Comparison

PlainZen vs Tickly Prickly Sampler

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Plain language Zen explanation
  • Focus on practical application
  • Avoids jargon and rituals
  • Bookmark functionality
  • Table of contents navigation
  • Covers core Zen concepts
Features
Read full description

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?

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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

PlainZen4 screens
Tickly Prickly Sampler4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
PlainZen versus Tickly Prickly Sampler: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPlainZenTickly Prickly Sampler
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better3.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings22
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 9 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVicente Malixifishdog.net

Customer experience

PlainZen

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Tickly Prickly Sampler

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

PlainZen

No in-app purchases

None

Tickly Prickly Sampler

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is PlainZen free?
PlainZen costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Tickly Prickly Sampler free?
Tickly Prickly Sampler is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, PlainZen or Tickly Prickly Sampler?
PlainZen is rated higher. PlainZen averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Tickly Prickly Sampler averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do PlainZen or Tickly Prickly Sampler have ads?
Neither PlainZen nor Tickly Prickly Sampler shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PlainZen or Tickly Prickly Sampler?
PlainZen ships an update every 13 months, and Tickly Prickly Sampler every 9 months. Most recently, PlainZen was updated on October 14, 2026 and Tickly Prickly Sampler on September 27, 2026.

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