Rock Garden 12+

Extremely cool for where it is!

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.

Nav issues

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.

Developer Response ,

Howdy, thanks for the review and glad that you see where we are going with this - indeed, we're with you in the belief that this is the future of guidebooks!

Totally agree that there are improvements in our nav to make - in fact, the product team is currently working with the "beta crew" (scope the survey on our website) to evaluate what pain points to address next. We'll be getting at those "wrinkles" very soon. In the meantime, be sure to click on the labels in 3D scene to fetch the best detail as you go - especially the route labels.

Regarding scale, we have a default feature called "Measure Man" where anywhere you touch on the 3D, interactive, crag it places a 6 foot tall figure for scale and perspective on the rock. Bolts, anchors and other points of interests are being added to existing data sets currently. Check out Narcolepsy Crag at Storm Mountain or Lizard Head in Little Cottonwood Canyon as an examples of that data.

Thanks and have fun out there!

Maybe some potential, currently just bloatware

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.

Developer Response ,

Bloatware? Ouch. Lol, for what it's worth - this has been a serious project for a passionate group of climbers that has taken years and much sacrifice to bring to this point. That being said, we know we've a ways to go before it's fully "dialed" and that's why we are keeping the app free for the moment. We're suckers for "sleek design" too but agree that form shouldn't come at the expense of function. Thanks for the good feedback and advice there. To that end, have you explored searching for routes via the "interactive map" or the "search bar" in the explore tab? That's generally the most direct route to 3D data if that's what you are looking for. And yes, the DB is generally limited to Utah climbing areas but is growing outward, quickly. Further, we've seen some exciting interest/support in the app that has us optimistic that we'll be in more states (and countries) very soon!