Comparison

i临帖 vs 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+

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

Head to head
About

i临帖

Practice traditional Chinese calligraphy on your iPhone. Mimic real writing techniques with finger movements, pressure, and speed to control stroke width and create beautiful characters. Features automatic scoring and demonstrations of classic碑帖.

Highlights
  • Finger speed, acceleration, and pressure control stroke width
  • Automatic scoring and writing demonstrations
  • Display of classic碑帖
  • Grid options (米字格, 九宫格, no grid)
  • Save and arrange written characters into artwork
  • Submit artwork for display
Features
Read full description

古有颜真卿以黃土掃墻,歐陽修蘆荻代筆畫地學書;而今我們用iPhone練習書法! 如同真實的書寫,控制筆畫需要借鑑演示,耐心練習。慢速入筆,可以寫出較粗的筆道。加速移動并適時脫離,可寫出漂亮筆鋒。 - 以手指移動速度、加速度及壓力改變筆道寬度。 -自動評分。 -《金剛經》、《迴元觀鐘樓銘》、《符璘碑》、《玄秘塔碑》和《神策軍碑》和《魏公先廟碑》原碑欣賞。 - 每個字都有書寫演示,顯示軌跡。 - 可在米字格,九宮格和無格中切換。 - 可存儲所寫,并且可以改變大小和排列成為作品。 - 可提交展示作品。 另,此作亦有iPad版本。 其他系列作品還包括《臨帖之顏勤禮碑》《集王羲之書聖教序》《標準草書》《草書連連看》《甲骨文對對碰》等。

About

活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+

Practice Chinese brush calligraphy on your iPad or iPhone using original strokes from ancient masters. Focus on character structure and artistic charm to improve your calligraphy skills.

Highlights
  • Practice Chinese calligraphy with finger
  • Uses original strokes from ancient masters
  • Focuses on character structure
  • Includes 8 handscrolls
  • Simulates artistic charm of calligraphy
Features
Read full description

*Keyword*: Chinese calligraphy, Chinese culture/art, practice Chinese characters Ever dream of writing Chinese characters like a calligrapher? Now, you can practice Chinese brush calligraphy with your finger in iPad and iPhone. Live Calligraphy use the original strokes extracted from the master piece of ancient calligrapher in your practice, so that you can feel yourself like a real master of Chinese calligraphy, and fully enjoy the artistic charm of the art of calligraphy. Now, the app contains 8 handscrolls: - LanTing (兰亭集序--王羲之) - Basic Strokes (基本笔画--楷书四大家) - Timely Clearing After Snowfall (快雪时晴帖--王羲之) - Namo Amitābha by HongYi (南无阿弥陀佛--弘一法师) - Poem of Fragrance (秾芳诗帖--宋徽宗) - Confucius Passed Away (仲尼梦奠帖--欧阳询) - Ode to Qin (琴赋--文征明) - Heart Sutra (心经--赵孟頫) Enjoy Chinese calligraphy~ ---------------------------------------- 你是否曾想像自己如书法大师一样挥毫呢?来试试吧,用你的手指在iPad和iPhone上练习毛笔书法。 “活字帖”利用中国古代名家书法作品中的原笔迹,在你描摹或者临帖时绘制出来,使得你的书法效果能媲美真迹,让你体验如书法家一样的练字感受,更真切的感受书法的魅力。 本作与现有大多数作品的最大区别在于,大多数现有的作品只是根据手指运行轨迹,用计算机计算模拟出类似于毛笔笔迹的效果。但是,因为触摸屏的限制,计算机再如何聪明,又如何能知道用户运笔时的轻重缓急,浓淡干湿呢?故本作规避了用笔技巧,着重于练习每个字的字体结构。因此,本作并不能代替笔墨纸砚的常规练字方法,但是却可以从一定程度上提高用户的书法水平。 本App现有8个字帖: - 兰亭集序(王羲之) - 基本笔画(楷书四大家) - 快雪时晴帖(王羲之) - 南无阿弥陀佛(弘一法师) - 秾芳诗帖(宋徽宗) - 仲尼梦奠帖(欧阳询) - 琴赋(文徵明) - 般若波罗蜜多心经 (赵孟頫) 希望大家喜欢。

Screenshots

i临帖4 screens
活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ at 4.9 against i临帖's 3.0. 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ also leads on review sentiment (92% vs 69%) and ratings volume (17 vs 1). i临帖's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $5.99). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

i临帖 costs $0.99 and 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ $5.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ has 17 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 69% of i临帖's written reviews are positive against 92% of 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

i临帖 ships an update every 4 months, 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
i临帖 versus 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameteri临帖活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+
Price$0.99 — better$5.99
Rating3.0 (1 ratings)4.9 (17 ratings) — better
Positive reviews68.8% of reviews92.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings117 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 months — betterEvery 7 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS14.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size74 MB50 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer小龙 高哲 盛

Customer experience

i临帖

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive68.8%
Neutral18.8%
Negative12.5%

活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+

All ratings16 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive92.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.7%

In-app purchases

None

i临帖

No in-app purchases

None

活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is i临帖 free?
i临帖 costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ free?
活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ costs $5.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, i临帖 or 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+?
活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ is rated higher. i临帖 averages 3.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ averages 4.9 from 17 ratings.
Do i临帖 or 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ have ads?
Neither i临帖 nor 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ shows ads.
Which is updated more often, i临帖 or 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+?
i临帖 ships an update every 4 months, and 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ every 7 months. Most recently, i临帖 was updated on October 12, 2026 and 活字帖+ | Live Calligraphy+ on October 15, 2026.

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