PlainZen vs Tickly Prickly Sampler
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PlainZen
This tutorial explains Zen in simple terms, focusing on its practical application in daily life. It demystifies Zen by avoiding jargon and historical details, emphasizing how it works and improves well-being for anyone, regardless of background. The app includes features to bookmark your progress and navigate through various topics.
- Plain language Zen explanation
- Focus on practical application
- Avoids jargon and rituals
- Bookmark functionality
- Table of contents navigation
- Covers core Zen concepts
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A simple, easy to understand, tutorial of Zen and how to use it in your life. Written in plain language, this hopefully dispels the reputation of Zen as being 'mysterious', 'mystical', 'deep', 'hard to get' because of the difficulty in explaining its practice. Zen is actually very practical and simple if what is explained is what it's for and how to practice it. Other teaching books tend to get bogged down in Zen history, Zen terms and rituals. This tutorial tries to put those things aside first and concentrate on the essence of Zen: how it works, why it works, and how it makes our life better. Not a religion nor a cult nor a philosophy, Zen is a healthy mental attitude that can help anyone of any religious background or philosophy. Remembers your place in the book. Tap on 'Bookmarks' icon to jump to your personal bookmarks. Tap on 'Contents' icon to jump to the different topics: CONTENTS Learning Zen is no big deal How our mind works Realization#1: Thoughts and the thinker are no big deal Meditation/Practice#1:Do an activity... Realization#2: You and perfection The Self Reality: only one self The outside world: The world is out there Reality: no separation Freedom from fear: Two kinds: regular and premium Source of fear What's there to lose? Meaning: Life is a river Outside looking in Getting back in the flow Zen practice: Meditation: calm you down Koans: shake you up Enlightenment vs guilt: aha! Conclusion: Zen is yoga for the mind Meditation/Practice #2: Severing duality Meditation/Practice#3: When waking or before sleeping Q&A Is thinking or thought bad? So how is Zen different from thinking? How do I get that 'insight' or 'enlightenment' and how do I retain it? How are people related, connected? Is it okay to follow a person, a movement, a philosophy, a religion without doubt, without question? How does Zen view money, jobs, unemployment, wars, sex, hate, love?
Tickly Prickly Sampler
An interactive picture book for young children featuring wiggly animals and bugs. Children can touch animals to see them move, solve jigsaw puzzles, and enjoy narrated stories with word highlighting.
- Animated animals and bugs
- Interactive touch-based animations
- 4-piece jigsaw puzzles
- Author-read narration with word highlighting
- Page-turning by swipe or tap
- Gentle, rhythmic text
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This is a free preview edition of award-winning author Bonny Becker and artist Shari Halpern's interactive picture book Tickly Prickly for children ages 1 to 4. Bonny and Shari have created a book of wiggly animals and bugs to tickle your child. The gentle, rhythmic text, read by the author, appeals to a toddler's ear. The brightly-colored artwork, created with paper, cloth and paint, encourages children to touch. "Did you ever have a bunny nibble from your palm? How did it feel? Whiskery, shivery. Nose a-quivery." Every story page has animals in motion. Touching the animal restarts the motion. Tapping the puzzle piece, children can solve 4-piece jigsaw puzzles based on the current page. Pages can be read by the author with word highlighting, or an adult or older child can read the text to the child. Pages are turned by swiping across the page or by tapping orange arrows. Bonny Becker is author of the best-selling “A Visitor for Bear,” winner of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award and a selection for Oprah Winfrey’s Children’s Book List. “The Quiet Way Home” was selected for the educational program, Before Five in A Row, based on outstanding children’s books for ages 2-4. In all, Bonny has published 12 books for children. Shari Halpern studied illustration at the Rhode Island School of Design and is the illustrator of many books for young readers, including "Hush, Little Baby" and the "I Love" series written by Philemon Sturges. Shari lives in New Jersey with her husband, a puppet maker, and three children.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Tickly Prickly Sampler at Free against PlainZen's $1.99. Tickly Prickly Sampler also leads on device support (4 vs 2). PlainZen's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 3.0). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Tickly Prickly Sampler is free to download; PlainZen costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
PlainZen holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.
PlainZen ships an update every 13 months, Tickly Prickly Sampler every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PlainZen | Tickly Prickly Sampler |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 3.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 13 months | Every 9 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Vicente Malixi | fishdog.net |
Customer experience
PlainZen
Tickly Prickly Sampler
In-app purchases
PlainZen
No in-app purchases
Tickly Prickly Sampler
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is PlainZen free?
Is Tickly Prickly Sampler free?
Which has better reviews, PlainZen or Tickly Prickly Sampler?
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Which is updated more often, PlainZen or Tickly Prickly Sampler?
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