When we talk about digital creativity, iPad is definitely one the best tools that enhances and stretches the creative concept beyond measures. I am a huge fan of iPad and I use it on a daily basis and for various purposes from reading to annotating PDFs.
For those of you who enjoy the creative process of drawing and doodling, iPad can take your creative experience to the next level. In this post, I am sharing with you a collection of some of the best doodle apps for iPad.
Whether you’re looking to capture a quick sketch, create detailed artwork, or simply express your thoughts in a visual format, these apps offer a plethora of tools and features to suit your needs.
However, to fully harness the artistic potential of iPad, I always encourage my fellow teachers and educators to use a stylus. I strongly believe that pairing iPad with a stylus elevates the experience, offering precision and fluidity that fingers alone might not achieve.
Doodle Apps for iPad
Here are our top picks for doodle apps for iPad:
1. Doodle Buddy
Doodle Buddy is a versatile and user-friendly doodle app for iPad, perfect for artists of all skill levels. It offers a diverse range of over 1400 stamps and various backgrounds, allowing users to unleash their creativity on their pictures or on provided canvases. The app includes unique features like smudge, which mimics finger smudging on chalk, and various stencils for drawing perfect shapes. Whether you’re an aspiring artist or just starting out, Doodle Buddy is an excellent tool to create impressive artworks.
2. Procreate
Procreate is a leading creative application for iPad, widely loved by both professional artists and beginners. This doodle app for iPad brings an extensive range of features, including hundreds of handmade brushes, advanced layering systems, and the powerful Valkyrie graphics engine. Its intuitive interface, combined with the ability to create ultra-high definition canvases, makes it a top choice for creating detailed sketches, rich paintings, and even animations.
3. Doodle Magic
Doodle Magic is a captivating doodle app for iPad, offering a magical drawing experience with a variety of creative tools. It features an innovative “Cartoon” mode that allows users to playback their doodle process as an animated cartoon, adding an exciting dimension to doodling. The app boasts a range of magical paintbrushes, including rainbow, neon, and pearl, alongside over 10 different doodle patterns, unlocking endless possibilities for creativity.
4. Joy Doodle
Joy Doodle is a versatile painting game, ideal for both kids and adults looking to enjoy amazing doodle fun on their iPads. It comes equipped with over 20 magical brushes, such as neon, glow, ribbon, and star sparkles, allowing users to create vibrant and playful artworks. Not just limited to drawing, this doodle app for iPad also enables users to create videos of their artwork and includes a feature for doodling on photos. The playback animation movie feature adds a unique touch, allowing users to watch their creative process unfold.
5. Doodle Drawing Pad
This doodle app for iPad allows users to unleash their imagination, offering a plethora of colors and brush types to bring drawings to life. With features like Quick Draw for on-the-go creativity and Show and Tell for creating instructional videos, this app is perfect for both personal expression and educational purposes. Whether you’re sketching out ideas, writing in unique styles, or sharing your creations with the world, Doodle Drawing Pad provides an engaging and fun platform to make, play, and share your artistic vision.
6. Sketch.Book
Sketch.Book is a creative and fun sketch app for iPad users, perfect for those looking to engage in artistic endeavors. This app provides a vast array of features, including the ability to draw, paint, and sketch with any color, customizable brush sizes, and a variety of stickers, stamps, quotes, and background templates. Users can enjoy drawing on photos and making their artworks look more professional with the app’s extensive toolkit.
7. Sketch Tree
Sketch Tree is a professional drawing app for iPad, offering an array of ultra-realistic drawing tools, making it an ideal choice for serious artists. This doodle app for iPad features over 20 different tools, including pencils, Chinese brushes, watercolor pens, and more, providing an extensive range for creative expression. With capabilities similar to Photoshop, Sketch Tree allows users to import photos for editing, offering up to 10 layers and unlimited undo options. Its intuitive interface, complete with a color eyedropper and auto-saving feature, ensures that artists can focus on their creativity without worrying about losing their work.
8. Doodle Art
Doodle Art is another feature-rich doodling app which is perfect for users of all skill levels, offering an easy platform to create sketches, illustrations, and paintings. It boasts highly customizable brushes, a vast range of colors with a custom color picker, and customizable color palettes and gradients. The app also includes tools like rulers, shapes, and over 700 color canvases, enhancing the doodling experience. With additional features like importing photos, using trendy stickers, and cool stamps, Doodle Art takes creativity to the next level, making it an excellent choice for iPad users looking to elevate their doodle art.
9. Flow
Flow is an innovative app designed for note-taking, sketching, journaling, and planning, all within a single platform on the iPad. It provides an exceptional experience for users, especially with its advanced Apple Pencil support, making writing and drawing feel incredibly responsive. Flow’s infinite width documents, secure storage synced across devices, and customizable drawing tools make it a standout choice. The app offers colored paper in various styles and customizable notebook covers for organization. Users can export images and time-lapse videos, multitask with iPad features like Split View, and even collaborate on documents.
10. Paper by WeTransfer
Paper by WeTransfer is a sketching app that stands out for its simplicity and intuitiveness, making it an excellent choice for iPad users. Designed to encourage creative flow, the app offers a range of tools for sketching, collaging, painting, and drawing. One of its unique features is the Paper Store, which provides creative prompts and guides from top artists, helping users take their fleeting thoughts to final masterpieces. The app allows for easy organization of ideas into beautiful journals and offers seamless syncing across devices. Users can add multiple photos to a page, creating mood boards or storyboards without the complexity of layers.
11. Tayasui Sketches
Tayasui is a highly realistic and versatile sketching app for iPad, designed to cater to both professional artists and casual doodlers. This doodle app for iPad boasts over 20 ultra-realistic tools, including watercolor wet brushes and a brush editor, enhancing the digital drawing experience. Its support for layers, cloud sync, and pressure stylus, including full compatibility with Apple Pencil, makes it a comprehensive tool for creating detailed and intricate artworks.
Related: Best Chrome Drawing Apps
Final thoughts
Whether you prefer the minimalistic elegance of Doodle Buddy or the robust features of Paper by WeTransfer, these doodling apps for iPad provide an enriching platform for bringing your creative visions to life. The combination of an iPad and a stylus truly unlocks a new realm of possibilities, transforming the screen into a dynamic canvas where ideas can flow freely.
