The Public Variable vs Knotless
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
The Public Variable
Experience a unique augmented reality theatre piece exploring perspective and communication. This evolving digital space will eventually host the full production, offering an immersive artistic experience accessible from anywhere.
- Augmented reality theatre
- Perspective exploration
- Immersive digital space
- Evolving content
- Accessible anywhere
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I'm building a feature length AR experience, scene by scene. A piece of theatre about perspective, and how we stopped hearing each other. And how we might fix it. And, through this platform, a piece of theatre you can experience wherever you are. This space will be updating and expanding until it eventually contains the entire piece, and more. Your support couldn't mean more than it would right now. publicvariabletheatre.org
Knotless
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Knotless is a small app where you simply tap glowing knot tiles and watch them turn. There are no rules. No scores. No ads. No words on the screen. Tap a tile, and the strand changes direction. Tap again, and the colors shift. The pattern feels like it is almost tangled, almost untangled, always moving. Knotless is not an app for achieving anything. It is just something to tap.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: The Public Variable at Free against Knotless's $0.49. The Public Variable also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
The Public Variable is free to download; Knotless costs $0.49 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
The Public Variable ships an update every 2 weeks, Knotless every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | The Public Variable | Knotless |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.49 |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.4 GB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Sullivan | Makoto Fukuoka |
In-app purchases
The Public Variable
No in-app purchases
Knotless
No in-app purchases
