How does a photo reach someone who isn't nearby?

It goes through Knit's relay. Your phone seals the photo and sends it to the relay in pieces, and the other person's phone fetches the pieces and opens the photo. Nearby, Knit sends it straight from phone to phone instead, for free. Small photos and files go through the relay for free too, and Knit Anywhere lets your phone send larger ones.

Nearby, phone to phone

When the other phone is in range, Knit sends the photo straight to it over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, with no internet. Big files go over a direct Wi-Fi link between the two phones. It's free and doesn't need Knit Anywhere.

Over the internet, through the relay

When the other person is far away, Knit sends the photo through the relay your app already uses. Your phone seals the photo before it leaves, so the relay holds pieces it can't open. The other phone fetches the pieces, checks that nothing was changed on the way, and opens the photo.

The person you send to doesn't need anything new. Fetching a photo takes no ticket, so friends on free Knit get yours the same way they get everything else.

Your daily allowance

Each day your phone trades its key for a ticket. The ticket lets it send photos and files through the relay, up to a daily upload allowance and a largest file size. A free ticket takes small files, and a supporter's takes larger ones. Receiving never counts against either.

When the day's allowance is used, files still go to anyone nearby, phone to phone, and your phone can send through the relay again with its next ticket. A file too large for the relay goes phone to phone only.

How long the relay keeps it

The relay keeps what it carries for a limited time, then deletes it. If the other phone fetches the photo before then, it arrives. If it doesn't, the photo is gone from the relay, and you can send it again.

What the relay can see

The relay can't open your photos or files. It can see roughly how large each one is, when it was sent and fetched, and the network addresses of the phones that connect to it.

Your ticket carries a pseudonym that changes daily instead of your name. Knit runs both the relay and the issuer that hands out tickets, so it could link the two. Its policy is to keep them apart.

What the ticket issuer keeps

Where it stops

Both phones need the internet and the same relay. Off the grid, photos go phone to phone.
The relay deletes a photo the other phone hasn't fetched in time.
Uploads through the relay pause once the day's allowance is used, and a file too large for the relay goes phone to phone only.
The relay sees sizes, times and network addresses, but it can't see inside a file.

Common questions

Can Knit Anywhere see my photos?

No. Your phone seals each photo and file before it reaches the relay, and only the phones in the chat can open it. The relay sees roughly how large it is and when it was sent.

Does the person I send to need Knit Anywhere?

No. Fetching a photo needs no ticket, so they receive it through the relay their Knit app already uses.

What happens when I've used the day's allowance?

Photos and files still go to anyone nearby, phone to phone. Your phone sends through the relay again once it has its next ticket.

What if the other phone is offline for a while?

The relay keeps the photo for a limited time. If their phone comes online and fetches it before then, it arrives; if not, the relay deletes it, and you can send it again.

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