Comparison

impcat vs Smile App Launcher

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

impcat

This app simulates photorealistic painting results for gaming and tabletop miniatures. It allows users to customize miniature sections with colors they own or plan to buy, using manufacturer-promoted palettes. The simulation includes base coloring, layering, shading, and highlighting.

Highlights
  • Photorealistic painting simulation
  • Customizable miniature sections
  • Manufacturer-promoted color palettes
  • Automated color complement recommendations
  • Shopping list generator
  • Custom color creation and mixing
  • Color scheme inspiration randomizer
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

impcat (short for Interactive Miniature Painting Catalogue) is a simulator for photorealistic painting results on gaming and tabletop miniatures. This tool gives you a variety of miniature images with individually customizable body sections, that you can paint with colours you own or perhaps wish to purchase. It works with predefined colour palettes, using names and values as promoted by their manufacturers. To achieve a high quality result the system simulates a four step painting process: Base colouring, layering, shading and highlighting. Features: - A set of 6 built-in miniatures, by Artel "W", with up to nearly 30 individually paintable sections - A set of built-in colour palettes, as well as additional palettes from our DLC server (around 1000 paints to choose from, and growing) - A file handling system for importing custom image and paint templates (visit impcat.de/faq for instructions) - Access to a growing online library of free DLCs (visit impcat.de/about for full list of contents) - An automated complement recommendation mode that lets you select a base colour and then automatically applies harmonizing layer, shade and highlight paints, which you can then customize at will. - A photorealistic simulation of the applied paints. - A shopping list generator that collects the data of all applied colours and gives you the links to the corresponding shop pages - Saving and loading options for your colour configurations - A colour creating tool, for creating opaque and metallic paints of any colour you like - A colour mixing tool, for testing mix results of your paints - A randomizer, for getting colour scheme inspiration by letting impcat ramdomly distribute a set of colours across the model

About

Smile App Launcher

This app offers a minimalistic launcher widget designed to declutter your smartphone screen and reduce distractions. It provides quick access to essential applications through a clean interface, helping you focus on what matters and enhance your digital wellbeing.

Highlights
  • Clean, no distraction interface
  • Quick access to essential apps
  • Customizable widget layout
  • 5 Widgets
  • Boost productivity
  • Enhance digital wellbeing
Features
Read full description

Simplify with a dumb phone Tired of cluttered screens and endless distractions? Smile turns your iPhone into a minimal dumb phone: a clean home screen with only the apps you need, launched from widgets you design yourself. Key features - Clean, distraction-free interface - Quick access to your essential apps - Customizable widget layout, fonts and colors - 10 widget types, including Weather, Calendar and Clock - Transparent widget mode - Extra-large widgets on iOS 27 and later - Available in 47 languages Why Smile? - Boost productivity: focus on what matters by reducing visual noise. - Improve digital wellbeing: less screen time, more real life. - Simplify your device: a streamlined, friendly interface. - Community-driven: your feedback shapes every update. Join the Discord. Perfect for minimalists, productivity enthusiasts, digital detox seekers, and anyone who wants a simpler phone. Our promise We keep things simple, including our business model. All core dumb phone features stay free. Premium is an optional in-app purchase that unlocks more widgets and supports development. Questions or ideas? Visit https://smileapplauncher.com/support Terms of Use (EULA): https://smileapplauncher.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://smileapplauncher.com/privacy

Screenshots

impcat4 screens
Smile App Launcher4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Smile App Launcher at 91% against impcat's 32%. Smile App Launcher also leads on price (Free vs $2.99) and rating (4.7 vs 2.6). impcat's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and chart position (#31 vs unranked). On ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Smile App Launcher is free to download; impcat costs $2.99 up front. Smile App Launcher sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. impcat asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Smile App Launcher holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Smile App Launcher has 356 ratings behind it against 51, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 32% of impcat's written reviews are positive against 91% of Smile App Launcher's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

impcat ships an update every 18 months, Smile App Launcher every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
impcat versus Smile App Launcher: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterimpcatSmile App Launcher
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating2.6 (51 ratings)4.7 (356 ratings) — better
Positive reviews32.1% of reviews90.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings51356 — better
Update frequencyEvery 18 monthsEvery 5 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#31 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.016.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size20 MB17 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperDesign Bench - Immersive AgencyEggvelop Aps

Customer experience

impcat

All ratings48 ratings
Positive31.3%
Neutral14.6%
Negative54.2%
Written reviews53 reviews
Positive32.1%
Neutral17.0%
Negative50.9%

Smile App Launcher

All ratings340 ratings
Positive92.4%
Neutral2.6%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews229 reviews
Positive90.8%
Neutral2.2%
Negative7.0%

User reviews

impcat

From 51 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for planning paint schemes
  • 💡 Useful for visualizing colors
  • ✨ Realistic rendering
  • 🚀 Helpful community support (subreddit)
  • ✅ Good for beginners

Room to improve

  • 👎 Very limited built-in models
  • 💸 High cost for limited content
  • 🧩 Complicated import process
  • 🤷‍♂️ Lack of clear instructions
  • ⏳ App feels abandoned/no updates

Smile App Launcher

From 356 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazing free alternative
  • 👍 Best free app
  • 🚀 Drastically decreases screen time
  • 👍 Seamless functionality
  • 👍 Highly customizable

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional glitches with app launching
  • 🐛 Widget name not fully customizable
  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Bugs and requests

impcat

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • In-app store not working
  • App restarts when using mixed colors
  • Update broke Apple Pencil functionality on iPad
  • File browser is annoying
  • Importing models on iOS not functional
Show 1 more
  • Touch locations for buttons are off

Requested features

12 requests
  • Add more Warhammer 40K .SVG models
  • Include Citadel paint color references
  • Permanent toggle-off for auto mode
  • Landscape mode
  • Easier way to import minis
Show 7 more
  • Add GW paint sets or equivalents
  • Improve UI/UX design
  • Add option to save work as an image
  • Add more paint manufacturers
  • Improve stability and performance
  • Add Apple Pencil support for iPad version
  • Make import process more intuitive

Smile App Launcher

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Phone app shortcut not working
  • Some apps not available in the list
  • Widget disappearing after iOS update

Requested features

5 requests
  • More widget pages/slots
  • Ability to hide widget name
  • Support for iPad
  • More font options
  • Spacer widgets for layout customization

In-app purchases

None

impcat

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Smile App Launcher

Subscriptions2
  • Smile Premium Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Smile Premium Monthly$3.991 Month
One-time1
  • Smile Lifetime$23.99

Questions

Is impcat free?
impcat costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Smile App Launcher free?
Smile App Launcher is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, impcat or Smile App Launcher?
Smile App Launcher is rated higher. impcat averages 2.6 out of 5 from 51 ratings, while Smile App Launcher averages 4.7 from 356 ratings.
Do impcat or Smile App Launcher have ads?
Neither impcat nor Smile App Launcher shows ads.
Which is updated more often, impcat or Smile App Launcher?
impcat ships an update every 18 months, and Smile App Launcher every 5 weeks. Most recently, impcat was updated on October 27, 2026 and Smile App Launcher on October 24, 2026.

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