FAQ

Things that come up often, things that look like bugs but aren't, and known limitations.

Does Purl upload my data anywhere?

No. Everything lives on your device. Purl has no account system, no cloud, no analytics, no telemetry. You can use it on an airplane. The trade-off is that backups are your responsibility (see backups) but the app makes them simple.

How do I move my data to a new phone?

Export a .purl backup from More → Data → Backup, transfer the file to the new device (Drive, email, USB, anything works), install Purl on the new phone, and import. See backups for the step-by-step.

I deleted something by accident.

Don't panic. More → Data → Recover has your back:

• Recently Deleted: anything you deleted in the last 30 days is restorable with a tap.
• Snapshots: the app auto-snapshots its state daily; 7 days of history. Useful for "I deleted ten yarns thinking they were duplicates" or "I imported a backup over my data" cases.

Search isn't finding something I know is there.

Try searching with fewer letters; the search is substring-based (so "lopi" finds "Léttlopi", "jarbo" finds "Järbo"). It also folds accents in both directions. It does not yet handle typos (so "Sandnse" won't find "Sandnes", type carefully).

Each tab (Stash, Patterns, Projects, Barcode templates) has its own search above the list. The global search (magnifying glass in the More header) searches across everything: projects, patterns, yarn, equipment, PDF sticky notes, PDF bookmarks, and the glossary.

The Norwegian translation has a typo / awkward phrase.

Send a note via More → Send feedback. Norwegian translations are reviewed before sign-off; if something sounds wrong, it probably is.

The PDF tools button is in the way.

Drag it. The floating button is movable to wherever you want it (any corner, any edge) and it remembers its position per device. You can also reorder or hide the tools it shows, and tune its spacing and transparency, in Settings.

My drawings on a PDF vanished after I tapped Clear.

The Clear button asks first ("This page only" vs "All pages") since v0.1.98. If you tapped "All pages", it's wiped. If you realised right after: open Recovery and restore from the most recent snapshot (your annotations are part of the snapshot).

A scan didn't recognise my yarn.

The bundled catalogue covers Nordic producers. If you scanned a non-Nordic yarn (Cascade, Madelinetosh, Brooklyn Tweed, etc.), the code is unknown until you save the yarn for the first time, after which the app remembers. Scan again later → it's recognised.

If you scanned a Nordic yarn that should be in the catalogue and isn't, that's worth feeding back. The catalogue gets richer in each release.

The autofill suggestions are wrong / outdated.

Type your own value. The suggestion list is just a helping hand. Autofill only fills empty fields when you pick from a suggestion; it never overwrites what you've typed.

If a catalogue entry is wrong (a yarn's meterage changed, a weight got reclassified), edit your version. Your edit forks into your own record; the catalogue keeps its version underneath. Send feedback so we can fix the catalogue for everyone.

Why does the same yarn show up twice in my stash?

Two reasons:

• Different dye lots. Two skeins with the same brand + name + colour but different dye lots are tracked separately because shade can vary by lot. The stash groups them under the same yarn entry.
• Different colourways. Two skeins of the same yarn line in different colours are different stash entries.

The stash list groups by brand + name first, then by colour inside, then by dye lot inside that. If you have actually two duplicate entries for the same yarn / same colour / same dye lot, merge by deleting one and adjusting the other's skein count.

My barcode template list has duplicates.

Open Barcode templates. If there are same-product duplicates (blank weight one time, "DK" another, or a name typo), a Possible duplicates card appears at the top with a Merge button per group. Tap to merge.

Are PDFs included in backups?

Yes. A .purl backup with the Patterns category ticked includes every imported PDF file, every cover thumbnail, every drawing, every sticky note. The backup file is correspondingly bigger.

How do I share a pattern with a friend?

For a pattern you wrote: pattern detail → Share → it writes a .purlp file you can email / Drive / AirDrop.

For a PDF you imported: share the PDF itself via your phone's normal share sheet (out of any file manager that can see it). There's no Purl-specific "share PDF" affordance. It's just a PDF, sharable like any other.

For your scanned barcode library (so a friend doesn't have to re-scan every yarn): Barcode templates → share icon in the header → .purlt file.

Where's the iPhone version?

In progress. The Android build is the testing-iteration target right now because the test device is a Samsung S25. iOS comes via the App Store path eventually; no ETA, but the codebase is designed for both from day one.

A feature seems missing / I want X.

Two places to look:

• More → Roadmap: what's planned next.
• More → Changelog: what shipped recently.

If your idea isn't on either, More → Send feedback is the direct line. Every note is read.