TraceArt vs Simple Trace
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
TraceArt
Transform your smartphone into a drawing tool. Trace photos and illustrations onto paper with adjustable outline thickness and screen brightness. Perfect for aspiring artists of all skill levels.
- Trace photos and illustrations
- Adjust outline thickness
- Adjust image size
- Screen lock with maximized brightness
- Save unlimited sketches
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Anyone can easily draw a good picture!! TraceArt is an app that allows you to trace photos and illustrations on your smartphone. You don't need talent for painting, all you need is a paper and pencil! *How to use the app 1.Select your favorite photo or illustration from the album. 2.Adjust the thickness of the outline and adjust the size of the image. 3. Lock the screen with the screen lock button (At the same time, the screen brightness is maximized) 4. Place the paper on the screen and draw a picture. You can save as many sketches as you like. *Others Use thin, transparent paper as much as possible. Photos and illustrations with clear boundaries are recommended. *Advertisements will be displayed in the free version. ICONS by icons8(https://icons8.com)
Simple Trace
This app helps beginners practice drawing and painting by allowing them to trace over photos and images. Load pictures from your camera roll and use a stylus to learn basic line drawing techniques. Save your traced creations as JPG files.
- Trace photos and pictures
- Practice drawing and painting
- Load images from camera roll
- Adjust image transmittance
- Zoom in and out
- Save drawings as JPG
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Simple Trace makes it easy to trace photos and pictures by hand. The concept is to be able to practice painting. Once you've loaded the image from your camera roll, it's easy to get started with Apple Pencil. By tracing the original picture, you can practice basic drawing such as how to draw lines in the illustration. Feature - Change of transmittance - Zoom in and out of the drawing area - Images can be saved as jpg
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: TraceArt at 2.1 against Simple Trace's 1.5. TraceArt also leads on ratings volume (73 vs 2) and device support (3 vs 1). Simple Trace's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads 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. TraceArt sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Simple Trace asks for nothing beyond the download.
TraceArt holds the better App Store score, 2.1 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TraceArt has 73 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 14% of TraceArt's written reviews are positive against 33% of Simple Trace's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
TraceArt ships an update every 3 months, Simple Trace every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | TraceArt | Simple Trace |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.1 (73 ratings) — better | 1.5 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 14.3% of reviews | 33.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 73 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.2 | 13.2 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | KENICHI YAMAMOTO | Kazuaki Matsuda |
Customer experience
TraceArt
Simple Trace
In-app purchases
TraceArt
- Remove ADs$2.99
Simple Trace
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is TraceArt free?
Is Simple Trace free?
Which has better reviews, TraceArt or Simple Trace?
Do TraceArt or Simple Trace have ads?
Which is updated more often, TraceArt or Simple Trace?
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