gramesmith70: Craftsy for iPhone and iPad review

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Craftsy for iPhone and iPad review

Craftsy for iPhone and iPad is an app that allows you to learn new crafts and fine tune current ones with video guides on everything from quilting, cake decorating, stitching, food crafts, jewelry making, and more. The idea is that you find a craft or topic that interests you and then you enroll in that course. You'll then have access to video content and instructions including what you'll need for as long as you want, whenever you want.

Once you sign in to Craftsy, you'll have access to all the guides and how to's currently offered. Some classes are free while others you'll have to buy via an in-app purchase. The iPhone version has a pullout navigation menu on the left hand side that will show you all the categories you have to pick from, the enrolled classes you've already subscribed to, and more. The iPad version is a little different but operates in pretty much the same way. The only difference is the navigation which is all located on the main page via a horizontal scroll bar.

If you subscribe to a course on your iPhone, it will sync to your Craftsy account and be available on your iPad as well. Tapping on any course you've enrolled in will bring up the overview screen. From here you can view the different sections of the lesson as well as forward and go back to any sections you'd like to watch again. Once you've paid for a class, you aren't limited to how many times you can watch or view that course.

There is also a section within Craftsy that shows you course materials and what you'll need to complete all the lessons. This is a good place to start if you've enrolled in a course that requires a lot of supplies to be purchased. You can easily make a list or just pull up the materials list while shopping at your local craft store for easy reference. Craftsy also gives you the option to share any lesson on Twitter, Facebook, or via email so if you stumble across something that you think a friend would find interesting, sharing it with them is only a tap away.

For the most part, how detailed and broken down lessons are will really depend on how much time the creator put into that lesson. This is one thing I'd watch for before actually enrolling in a paid course. All classes have a free video preview and a biography on the author that is worth taking a look at before committing to a purchase. Craftsy also gives you the ability to accumulate points in order to earn free classes. Things such as completing a profile, buying courses, and some other random tasks can earn you points that you can use to buy courses.

The good

Videos are all high quality and for the most part, all videos are high quality
Unlimited playback of any courses you've ever purchased
You can watch courses you've purchased on your iPhone, iPad, or computer
Formats are easy to read and broken down to even the littlest specifics making it hard to miss a beat

The bad

Not a lot of info on paid classes given before you have to commit to a purchase
Paid classes can be quite expensive in some instances

The bottom line

If you enjoy the kinds of crafts that Craftsy features, it's a great find. While the paid classes can range from $10 all the way up to $40, it may be worth it to those who would rather learn on their own than paying for classes they'll have to attend regularly.

Craftsy will be most ideal for people who like to learn at their own pace and don't want to be responsible for attending a course regularly. Busy individuals who can't commit to a craft class will find even more value in having courses and guides at their fingertips when it's convenient for them.