Sprite Pencil vs Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sprite Pencil
Create pixel art for games and icons with a focused set of tools. Features automatic shading brushes, symmetry mode, and easy palette management. Save and share your creations as crisp PNG files.
- Pencil, eraser, and fill tools
- Automatic highlight and shadow brushes
- Symmetry mode for mirrored strokes
- Dithering for classic patterns
- Handpicked and importable color palettes
- Save as crisp PNG files
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Pixel art, made simple and made to feel great. Sprite Pencil is a focused pixel-art editor for sprites, icons, and game assets. A small set of carefully chosen tools and a drawing engine built exclusively for Apple devices make every pixel land exactly where you meant it, whether you draw with a finger or with Apple Pencil. Draw • Pencil, eraser, and fill tools • Highlight and shadow brushes that shade automatically • Symmetry mode to mirror strokes as you draw • Dithering for classic checkered patterns • Flip, rotate, and outline a whole sprite in a tap • Full undo and redo Color • Handpicked palettes, plus seasonal picks • Building Bricks colors • Import any palette from Lospec Your Files, Your Way • Sprites are plain PNG files, so any app can open them • Edit images in place wherever they live, including iCloud Drive • Share your art scaled up so it stays crisp Show It Off • Pin a favorite sprite to your Home Screen with a widget • Draw and send pixel-art stickers right in Messages
Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography
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Discover, inspect, and collect free fonts with Ampersand. Ampersand is a beautiful typography browser, designed to make it easy (and delightful) to explore fonts. DISCOVER • Browse thousands of fonts in an infinite, omnidirectional canvas • Filter by category, popularity, italics support, variable axes, language support, and script support • Customize the sample text to see fonts in your own words • Search fonts by name or designer • Search fonts directly on your Home Screen, using Spotlight INSPECT • Try every available style, weight, and italic variant • Fine-tune each variable axis individually • See typographic metrics, glyph counts, supported languages, and scripts • Explore every glyph in the typeface • Learn about each font’s designer, category, date added, and license COLLECT • Save fonts to your collections • Create as many collections as you want • Give a color for each collection • Share fonts with friends or coworkers AMPERSAND DELUXE With Ampersand Deluxe, you get access to beautiful app icons and all future additions, with a one-time purchase. All fonts in Ampersand are open-source and come from the Google Fonts catalog. Google Fonts is a trademark of Google LLC. Ampersand is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. Terms & Conditions: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sprite Pencil at none against Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography's 1. Sprite Pencil also leads on device support (4 vs 1). Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 5 weeks). On price and iOS requirement 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
Both are free to download. Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sprite Pencil asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sprite Pencil ships an update every 5 weeks, Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sprite Pencil | Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (61 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 69.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 61 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 27.0 | 26.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 68 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 256 Arts | Rafael Guimarães |
In-app purchases
Sprite Pencil
No in-app purchases
Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography
- Ampersand Deluxe$3.99
Questions
Is Sprite Pencil free?
Is Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography free?
Do Sprite Pencil or Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sprite Pencil or Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography?
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