Tinkamo Line Coding vs iPastels School/Office Edition
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tinkamo Line Coding
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Preschoolers can drag-and-drop code using Line. Line works with Tinkamo Smart Building Blocks, extending the fun to the real world. Line Coding is a comprehensive STEAM education inventory powered by AI, machine learning, and musical features.
iPastels School/Office Edition
This painting application offers a realistic pastel and oil painting experience with lifelike brushes and textures. It allows artists of all levels to sketch, paint, and blend colors precisely, simulating real art supplies without the cost.
- Lifelike pastel simulation
- Realistic paper/canvas textures
- Precise color blending
- Universal purchase across devices
- Apple Pencil support
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Do not download the School/Office Edition of iPastels if you already have the free version and have upgraded it to Pro (they are the same)! A painting app for all artists, whether you’re experienced or just starting out. This app lets you enjoy all the iPastels features without any in-app purchases or additional downloads, making it ideal for use with Apple School Manager, or for anyone who has restricted the use of in-app purchases on their device. Perfect for creating beautiful works of art or a quick sketch whenever and wherever you have a burst of inspiration. You can also try out ideas and compositions before starting on a new painting in real life, or practise and refine your skills, all without the added cost of art supplies. • UNIVERSAL PURCHASE • This app download is a Universal Purchase, which means it’s valid for the School/Office Edition of the app on all available platforms (iPad-iPhone-Mac)! • THIS PAID VERSION VS THE FREE VERSION • There is also a free version of iPastels that can be upgraded to Pro, and they both have the exact same features. Though we recommend upgrading the free version to Pro, this paid version is for those who can’t (due to using Apple School/Business Manager) or prefer not to make in-app purchases. Please note that due to technical limitations the School/Office Edition and the upgraded free version are completely separate and not interchangeable. If you have already purchased the Pro upgrade for the free version, that will NOT entitle you to download the School/Office Edition for free (or vice versa). But there really is no reason to own both versions anyway, since they are virtually identical, so just pick one and remember to download the same kind on your other devices. • LIFELIKE PASTEL SIMULATION • The app features live-calculated brushes and strokes, making a realistic pastel simulation possible. Painting tools include soft pastels, oil pastels, pastel pencils, smudge tool, and more. • REALISTIC PAPER/CANVAS TEXTURES • When creating a new picture, a unique, non-repeating paper texture is generated that will interact in real-time with the live-calculated strokes you paint. You can change the default-generated texture to, for example, canvas, which goes great with oil pastels! • PRECISE COLOR BLENDING • When painting, especially with soft pastels, use Smudge or the Cotton Swab to blend and smoothen the colors right on the paper, as you would in real life. With oil pastels, in addition to smudging, the blending is often done by the pastel sticks themselves (for best results, reduce the force or use a similar or lighter color). If you use an Apple Pencil, it will feel incredibly realistic if you use the stylus to draw and use your finger to Smudge (assigned as a 2nd tool)! • FINGERTIP = STROKE SIZE • When you paint, the app measures how much of your finger is touching the screen and changes the stroke size accordingly. Apply just the corner of your fingertip for a thin line, or the whole fingerprint area for a broad stroke. A 2nd tool assigned to your finger will still use this feature, so don’t ignore it just because you have an Apple Pencil! • LEFT-HANDED? • Just swipe the toolbar over to the other side! • PARAMETERS CAN BE CHANGED LIVE • Use any buttons or controls to change/adjust color, size, force, simultaneously while painting. • METAL • The engine is based on Metal, with 128-bit color and floating-point arithmetic. • SWIFT • The app was developed entirely using Swift (earlier versions used C++). • APPLE PENCIL SUPPORT • FULL SCREEN PAINTING • SEAMLESS PATTERN EDITING MODE • • DARK MODE • LANDSCAPE • PORTRAIT • WIDE COLOR • • MULTIPLE LAYERS • PHOTO TRACING MODE •
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Tinkamo Line Coding at Free against iPastels School/Office Edition's $7.00. On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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
Tinkamo Line Coding is free to download; iPastels School/Office Edition costs $7.00 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Tinkamo Line Coding ships an update monthly, iPastels School/Office Edition every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 25, 2026.
| Parameter | Tinkamo Line Coding | iPastels School/Office Edition |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $7.00 |
| Rating | — | 4.8 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 5 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 13 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 129 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tinkamo Inc. | Norbyte |
In-app purchases
Tinkamo Line Coding
No in-app purchases
iPastels School/Office Edition
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Tinkamo Line Coding free?
Is iPastels School/Office Edition free?
Do Tinkamo Line Coding or iPastels School/Office Edition have ads?
Which is updated more often, Tinkamo Line Coding or iPastels School/Office Edition?
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