# What is Knit Anywhere? Knit Anywhere is how Knit, the free messenger for Android, thanks its supporters. With it, Knit sends their larger photos and files over the internet to people who aren't nearby, through Knit's own servers, and Knit's own call relay helps their calls connect when the two phones can't reach each other directly. Knit still works off the grid without it, for free. ## Which name is which These words come up a lot here and on Knit's own site, and three of them start with Knit. - Knit: the messenger. A free Android app that keeps you in touch phone to phone, over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, with no internet and no sign-up. - Knit Anywhere: Knit's thank-you to its supporters. Their Knit uses Knit's own servers to carry larger photos and files over the internet, and Knit's own call relay to connect calls between phones that can't reach each other directly, with nothing for them to set up or run. - Knit Spool: the open-source relay software, under the AGPL. The app calls a server running it a relay. Knit runs its own for Knit Anywhere, and anyone can run one. - ticket: what your phone holds for the day to show the relay it has Knit Anywhere. It carries a pseudonym that changes daily instead of a name. Your phone trades its ticket key, a random secret, for a new ticket each day. - call relay: a server that carries a call between two phones that cannot reach each other directly. ## What Knit does for free Nearby, phones pass messages and photos straight to each other over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, with no internet. When the people you talk to are far away, Knit can also send your messages over the internet, through a relay the app sets up once you turn that on, along with small photos and files. All of it is free, and none of it needs Knit Anywhere. ## Larger photos and files over the internet With Knit Anywhere, your larger photos and files also go over the internet, through Knit's relay, to people who aren't nearby. Your phone seals each one before it leaves, so the relay carries what it can't open. Each day's ticket comes with an upload allowance. [How a photo reaches someone who isn't nearby](https://anywhere.getknit.app/docs/photos-and-files) ## Calls that connect more often Knit connects a call directly when the two phones can reach each other. On mobile data and on office, hotel and campus Wi-Fi they often can't. With Knit Anywhere, the call goes through Knit's call relay instead and still connects. One side with Knit Anywhere is usually enough. ## A badge for your profile As a supporter, you also receive the supporter badge: a small mark on your profile picture that the people you chat with can see. It stays off until you turn it on. [What is the Knit supporter badge?](https://anywhere.getknit.app/docs/supporter-badge) ## Why it's for supporters Relaying calls and storing larger files costs real money for every person who uses them, so Knit offers them as a thank-you to the people whose support covers that cost. Everything else in Knit is free for everyone, and anyone can run the relay software themselves. [Do you need Knit Anywhere?](https://anywhere.getknit.app/docs/run-your-own) ## Who needs it You do, if you're the one sending. Knit Anywhere works on the relay your Knit app already uses, so the people you talk to don't need anything new. Your photos and files reach them like everything else does, on free Knit. ## What stays with Knit - Knit works off the grid by itself. Phones reach each other with no internet, whether or not you have Knit Anywhere. - Knit does the encrypting. Your phone seals your direct and group chats, photos and files included, before they leave it, so the relay carries what it can't open. - Nothing carries your name. Your phone keeps a random ticket key and trades it each day for a ticket, and the relay sees a different pseudonym every day. ## Where it stops - Both phones need the internet for anything Knit Anywhere carries. Off the grid, Knit works phone to phone by itself. - Uploads have a daily allowance. Once you've used it, photos and files still go nearby, and your phone can send through the relay again when it gets its next ticket. - It works in Knit for Android. ## Common questions ### Is Knit Anywhere a separate app? No. It works inside the Knit app you already have, on the relay the app already uses. ### Do the people I talk to need Knit Anywhere? No. They receive the photos and files you send through the relay their Knit app already uses, with nothing new to install. [How a photo reaches someone who isn't nearby](https://anywhere.getknit.app/docs/photos-and-files) ### Is Knit still free? Yes. Messages and photos nearby, and messages and small photos and files over the internet, stay free. Knit Anywhere adds to them; it doesn't replace them. ### Can I run the servers myself instead? Yes. The relay software is open source under the AGPL, and Knit can use a relay you run, with any file size and a call relay of your own. Knit Anywhere is for supporters who'd rather have nothing to run. [Do you need Knit Anywhere?](https://anywhere.getknit.app/docs/run-your-own) Next: [Support Knit](https://anywhere.getknit.app/sponsor) ยท [Get Knit](https://getknit.app) ## Read next - [How does a photo reach someone who isn't nearby?](https://anywhere.getknit.app/docs/photos-and-files): How a photo gets to someone far away through Knit's relay, and what the relay sees on the way. - [What is the Knit supporter badge?](https://anywhere.getknit.app/docs/supporter-badge): Where the badge shows, and how each phone checks it before showing it. - [Do you need Knit Anywhere?](https://anywhere.getknit.app/docs/run-your-own): What works without Knit Anywhere, and what running your own relay involves.