Pixquare vs Ctrl Player
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pixquare
This application is a comprehensive pixel art editor designed for both beginners and professionals. It offers a wide array of tools for creating game assets, animations, and digital art. The interface is intuitive and customizable, supporting various input methods and advanced features for detailed artwork.
- Intuitive and customizable UI
- RGB and Indexed color modes
- Tileset/Tilemap system
- Timelapse recording
- Apple Pencil support
- Animation timeline panel
- Aseprite file compatibility
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Pixquare is the #1 pixel art editor, recommended by top pixel artists, game developers, and creators worldwide! Whether you're a beginner or a pro, its simple interface and rich toolset make pixel art creation easy and fun! Download now to create game assets, animate, or simply doodle pixel art! With feedback from thousands of artists, Pixquare is designed for your best pixel art experience ever! • HIGHLIGHTS: - Support both iPads & iPhones - Highly customizable and intuitive UI with left-hand mode available - RGB and Indexed mode - Tileset/Tilemap system - Timelapse recording - Apple Pencil support: gestures, sensitivity, touch rejection - Manual & auto-save modes - Shortcut options: keyboard, gesture pad, joystick - Custom themes • VERSATILE TOOLS: - Brush: spray, pixel perfect, pressure sensitivity, contour, dithering, custom brush, jumble, blur - Eraser: pixel perfect, pressure sensitivity, dithering - Move: transformation and snapping supported - Line: straight & curve mode, perfect angle - Shape: ellipse & rectangle mode, filled, perfect ratio - Selection: 5 types & 5 modes - Color: solid/gradient fill, contiguous/non-contiguous, and more - Color picker: 4 modes (HSV, HSL, Wheel, RGB), history, drag-to-fill - All tools offer shading - Additional tools: + Color replace + Color adjustment + Outline + Text with font import capability + Custom object • LAYER/TIMELINE PANEL: - Optimized for animation & organized layers - Multi-selection, layer grouping, frame tagging, and bulk operations - Visibility and editing-lock toggle - Supports reference layers - Frame duration and cel opacity - Linked cells, onion skin, and clipping mask • ADDITIONAL FEATURES: - Symmetry tool with unlimited axes - Reference images - Color palette: save/load from Lospec, import/export, color gradient generator - Blending modes, alpha lock - Preview with a separate animation loop - Canvas rotation, Finder-like file system - Guideline • FILE IMPORT/EXPORT: - Aseprite file compatibility (importing & exporting) - GIF importing with all frames - PNG, GIF, MOV, Sprite sheet export options (layers, frames, size, and animation) - Import Photos and files as reference layers and images ------------------------------- WHY ARTISTS LOVE PIXQUARE? "Genuinely the best pixel art app for the iPad that I would recommend anyone to get!" - Jon Davies, Pixel Artist on Super House of Dead Ninjas, Binding of Isaac. "Pixquare has more than meets the eye. A seemingly simple interface that has the intuitive control you look for. The gesture pad is comparable to a desktop keypad." - Michael, Pixel Artist, Author of Pixel Logic book "I've been sharing it with basically everyone I know with an iPad because I think it's one of the best software out there for creating pixels on the iPad." - CupOhJoe, Game Developer "This is one fine app to pixel on the iPad! You can tell there's a lot of love for the craft poured in here" - Ota Jaider, Pixel Artist ------------------------------- • SCREENSHOT ARTWORK AUTHORS: - FICO (@FicoPx) - Tofu (@tofupixel.bsky.social) - Mossy (@MossyPixe) - chili (@ryviolie) - Lesma (@pixe_lesma) - ue_voxel (@UeVoxel) - TransientCode (@TransientCode) - 08games (@the08games) - Rinspirit_art(@rinspiritart.bsky.social) - natalie (@cafeaunat) ------------------------------- SUPPORT: User guide: https://docs.pixquare.art Email: info@pixquare.art Twitter: https://twitter.com/pixquare_app Website: https://www.pixquare.art/ NO SUBSCRIPTION. BUY ONCE AND ENJOY FREE UPDATES FOREVER!
Ctrl Player
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For Version 2 of Ctrl Suite. The intuitive app making it easier than ever to control your installation's audio, entertainment, video, lighting, and so much more. Player makes control of multiple pieces of complex equipment on your installation centralised & simple by allowing you to view and interact with your Ctrl Suite interfaces. Player presents the customisable buttons, sliders, steppers, images, device modules & more in a form that makes triggering automation, controlling devices intuitive and straightforward for any level of technical ability. Player setup has been designed to be as simple and user-proofed as possible. Connect and go. Once the App is opened, Player can be discovered and adopted into a Ctrl Engine session over your local network to allow users to start controlling the installation. Why limit yourself to one device? The Ctrl Suite architecture allows you to connect multiple Player devices on the same installation. The system state is synchronised between all of them over the Ctrl Engine. Within Ctrl Designer, your Player interfaces can be authored to trigger devices using the following protocol types: · MIDI / Musical Instrument Digital Interface · OSC / Open Sound Control · UDP / User Datagram Protocol · HTTP(S) / HTTP(S)/1.1 Methods, Headers, Body · TCP / Transmission Control Protocol · MQTT / MQ Telemetry Transport · Serial · KNX over IP · Telnet · Timecode Alternatively, you can map each interface button to be fed into a logic process within Ctrl Engine to manipulate the input in real-time for more advanced projects. We’re always adding custom interface modules to simplify interaction with specific services to help you create the ultimate unified control interface for your installation: · Session timers · Buttons · Sliders · Steppers · Titles · Text · Images · Audio controls · Tab navigation bars · Side navigation bars · Module Specific controls Ctrl Player displays all customisation options defined in Ctrl Designer: · Custom background images & logos · Custom background colours Contact our team through our website if you're looking at Ctrl Suite for a project or installation and want to try the entire system.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Ctrl Player at none against Pixquare's 7. Pixquare's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support 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. Pixquare sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Ctrl Player asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pixquare ships an update weekly, Ctrl Player every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pixquare | Ctrl Player |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (3.2K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 88.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3.2K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 63 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Son Nguyen | ON LX Limited |
Bugs and requests
Pixquare
Reported bugs
3 issues- Duplicate layers that cannot be removed
- Drawn content disappearing from layers
- Lack of save functionality
Requested features
8 requests- Ability to merge layers
- Option to customize imported palette colors
- Radial symmetry tool
- Polyline tool
- Separate layer and timeline sections
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- Brush stabilizer
- Ability to rotate symmetry lines
- Higher canvas resolution
Ctrl Player
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Pixquare
- Buy me a coffee$1.99
- Full access for iPhones$7.99
- Life-time full access$9.99
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- Life-time full access$12.99
- Life-time full access2 variants$19.99
- Life-time full access$24.99
Ctrl Player
No in-app purchases









