Comparison

iSymmetry vs Layer

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

Head to head
About

iSymmetry

This app is a comprehensive studio for creating seamless, kaleidoscopic patterns. It offers a wide array of brushes, precision shape tools, and layer management for intricate designs. Users can import photos, apply filters, and even view their creations in augmented reality.

Highlights
  • 17 Kinds of Pattern
  • 18 Expressive Brushes
  • Precision Shape Tools
  • Layer Management with Blend Modes
  • Kaleidoscopic Photo Import
  • Augmented Reality Preview
Features
Read full description

iSymmetry is a complete studio for seamless pattern creation. Every brush stroke is transformed into a kaleidoscopic design. Built for the iPad and Apple Pencil, iSymmetry gives artists and designers powerful tools to create beautiful patterns with ease. iSymmetry is fun and intuitive and packed with powerful features: SYMMETRIES - 17 Kinds of Pattern (wallpaper groups) - 23 Pattern templates - Symmetry guide lines BRUSHES - 18 expressive brushes: Pencil, Liner, Airbrush, Marker, Ink Stick, Arabesque, Grungy Smoke, Oil, Ink Splatter, Squiggles, Rings, Charcoal, Pastel, Laser, Grungy Rings, Smoulder, Spectral Grain, Ink Splodge - Full support for Apple Pencil - Slider controls for scatter, hardness and pressure to give you even more creative control PRECISION SHAPE TOOLS - Line - Star - Polygon - Triangle - Circle - Arc Import Photos - Kaleidoscopic photo import LAYERS - Blend modes: normal, multiply, screen, overlay, soft-light - Opacity - Offsets - Individual layer symmetry - Merge, duplicate, delete and reorder layers COLOR - HSB and RGB color picker. - Swatches - Eyedropper Share/Export - export seamless pattern tile - export patterns of custom size - png/jpg - Export as Procreate pattern brush FILTERS - Blur - Hue - Color Controls - Tone Curve - Vibrance PATTERN TRANSFORMATIONS - Möbius transformations - Spiral transformations - Bipolar transformations - Animate patterns transformations - Record and share pattern animations AUGMENTED REALITY - View patterns on 3D objects in Augmented Reality - Choose from Dress, Cushions, Shirt, Vase

About

Layer

Features
Read full description

Layer Art- is a studio for layered paper art. Choose a colour, place a shape, and watch a shadow fall exactly where it should. Every piece you place is remembered. When you're finished, play the whole build back as a stop-motion film — pieces springing into place, sliding into position, the artwork assembling from a blank page. It isn't a screen recording. Nothing is captured while you work, so there's no quality loss and no wasted space. The film is drawn fresh from your artwork, which means it's razor sharp at any size and you choose the pace afterwards. Save it, share it, or just watch it. Pick a piece up again next week and the film keeps growing with it. REAL DEPTH, NOT A DROP SHADOW Layer Art works because of light. Every shape you place sits at its own height above the page — measured in millimetres, like foam tape behind real card. • One light source for the whole piece, so nothing ever looks pasted on • A soft depth shadow and a tight contact shadow, the way paper actually behaves • Move the sun and every shadow in the artwork turns to follow it • Three depth styles: Soft, Crisp and Flat • Fine control over shadow size, distance and opacity when you want it HUNDREDS OF SHAPES Nearly 400 pieces to cut from, all vector, all recolourable, all sharp at any size. Ferns, leaves, split leaves, grass, tendrils, branches • Trunks, sticks, logs, driftwood • Flowers, clover, mushrooms • Mountains, hills, pebbles • Clouds, suns, moons • Waves, fish, whales • Birds, butterflies, cats, owls, bunnies • Arches, frames, rings • Stars, blobs, hearts, sparkles WORDS, CARDS AND MESSAGES The full alphabet and numbers, cut from paper in two styles. Not typed text — real letterforms you colour, rotate, layer and lift like any other piece. Which makes something rather good possible: build a card, spell a message, and the timelapse becomes the reveal. The words appear one letter at a time. BUILD FROM A PHOTO Bring in a photo two ways. Trace mode sits it faintly underneath as a guide and never appears in the export. Frame mode makes it part of the artwork, so you can build a paper frame around a photo you love. A GALLERY WORTH SCROLLING Your work lives on a wall, not in a list. Cards keep each piece's real proportions and carry the same paper shadow the artwork does. Tap one and it grows into full screen, where the background takes on that artwork's own colour. THE WALL, USER SHOWCASE Users can submit there artwork for display on the wall, All artwork submitted is moderated for approval before going on the wall, all images uploaded, are kept 100% private and never shared anywhere besides inside the App. Users can report images, all reports are moderated as well, and reviewed. Then action taken. Users can also add there social media link, if maybe they are doing creative tutorials, any form of art channels. Users may wish have a look. Artwork in the Showcase, can be tapped and then watched how that user put it all together. Showcase is designed for showing of created artwork and also a great way for other users to see how it was made. PRIVACY All artwork images , created in the App stay on your device, only exception is if you choose to have your work displayed in the show case then that is submitted to a secure database as a file not an image, all images are sent by file and encrypted. For privacy. MADE FOR MAKING • Curated tonal palettes, because five greens beat five hundred • Merge pieces into one and move them together • Layers you can drag, lock, reorder and unlock • Snapping to centre lines and angles, switchable • Full undo and redo • Autosaves constantly — nothing is ever lost • Send an artwork to a friend as a file they can open and keep building • Export a picture or a film straight to your photos

Screenshots

iSymmetry4 screens
Layer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Layer at $0.99 against iSymmetry's $9.99. Layer also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 weeks). iSymmetry's advantage is chart position (#196 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

iSymmetry costs $9.99 and Layer $0.99 up front. iSymmetry sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Layer asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iSymmetry ships an update every 6 weeks, Layer every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
iSymmetry versus Layer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriSymmetryLayer
Price$9.99$0.99 — better
Rating4.5 (94 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews61.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings94 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#196 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size137 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDAVID CROOKS SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIMITEDadam rogan

In-app purchases

2 purchases

iSymmetry

Subscriptions2
  • iSymmetry Pro Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • iSymmetry Pro7 Days trial$29.991 Year
None

Layer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iSymmetry free?
iSymmetry costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Layer free?
Layer costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do iSymmetry or Layer have ads?
Neither iSymmetry nor Layer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iSymmetry or Layer?
iSymmetry ships an update every 6 weeks, and Layer every 3 weeks. Most recently, iSymmetry was updated on October 15, 2026 and Layer on October 9, 2026.

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