# Magic Cross vs bARTballs

The clearest difference is price: Magic Cross at Free against bARTballs's $2.99. Magic Cross also leads on ratings volume (6.4K vs 2). bARTballs's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Magic Cross is free to download; bARTballs costs $2.99 up front. Magic Cross sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days. bARTballs asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Magic Cross against 5.0 for bARTballs. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Magic Cross has 6.4K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of Magic Cross's written reviews are positive against 100% of bARTballs's.

Magic Cross ships an update monthly, bARTballs every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Magic Cross | bARTballs |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $2.99 |
| Rating | [4.9 (6.4K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/magic-cross-stitch-pixel-art/id1461096984/reviews) | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bartballs/id6448678953/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **6.4K** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 85.3% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 3 days** |
| Monetization | **Free with in-app purchases** | Paid |
| Size | 306 MB | 220 MB |
| Requires iOS | **14.0** | 15.6 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [ZiMAD](https://appshunter.io/developer/360112684) | [Istvan Bartucz](https://appshunter.io/developer/1519206534) |

## What reviewers say

### Magic Cross

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/magic-cross-stitch-pixel-art/id1461096984)

Unleash your inner artist with this digital coloring book. Paint by numbers to create vibrant pixel art masterpieces. Enjoy a vast collection of images, daily bonuses, and share your creations with friends.

**Highlights:** Extensive variety of pixel art images, Easy color-by-numbers gameplay, Augmented Reality Sharing, Experiment with color palettes, Share creations on social media, Daily bonuses and gifts

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Color by number 1 week premium | $7.99 | per 7 days |
| Mini Pack | $1.99 | one-time |
| Marathon Key | $2.99 | one-time |
| Small Pack | $2.99 | one-time |
| Cross Stitch coloring no ads | $4.99 | one-time |
| Small Bundle | $4.99 | one-time |
| Medium Bundle | $9.99 | one-time |
| Large Pack | $9.99 | one-time |
| Large Bundle | $14.99 | one-time |
| Huge Pack | $19.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🎨 Beautiful artwork
- 🕰️ Relaxing gameplay
- 👍 Intuitive controls
- 💎 Satisfying color-by-number experience
- 🎁 Rewarding daily tasks and challenges

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💢 Excessive ads interrupting gameplay
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🚫 Lack of progress saving and syncing across devices
- 🤔 Inconsistent quality of imported user images

**Reported bugs**

- Progress resets after app crashes
- Coins not properly awarded for completed tasks
- Imported images not rendering correctly

**Requested features**

- Add option to disable background music
- Implement a 'delete' function for imported images
- Introduce more diverse and challenging picture categories
- Provide a 'resume' feature for unfinished puzzles


### bARTballs

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bartballs/id6448678953)

A vibrant and engaging ball game where players collect balls to earn points while evading enemies. Includes a tutorial for practice and offers a fun, colorful experience.

**Highlights:** Ball collection for scoring, Enemy avoidance gameplay, In-game tutorial, Colorful graphics, Fun and engaging experience

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Magic Cross free?

Magic Cross is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is bARTballs free?

bARTballs costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Magic Cross or bARTballs?

bARTballs is rated higher. Magic Cross averages 4.9 out of 5 from 6.4K ratings, while bARTballs averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do Magic Cross or bARTballs have ads?

Magic Cross shows ads; bARTballs does not.

### Which is updated more often, Magic Cross or bARTballs?

Magic Cross ships an update monthly, and bARTballs every 3 days. Most recently, Magic Cross was updated on November 4, 2026 and bARTballs on November 3, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*