be clear about. LaceLoad records the arrangement you already have. It never reads a pattern, never looks at a pricking, and never works out a pair count. If you do not already know how many pairs go where, this app cannot tell you.
- Will it tell me how much thread to buy?
- No. Every length it shows is arithmetic on a number you typed in. The app has no model of how much thread a design consumes, and it never says an amount will be enough. Confirm the requirement with your pattern or your teacher; actual use varies with tension, technique and the thread itself.
- Can I photograph or scan a pricking?
- No. There is no camera use anywhere in the app and no photo library access. You enter the setup yourself.
- Does it include patterns?
- No. There is no pattern library and no lace design of any kind in the app, and the setup card it produces is not a pattern.
- What about pairs added or taken out partway through?
- Outside version 1. It plans the pairs you hang at the start. If a piece brings pairs in or throws them out later, that part is yours to track another way.
Setting up a plan
- What is a pair group?
- One or more pairs on the same starting pin that share a role, a thread and a length instruction. Grouping is a convenience for entering them; every pair still gets its own row when you come to wind.
- Can one pin hold more than one group?
- Yes. A pin can carry several groups, for instance a run of passives and a gimp, and they keep the order you put them in.
- What are the roles for?
- Keeping worker or weaver, passive and gimp pairs visibly apart while you wind, and giving you subtotals per role. Roles never change the arithmetic. A worker pair is not silently given extra thread; if you want more on it, enter more.
- My tradition uses different words.
- Choose "Other" and write your own label. Custom labels stay visible on the pin map, in the winding checklist and in the setup card detail. In the subtotal table they are gathered into one row called Other, so the totals stay readable.
- Two of my threads have the same name.
- They stay separate. Thread entries are kept apart by identity, not by name, so two records both called "White linen" get their own subtotals until you deliberately point the groups at one of them.
- What happens if I delete a thread or a pin that is in use?
- The app tells you how many groups that affects and waits for you to confirm. Nothing is quietly reassigned or dropped.
Lengths
- What is the difference between the two length modes?
- Per bobbin target is a length for each of the two bobbins, and the pair cut is twice that, plus a bridge allowance if you entered one. Continuous cut per pair is the whole length for the pair, used exactly as entered. You pick one per group, and the fields for the other mode are not present.
- What is the bridge allowance?
- Extra unwound thread left between the two bobbins of a pair, when you want it. It is added only in per-bobbin mode, only when you enter it, and only once per pair. It is not waste, not take-up and not a default we recommend. In continuous-cut mode there is no bridge field and nothing is added.
- Can you show me the arithmetic?
- The app does, next to every group. Three pairs at one metre per bobbin with a ten centimetre bridge reads 3 x (2 x 1 m + 10 cm) = 6.3 m. Four pairs at a 2.5 m continuous cut reads 4 x 2.5 m = 10 m. Nothing else is added anywhere.
- Does the app add a safety margin?
- No. Not for waste, not for take-up, not for the weaver. If you want more thread, enter more thread.
- Why was my length rejected?
- Every field has a stated range and the message says what it is. Blank, zero, negative, out-of-range and malformed entries are refused and explained rather than being cleaned up into a number you did not mean. Nothing is silently rounded or clamped.
Units
- Which units can I use?
- Metres, centimetres, inches and yards. The unit is shown beside every field you can edit and beside every result, so there is nothing to infer.
- Does switching units change my plan?
- No. It changes what you read. Your entry is kept exactly as you made it: one inch is exactly 25.4 mm and one yard is exactly 914.4 mm, and going from yards to metres to inches and back leaves the stored value untouched. Only editing a field changes it.
- Why does a number sometimes have "about" in front of it?
- Because the exact converted value needs more digits than are shown. The app marks it rather than presenting a rounded figure as exact, and it keeps the exact value internally for every calculation.
- I typed a comma and it was refused.
- A comma is read as a decimal point only where your device's language actually uses it as one. It is never guessed at, because "1,234" means two different numbers in two different places and picking one would be a coin-flip with your thread.
Winding
- What is on the checklist?
- One row per physical pair, in pin order, then group order, then pair order. Each row gives the pin, which pair of the group it is, the role, the thread and the cut from your entries. The rows are large enough to tap without picking the phone up.
- Do I lose my place if I close the app?
- No. Progress is saved as you go and is still there when you come back.
- I reordered my pins. Did that move my progress?
- No. Progress belongs to the pair, not to its position in the list. Move pins or groups around and the pairs you have wound stay wound.
- I need to change a length after I have wound some pairs.
- You can. Before saving, the app names the group and tells you how many completed pairs that change will reset, and waits for you to agree. It then resets only those pairs. Pairs in other groups are untouched.
- Which changes reset progress and which do not?
- Anything that changes the physical winding instruction for a pair: its thread, its role, its length mode, its per-bobbin value, its bridge allowance or its continuous cut. Changing a project name, a note, a pin label, a group label, the display unit, or the order of anything does not reset progress.
- What if I reduce the number of pairs in a group?
- Pairs are removed from the end, and the ones that remain keep their identity and their progress. If a pair being removed is already wound, the app asks first.
The setup card
- What is on it?
- The project name and source, the totals, the per-thread and per-role subtotals, the pins in their current order with every group, each group's length mode and equation, and the winding checklist showing the progress you had made when you generated it.
- Which page sizes?
- A4 and US Letter. Long plans run onto further pages, in order, with the project identified and the pages numbered.
- Is it printed to scale?
- No, and it is not a pricking or a template. It is a reference sheet to keep beside the pillow. It says "Setup card, not a lace pattern" on it, and it repeats that the thread lengths came from your entries.
- Does the preview match the file?
- Yes. The preview is the actual generated PDF, from the same saved project and the same arithmetic as the screen, not a separate mock-up of one.
Your plans
- Can I try it without typing a plan in?
- Yes. There is an option to load an example. A fresh install starts empty and nothing is added unless you ask for it, so the example is never mixed in with your own work.
- Can I copy a plan before changing it?
- Duplicate it and edit the copy. The duplicate is genuinely separate: the numbers carry over, the progress does not, and editing one never touches the other.
- How do I get rid of a plan?
- Archive it first, which keeps it and its progress but makes it read-only. Permanent deletion is available only from the archive, and it asks you to confirm with the project named.
- Can I move plans to another phone?
- Export a backup file and restore it on the other device. A restore is decoded and checked completely, and shows you what it contains, before anything in your library is replaced. There is no cloud sync.
- The app says it cannot open my library.
- It will offer the previous saved version if that one is readable, and it keeps the file it could not read rather than overwriting it, so nothing is thrown away. It will not silently show you an empty library. Starting fresh is possible but takes a deliberate confirmation. If this happens, please write to us: the unreadable file can be shared with support.
Accessibility
- Does it work with larger text?
- Yes, including the accessibility sizes. Editors scroll rather than cutting content off, and no field or result is hidden to make room.
- Does it work with VoiceOver?
- Yes. Pin order, group order, the pair's position, its role, its thread and colour, its cut length and whether it is wound are all spoken.
- I cannot easily tell the colours apart.
- You do not have to. Every thread has a text name that is the real identifier, and colour is only ever additional. The same is true on the setup card.
Data and purchase
- Does it work offline?
- Yes, entirely. There is no account, no sign-in and no server. Creating plans, winding, exporting a card and making a backup all work in airplane mode.
- Where is my data?
- On your device. The app does not upload it to us and there is no analytics in it. Device backups may include it, and a card or backup you export goes to the destination you pick. See the privacy page.
- What does it cost?
- 2.99 US dollars, one purchase. Prices in other regions come from Apple's regional price tiers and vary. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no advertising, and nothing held back for a paid upgrade.
- I want a refund.
- Purchases go through Apple, so refunds do too: Apple's refund request page.
- What do I need to run it?
- An iPhone running iOS 17 or later. Portrait and landscape. There is no iPad, Mac or Apple Watch version in this release.