The best drawing apps on Android and iOS


No more need for paper to draw if you have a smartphone or a tablet. All you need is a drawing app and you will be able to create works as you see fit. Here is our selection, with alternatives to Procreate on Android.

Samsung tablet drawing app
Drawing application on Samsung tablet // Source: charli_com_au via Unsplash

Many artists are now abandoning paper for their sketches, preferring a smartphone or tablet. While we can of course cite the iPad Pro, which has become the reference tool for many professional designers, there are also other interesting models, such as the Galaxy Note range on Android, the Galaxy Tab, or n’ any device paired with a stylus like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra — although accuracy may be less.

Here is a selection of the best drawing apps on Android and iOS.

Procreate: the obvious on iOS

How not to start this selection with the most famous application in the field? If only one had to be retained, it would of course be Procreate, unfortunately exclusive to iOS.

It allows you to create drawings on very large surfaces (up to 16000 x 4000 pixels), offers a very large number of brushes and brushes, a system of layers as complete as that of Photoshop, as well as a very appreciated called ColorDrop allowing to colorize a drawing very quickly.

Procreate also allows you to create animated GIFs or to create a time-lapse video of the process of creating a drawing.

Only downside: the application is paid and divided into two according to the desired format:

Adobe Photoshop Sketch: the safe bet

Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Premiere Pro… You’ve certainly heard the name of one of these programs before, or even used one so much that Adobe has become a reference over the years on PC, both for photo editing only for video editing. And of course, the San José company has not missed the mobile shift by offering several of its programs on our smartphones and tablets.

If you are looking for a free drawing application, you can turn to Adobe Photoshop Sketch, available on Android and iOS. Very easy to learn, it will allow you to easily make sketches or drawings, always with many brushes and an advanced layer system.

For those who are already used to working with Adobe tools, you will not be out of place and will also find — as an option — Adobe Stock to search for images in a database, or Creative Cloud to access to all your remote resources.

More focused on sharing creations, but no less interesting when it comes to learning to draw, Penup is an application entirely dedicated to the use of the stylus.

To learn about this application, one can go through various channels. Drawing or free coloring, but also drawing based on photographs, or even via challenges.

Adobe Illustrator Draw: the same in vector

Illustrator Draw uses the same principle as Photoshop Sketch, but with vectorized drawings. Concretely, this means that you can zoom and magnify your drawings as much as necessary.

Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer: the effective iOS alternative

Against the quasi-monopoly of Adobe and its new programs with subscription, Affinity stood up by offering alternatives available with a one-time purchase. We thus find Affinity Photo, competitor of Photoshop and Affinity Designer, competitor of illustrator. In addition to the PC version, an iPad version of these two software is also available.

Management of the 120 Hz screen, compatibility with Adobe files, sensitive to the pressure of the stylus, compatible with iCloud or even a library of brushes to download… Affinity clearly has no shortage of arguments to make for lovers of drawings. However, count 21.99 euros per application.

Autodesk Sketchbook

The publisher Autodesk, another juggernaut in the creative software sector, offers Sketchbook in a mobile version. This application is one of the most complete on mobile, with many brushes and pencils as well as a number of tools to manage perspective or symmetry, for example. Very complete and free, the application is a reference for those looking for a drawing application without paying a penny.

Ibis Paint X: for drawing manga

Available for free on iOS and Android, Ibis Paint X also offers many features. In addition, it is possible to extend them further by going premium, either as a one-time payment or as a monthly payment. This allows access to a very large number of brushes, fonts, etc. Just like Procreate, Ibis Paint X also takes care of creating an accelerated video tracing the creative process of your drawing.

Finally, the application has its own YouTube channel with many tutorials to learn how to draw, mainly in manga style.

MediBang Paint: to start in comics

In the same style, MediBang Paint, available for free on iPad and Android, is not perfect, but can be a good way to take a first step into the world of comics. Designed to be functional on the small screen of our smartphones, the application displays an intuitive interface and a large number of resources, including comic book fonts, effects for onomatopoeia, etc. In addition, a tool makes it easy to separate the sheet into different boxes.

Little more, MediBang offers resources other than fonts and brushes, such as backgrounds or vehicles for example.

Of course, these apps won’t do all the work on their own. To achieve an interesting result, you will have to practice, and why not use applications that will help you learn to draw.

The best Android and iOS apps to learn to draw

Learning to draw takes time and a lot of personal involvement. To help you, we have selected the best Android apps to learn how to draw when you have some free time.
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