Comparison

Camera Lucida™ vs Doodle

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

Head to head
About

Camera Lucida™

This app uses your device's camera to superimpose a reference image onto your drawing surface, guiding your hand to create detailed art. It offers advanced features and tools to enhance your sketching and painting skills, making art creation easy and fun.

Highlights
  • AR image superposition for drawing
  • Advanced image filters
  • Zoom lock for detail
  • Session save and restore
  • Time-lapsed recording
  • External USB camera support
Features
Read full description

Draw Like a Pro with Camera Lucida™: AR Drawing One-Time Purchase: No subscriptions! Buy it once and use on your devices. Enhance Your Art Skills: Whether you're sketching with a pencil or painting with a brush, Camera Lucida™ helps you become a better artist. Unmatched Functionality: With 12+ years of development, Camera Lucida™ offers features that no competitor can match. Create stunning physical art using your iPhone or iPad's camera. Simply point your device at your drawing surface, and watch the screen to see your reference image superimposed over your work. It's more versatile than a light table, better than a projector, and easier to use than a traditional Camera Lucida™. How It Works: Place your iPhone or iPad between your eyes and your drawing surface. The app shows a virtual image on your screen, guiding your hand as you draw. This clever method makes it easy and fun to create detailed art. Top Features: • Buy it once for lifetime use. • Advanced Image Filters: See with an artist's eye. • Zoom in Lock: For ultra detailed drawing. • Session Save & Restore: Automatically realign your camera, sketch, and reference image. • Full Color Palette Control: Use your own paints, markers, and more. • Camera Adjustments: Use your device camera and adjust for different setups manually or with an in-app purchase to auto-adjust. • Time-Lapsed Recordings: Share your drawing process on social media. • Advanced Tools: Vertical split screen sliders, timed image fading, and more. • Video Tutorials: Watch tutorials within the app or on YouTube. • Comprehensive User Manual: Accessible from within the app. • Reliable Customer Support: Plus, an active user community for inspiration. • External USB Camera Support: For USB-C equipped iPads running iOS 17. Easy Setup: Secure your iPhone or iPad above your drawing surface using common household items like a stack of books or a vase. Tutorials are included to help you get started. Contact: For any questions or support, email cameralucida@bigidesign.com.

About

Doodle

Unleash your creativity with a simple yet powerful drawing application. Sketch, paint, and color on a blank canvas, perfect for quick ideas or detailed artwork. Save your creations with an optional subscription for enhanced features.

Highlights
  • Blank canvas for drawing
  • Variety of drawing tools and colors
  • Undo functionality
  • Image sharing
  • Apple Pencil support
  • Cross-device compatibility
  • Optional Pro subscription for advanced features
Features
Read full description

A little color. A whole new world. Doodle is a drawing app for everyday imagination. Pick a tool, choose a color, and make a mark. A blank canvas can become a small world, a useful idea, or a few minutes of play. MAKE SOMETHING YOURS Draw a colorful scene. Sketch a chart to explain a thought. Draw a tic-tac-toe board and take turns making marks. Map a request and its reply. Practice a letter until it feels like your own. These are things you can draw, with room for your own ideas in between. KEEP IT SIMPLE Choose drawing tools and colors, undo a mark, and share an image of your work. On compatible iPad models, draw with touch or Apple Pencil. No account is required to start drawing. A CANVAS FOR YOUR DEVICE Draw on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro. Each brings its own controls to the same simple idea: a place to draw. On Apple Vision Pro, Doodle is a two-dimensional canvas in an app window. A LITTLE MORE WITH DOODLE PRO An optional Doodle Pro subscription lets you save and reopen editable drawings, ask for confirmation before clearing, hide the tool picker, and choose your preferred light or dark appearance. App icon choices are also available on supported devices. Drawing and image sharing do not require a Pro subscription. Pro is available as a monthly or yearly auto-renewing subscription. The price and any eligible offer are shown before you subscribe. Subscriptions renew automatically unless you cancel. Manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. One mark is a good place to start. Privacy Policy: https://doodle.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://doodle.app/terms

Screenshots

Camera Lucida™4 screens
Doodle4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Doodle at Free against Camera Lucida™'s $14.99. Doodle also leads on ratings volume (46K vs 2K). Camera Lucida™'s advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and review sentiment (89% vs 67%). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Doodle is free to download; Camera Lucida™ costs $14.99 up front. Camera Lucida™ sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Doodle sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Camera Lucida™ holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Doodle has 46K ratings behind it against 2K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Camera Lucida™'s written reviews are positive against 67% of Doodle's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Camera Lucida™ ships an update every 4 months, Doodle every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Camera Lucida™ versus Doodle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCamera Lucida™Doodle
Price$14.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (2K ratings) — better4.5 (46K ratings)
Positive reviews89.4% of reviews — better67.2% of reviews
Number of ratings2K46K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#13 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size55 MB155 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCamera LucidaJoe Blau

Customer experience

Camera Lucida™

All ratings1,947 ratings
Positive95.9%
Neutral1.2%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews273 reviews
Positive89.4%
Neutral1.1%
Negative9.5%

Doodle

All ratings46,291 ratings
Positive85.9%
Neutral7.0%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews409 reviews
Positive67.2%
Neutral13.2%
Negative19.6%

User reviews

Camera Lucida™

From 2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great drawing aid
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 💡 Helpful for improving drawing skills
  • 🚀 Saves time in drawing
  • 👍 Accurate proportions and perspective

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Difficult to set up and use at first
  • 🐛 Occasional issues with image alignment
  • 🐛 Needs a stand or mount to work properly

Doodle

From 46K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👍 No ads
  • 👍 Allows creativity
  • 👍 Good for quick sketches
  • 👍 Works with Apple Pencil

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Accidental deletion of drawings
  • 🐛 Disappearing toolbar
  • 🐛 Lack of save/export options
  • 🐛 Crashes and loss of progress
  • 🐛 Limited drawing tools

Bugs and requests

Camera Lucida™

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Occasional crashes or freezes

Requested features

3 requests
  • Ability to draw larger images
  • More camera settings and controls
  • Integration with other art apps

Doodle

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Drawings disappear after app closes
  • Toolbar disappears during screen recording
  • Inability to zoom in/out properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add undo/redo functionality
  • Implement auto-save feature
  • Provide more drawing tools and customization options
  • Allow changing background color
  • Add ability to import/export drawings

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Camera Lucida™

One-time1
  • Auto-Correct For Perspective$4.99
2 purchases

Doodle

Subscriptions2
  • Doodle Pro: Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Doodle Pro: Yearly$9.991 Year

Questions

Is Camera Lucida™ free?
Camera Lucida™ costs $14.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Doodle free?
Doodle is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Camera Lucida™ or Doodle?
Camera Lucida™ is rated higher. Camera Lucida™ averages 4.8 out of 5 from 2K ratings, while Doodle averages 4.5 from 46K ratings.
Do Camera Lucida™ or Doodle have ads?
Neither Camera Lucida™ nor Doodle shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Camera Lucida™ or Doodle?
Camera Lucida™ ships an update every 4 months, and Doodle every 2 months. Most recently, Camera Lucida™ was updated on November 6, 2026 and Doodle on November 7, 2026.

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