Doodle Kids vs Talking Carl
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Doodle Kids
This app provides a simple and fun painting experience for children. It generates random shapes and colors, allowing kids to create unique artwork. Users can also set photos as backgrounds and clear the canvas with a shake.
- Draws random shapes and colors
- Tap to clear screen with random color
- Shake to access menu
- Set photos as background
- Supports iPhone 5
Read full descriptionHide full description
★ Now supports iPhone 5! ★ Doodle Kids is a painting program written by Lim Ding Wen when he was 9 years old. This program is designed specially for his sisters and all the kids in the world. Ding Wen currently lives in Singapore. Doodle Kids will draw random shapes in random colors and sizes to create a beautiful effect. Tap with two fingers to clear the screen in random color. Shake the device! You will see a menu to clear the screen, select a picture from the photo library or take a picture using the camera as the background! To save the picture, simply do a screen capture by holding down the Home and Power buttons simultaneously. Doodle Kids was initially written by Ding Wen for the Apple IIGS computer, and was ported to iPhone with the original Super Hires color palette. ★ Doodle Magic ★ Check out the successor Doodle Magic! - Save, email, print pictures - color and shape cycling! - more beautiful shapes, more fun! ★ Doodle Kids Gallery ★ http://facebook.com/virtualgs ★ Review ★ This is a delightfully simple app, very suitable for young children. - Wired.com Geekdad ★ About Lim Ding Wen ★ http://dingwen.virtual-gs.com
Talking Carl
Interact with a funny talking character by talking, tickling, and feeding him. He repeats your words with a silly voice and reacts to your actions with laughs, growls, and more. Features a baby mode for younger children.
- Talk and hear words repeated
- Feed the character
- Tickle for laughs
- Poke for reactions
- Baby mode for kids
- Swipe gestures for actions
Read full descriptionHide full description
Talking Carl is the very first and still the funniest talking character on the App Store, he invented fun! Talk, sing, and play with him. Tickle him, punch him, feed him, and wait until you hear his laugh, it’s just irresistible. Carl has topped all the charts worldwide and has been featured across the globe. We think about small kids too: Use the Baby mode without any buttons: only Carl and no trouble! --------------- Features -------------- • Talk to him and he'll repeat your words with an hysterical voice. • Feed him with bones • Strike him by lightning • Tickle him and he will laugh out loud. • Poke his eyes and he will shout and yell. • Pinch him to hear him growling. • And if you forget him he will grumble. • Very Polite, he even says Goodbye. + Swipe up and he will fly... and fall + swipe down and hear the thunder + swipe left or right and he'll make a round-turn. Talking Carl is hours of laugh for children of any age. Parents, you'll love him too for the peacefulness it gives you while your kids are playing with him. But don’t try it! you’ll never give it back to them. --------- Our users says --------- "The only talking app that I recommend - There are quite a few of talking apps but Talking Carl is the best! I especially like that I can remove all the buttons so that my daughter will not be confused" "Great app for the kids! - My kids love playing with this app and found it easy to share the videos"
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Doodle Kids at Free against Talking Carl's $0.99. Doodle Kids also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (82% vs 71%). Talking Carl's advantage is rating (4.3 vs 3.7) and ratings volume (931 vs 21). On update cadence, 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
Doodle Kids is free to download; Talking Carl costs $0.99 up front. Talking Carl sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Doodle Kids asks for nothing beyond the download.
Talking Carl holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Talking Carl has 931 ratings behind it against 21, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 82% of Doodle Kids's written reviews are positive against 71% of Talking Carl's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Doodle Kids ships an update monthly, Talking Carl every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Doodle Kids | Talking Carl |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 3.7 (21 ratings) | 4.3 (931 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 82.3% of reviews — better | 71.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 21 | 931 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #70 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 4.3 — better | 9.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 62 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Virtual GS | Tayasui.com |
Customer experience
Doodle Kids
Talking Carl
User reviews
Doodle Kids
From 21 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Fun and creative
- 🎨 Great for kids
- 💡 Impressive for a 9-year-old developer
- 🎨 Colorful and entertaining
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
- 🔒 Lacks save/export options
- 🔒 Limited customization options
- 🔒 Simplistic design
Talking Carl
From 931 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 😊 Funny and entertaining
- 🤩 Brings back childhood memories
- 👍 Great for kids and adults
- 💕 Cute and lovable character
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🔧 Glitchy and buggy
- 🕰️ Outdated and not updated
- 🤖 Unresponsive voice recognition
Bugs and requests
Doodle Kids
Reported bugs
2 issues- Compatibility issues with iOS 11
- App stops working after updates
Requested features
4 requests- Add save/export options
- Allow users to choose shapes and colors
- Expand customization options
- Improve overall functionality
Talking Carl
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes on launch
- Sprites and animations glitch out
- Voice recording and playback issues
- Incompatibility with newer devices
Requested features
4 requests- Update the app to fix bugs and glitches
- Add more features and interactions
- Bring back old fan-favorite games and modes
- Improve voice recognition and responsiveness
In-app purchases
Doodle Kids
No in-app purchases
Talking Carl
- Sticker Pack$0.99
Questions
Is Doodle Kids free?
Is Talking Carl free?
Which has better reviews, Doodle Kids or Talking Carl?
Do Doodle Kids or Talking Carl have ads?
Which is updated more often, Doodle Kids or Talking Carl?
Other comparisons















