Simple Drawing - Sketchbook

Simple Drawing - Sketchbook

4.40
509+ Reviews
4.40
509 + Reviews
1
13%
2
1%
3
1%
4
5%
5
80%

User Reviews

Jess Jones
Jess Jones
September 7, 2023
I was surprised to find that this app now paid only. It gives you a trial period, but when that ends it just locks you out instead of stripping a lot of extra features. I just use the app to do maths and stuff when I don't have paper and it's too complex for my phone's calculator. I can't do the most basic of things, and it frustrates me. Now I can't let my mind wander when I'm away from home just because they want an extra buck. If I could rate 0 stars, I would. Insulting developer feedback.
Emil Glenn
Emil Glenn
February 15, 2023
Used to be a good little tool for doodling and doing quick visual explanations. But now they've gone the free trial route. So it's a notepad and crayons for 14 days. After that, it becomes a waste of space. While 1 dollar isn't much, for an app that used to be completely free to use before it was made trial only. I cannot trust the development team to go and turn that "one time payment" into a "once per month payment". Don't install, buy crayons and a notepad. They'll last longer.
Eleanore Clark
Eleanore Clark
March 8, 2021
Definitely the most idiosyncratic drawing program I have ever used, but I like weird software, and Simple Draw's quirks lend it a certain charm. You can zoom in and out, but you cannot pan. If you set your pen size, then zoom in, the pen will not scale up proportionally. There are infinite colors, but no eyedropper or "recent colors" tool, so once you change your pen color, good luck getting the old color back. All that being said, I wanted a simple drawing software and I got one. Happy with it.
A Google user
A Google user
November 18, 2018
Almost there. But not quite. I really want to like this simple drawing app. But it has exactly one flaw, that makes it very difficult to work with. Making drawings on a small screen like your phone, you do need the ability to zoom in on a specific area to fill in details. While the app does have a zoom/magnification function, it only zooms in on the center of the drawing. When I need to magnify or zoom in on a feature near the edge of the drawing I am working on, this part simply disappears outside my phone's screen. It is really too bad. Now, that the app no longer is free, the described flaw is unacceptable. I cannot recommend this app.
Jamie Vann
Jamie Vann
March 19, 2023
This was a good little free app for my kids to use to doodle while waiting. However, it's now a trial with paid option. It's understandable to have a paid pro version, but there are many other free basic draw apps available. It's not worth paying for features we aren't interested in. What was a high score for what it was, is now reduced based on being blindsided by opening the app to find it is now paid only. Not a great move for user satisfaction.
Michael Cortes
Michael Cortes
February 2, 2026
This app is sad. pitiful really. Digitizer is incredibly off. Fill couldn't tell what I wanted filled. The pen selection is non-existent. It's actually NOT selecting another tool. So much disappointment.
Wullie
Wullie
December 16, 2025
7 Day free trial then USD$16 PER WEEK!!! What else is there to say?! Is it even worth risking the free trial when you might forget to cancel? And for what? A little drawing app. Don't even install it.
Calliope “4PPL35” Rood
Calliope “4PPL35” Rood
September 8, 2024
Simple drawing app with no unnecessary features. Don't expect a professional drawing app, but instead enjoy that the lack of features means very little UI clutter for making quick doodles on a phone screen. You get one "brush" you can resize and recolour, a fill tool, and a colour picker. You can also import images so you can draw over them. I usually don't pay for apps, but I was willing to pay for the pro version here just because of how much I appreciate the simplicity.
Phil Nichols
Phil Nichols
September 19, 2025
If you don't want the premium version, you can only have a vertical canvas, and then you can only save the top half of whatever it is you draw. You also have no choice but to use the orange they choose for you with no way to choose a different color for your pen. I didn't test the premium version so maybe it, too, only saves half of your pictures, doesn't let you choose a color and doesn't have a landscape canvas, I don't know and I don't want to find out. It's a horrible experience.
Kamaleshwar Morjal
Kamaleshwar Morjal
December 9, 2025
Not worth it. They say in some replies to other users here that it's a tiny one time payment, so i installed thinking I'm okay with that. But what i saw on the welcome screen is this: free 3-day trial, followed by charges of ₹1350 ($15) *per week*. That's not a tiny one time payment. In fact the app isn't worth that cost from any perspective. Removed it within 5 mins. Sorry guys, I'd stay away from apps i can't afford, but your comments here are misleading and need to be called out.
Xeliph
Xeliph
April 1, 2023
Nice bait and switch. Dev added a trial period after app was free for a while - horrible. Responds to reviews justifying this decision with a copy paste. No longer simple draw. It was good for a free app but if you're going to try to force people to pay for it, now you're competing with the actually good drawing apps with a million more features for a similar price, not to mention the inherent editing a lot of phones have actually for free. Do better. Uninstalled.
Lucas N. Saavedra
Lucas N. Saavedra
January 17, 2026
Very easy to use, intuitive and contains just the necessary features for a quick edit. 👍
A Google user
A Google user
March 13, 2019
Simple lightweight and does exactly what i need it to with no frills. Just what i was looking for. Most issues previous reviewers mention have been fixed: importing and drawing on images, zooming canvas, colour picker, even app colour. One small thing that's a pretty big flaw, if i accidentally tap back, the app just closes and the drawing is cleared. No confirmation, no asking if youd like to save the work, no autosave. Another thing is inability to move canvas while zoomed in.
AnderWriter
AnderWriter
December 5, 2020
Nice. It's very basic—just a single variable-diameter "pen" tool on a solid background. (I hoped there might at least be a tool that made straight lines, so I could write some music with it.) But I suppose there are times when something that simple can be useful.
Bosko Vojinovic
Bosko Vojinovic
June 16, 2023
An app you can easily make in a week, very simple, it works, that's why I liked it. They have recently switched to a fully paid app model, even though it's a free app on the store, basically a bait and switch tactic... Even ignoring this questionable business approach, I will not pay for such a basic app in 2023.
A Google user
A Google user
October 26, 2019
For what it's supposed to be (which is a free, but admittedly screwy drawing software), it's great! Nothing groundbreaking, there are hundreds of other drawing tools that are more precise and responsive, but for its low price tag of $0.00, and working with a measly phone's power, it does the job.
Sven Last Name
Sven Last Name
March 8, 2023
Used to be good, now it's not free. Don't waste your money on a premium version of a mobile app, just use something like clip studio paint on PC instead. The only reason I used this app was for doodling and now it's worthless. Edit: I don't care how much you think your MOBILE APP is worth it. It's still a MOBILE APP that will never be as good as actual drawing software
Ayaha “Untitled” Onyve
Ayaha “Untitled” Onyve
May 16, 2023
Standard bare bones art drawing app. Missing modern bare minimums of layers, a functioning bucket tool, brush options, etc. It doesn't lie though, it is a simple drawing app, but not worth a dime of money. Ibispaint can be equally simple all while giving you the current standard of art app features should you choose to use them.
A Google user
A Google user
February 4, 2020
It's a good idea but it needs a few more options to be a simple drawing pad. Zooming in and out is good but you can't zoom into anything but the center of the page. And copy and paste might be nice too but I get that's adding new functions. Also when erasing it would be useful of it was off center from where were hitting since then we can see what were erasing.
Ibrahim Ahmad
Ibrahim Ahmad
April 14, 2024
Possibly the worst app from Simple due to intrusive ads. Just launched the app? Here's a full screen video ads right at the beginning you'll ocassionaly touch and open up a browser. Open app preference? Here's another full screen video ads. There's also a fully animated ads bar on the bottom of the screen that will inevitably get clicked when you draw something. Even worse that to remove ads, you'll need to pay a subscription fee, which I don't think worth the price for such basic drawing app.