Comparison

Handy Art Reference Tool vs Galactic Compass

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

Head to head
About

Handy Art Reference Tool

This app provides artists with rotatable 3D models of hands, heads, and feet for drawing reference. Customize poses and lighting to achieve realistic results for your artwork. Additional packs for animal skulls and foot rigs are available for purchase.

Highlights
  • Rotatable 3D limb models
  • Customizable poses
  • Adjustable 3-point lighting
  • 3D head busts
  • Animal skull reference pack
  • Material editing
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

"Thanks to this useful app, drawing realistic hands can become a whole lot easier" - ImagineFX "Pencillers, inkers, and colorists should all give this a look!" - Tony Moore, co-creator of The Walking Dead If you're an artist and ever wanted just quick and easy drawing reference for hands, heads, or even feet (IAP) without having to awkwardly pose your limbs in front of a mirror, this app is for you! HANDY® is an artist's reference tool, consisting of several rotatable 3D limbs with a variety of poses useful for drawing. You can also customize and edit your own poses for hands, feet, and skulls. Fully adjustable 3-point lighting means you can get easy lighting reference when using any of the 10+ included 3D head busts. Handy if you’re painting and need to know what shadows the head casts from a certain angle! Also available is the Animal Skulls pack. With over 10 different animal species, it's great for anatomical reference or creature design inspiration. [Foot rigs and Animal Skull pack require additional purchase] NEW in Handy v5: Edit the materials of models! Selectively turn off their textures, adjust their specularity, or tint them a certain color. Perfect for comic book artists, painters, or just casual sketchers! Featured in ImagineFX's Top 10 Must-Have Apps! Check out the video demo: https://www.youtube.com/@handyarttool Sign up for the HANDY newsletter for information about new upcoming updates! http://www.handyarttool.com/newsletter Follow HANDY on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/handyarttool.bsky.social

About

Galactic Compass

Features
Read full description

Galactic Compass is a beautiful, sci-fi-inspired utility that calculates and visualizes your real-time astronomical direction and speed through space. Ever wondered how fast you are actually moving right now? Galactic Compass integrates your device's compass, gyroscope, and GPS to orient you toward major cosmic points and breaks down your motion across multiple reference frames. Key Features: • Earth's Rotation: See how fast you are moving east just by standing on the spinning Earth. • Solar Orbit: Track the direction of our solar system's journey around the Sun. • Galactic Center: Point toward the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way and visualize our galactic orbit. • Andromeda Galaxy: Locate our neighbor Andromeda and track our mutual approach speed. • Great Attractor: Orient yourself toward the mysterious gravity well pulling our entire galactic group through the universe. Features a stunning retro-future sci-fi vector HUD UI, real-time sensor integration, offline calculation, and a built-in sensor calibration screen. No ads, no accounts, and 100% private (your location data never leaves your device).

Screenshots

Handy Art Reference Tool4 screens
Galactic Compass3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Galactic Compass at Free against Handy Art Reference Tool's $1.99. Galactic Compass also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2). Handy Art Reference Tool's advantage is chart position (#32 vs unranked). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Galactic Compass is free to download; Handy Art Reference Tool costs $1.99 up front. Handy Art Reference Tool sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Galactic Compass asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Handy Art Reference Tool versus Galactic Compass: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHandy Art Reference ToolGalactic Compass
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (1.2K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews85.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.2K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 months—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#32 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size361 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBelief EngineAcademia HRM

Bugs and requests

Handy Art Reference Tool

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on launch for some users
  • Purchased content not unlocking
  • Positioning and movement issues

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add full body models and poses
  • Include more facial expressions and emotions
  • Allow for custom hand and finger posing
  • Implement ability to save custom poses
  • Add more diverse skin tones and ethnicities
Show 1 more
  • Improve lighting controls and options

Galactic Compass

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Handy Art Reference Tool

One-time2
  • Feet Models$1.99
  • Animal Skull Pack$1.99
None

Galactic Compass

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Handy Art Reference Tool free?
Handy Art Reference Tool costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Galactic Compass free?
Galactic Compass is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Handy Art Reference Tool or Galactic Compass have ads?
Neither Handy Art Reference Tool nor Galactic Compass shows ads.

Other comparisons