Comparison

Instant Sign vs Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards

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

Head to head
About

Instant Sign

Easily create custom signs with text, images, and designs on your iPad. Share them on social media, print them, or display them directly from your device.

Highlights
  • Create custom signs
  • Add text and images
  • Variety of designs
  • Share on social media
  • Print signs
  • Simple and handy
Features
Read full description

Sometimes, all you need is a sign. --- I made this app so I could easily put some words on my iPad screen and hold it up like a sign. It does that. It also makes fancier signs from a variety of designs. Customize your signs with pictures and clever messages, then put them on display, share them on the "social medias", or even print them straight from your device. It's simple, handy, fun, and free!

About

Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards

Access and use over 155,000 Unicode characters with this comprehensive character map app. It features customizable keyboards for any iOS app, bundled and importable fonts, and detailed character information. Seamlessly copy, search, and organize characters for diverse writing needs.

Highlights
  • Access 155,000+ Unicode characters
  • Customizable keyboards for any iOS app
  • Install and import custom fonts
  • Detailed character information and search
  • Copy characters to clipboard
  • Notepad for frequently used characters
  • Drag and drop support
Features
Read full description

Unicode Pad Pro is the ultimate Unicode character map app for the iPad. Offering an extensive database of over 155,000 characters, it supports the latest Unicode 16 standard. This powerful tool features customizable keyboards, which can be used across any iOS app, bundled fonts, and the ability to import custom fonts. Users can easily browse, search, and copy characters, access detailed character information, and enjoy seamless multitasking with other apps. Perfect for everything from scientific notation to creative writing, Features: • Custom keyboards can be used in any other iOS app • Install bundled fonts for use in other apps • Import and use any custom font into the app • Support for Unicode 15.1 standard, which has many new symbols. • Huge selection of symbols (thousands), in fact all that are available on your device. Database itself actually contains data for all characters (over 140000!). • Copy characters to clipboard for use in other apps, like web, mail, chat, notes... any iOS app! • Detailed information on each Unicode character, including encodings, extra info, similar characters and availability in fonts • Extensive gesture support for smooth workflow! • Drag and drop support for text, PNG and PDF graphics! • Notepad with customizable keyboards, for your often-used characters and for copying several characters at once. Great for casual writing, too! • HTML entity names for relevant characters • UNIHAN english definitions for CJK ideograms for many characters • Egyptian hieroglyph definitions • Ideographic Description Sequences (IDS) for CJK ideograms • Share your custom keyboards with your friends! • Search for characters by name, hexadecimal codepoint or glyph! Find similar and related characters instantly! • Great support for iPad multitasking - works great together with other apps • Streamlined design, specifically optimized for each device. Support for all device orientations and Retina display.  • Support for dark mode. • Fully tested on latest iOS • Support for Backspace, New line, Shift and Alternate special keys on custom keyboards. • Custom keyboard sizes up to 6x16=96 keys. • Flick left and right for next and previous characters in detail view • View extended character descriptions on Wikipedia, unicode.org charts or Emojipedia right from inside the app! • Copy glyphs as PDF graphics or PNG images • Sections of favourite and recently copied characters • One universal application works on iPhone, iPod and iPad! • Reference booklet of characters available on modern computers! Paper Unicode maps are over 1000 pages long! • Quick access to many groups of commonly used symbols! • Great for scientific, mathematical and physics notation, handles many superscripts, subscripts and other symbols! • Excellent for phonetic notation! • Developers: see which characters are available on your iOS device and in which fonts. • Perfect for writing Unicode poetry! • Awesome for making interesting app names!

Screenshots

Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Instant Sign at Free against Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards's $6.99. Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ads 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

Instant Sign is free to download; Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards costs $6.99 up front. Instant Sign sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards has 200 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Instant Sign's written reviews are positive against 81% of Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Instant Sign ships an update every 16 months, Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 1 level
Instant Sign versus Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInstant SignUnicode Pad Pro with keyboards
PriceFree — better$6.99
Rating4.0 (4 ratings)4.5 (200 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews81.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4200 — better
Update frequencyEvery 16 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.013 — better
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB259 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCat in a Box SoftwareZiga Kranjec

Customer experience

Instant Sign

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative28.6%

Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards

All ratings198 ratings
Positive88.4%
Neutral3.0%
Negative8.6%
Written reviews84 reviews
Positive81.0%
Neutral8.3%
Negative10.7%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Instant Sign

One-time1
  • Premium Upgrade$1.99
None

Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Instant Sign free?
Instant Sign is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards free?
Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Instant Sign or Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards?
Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards is rated higher. Instant Sign averages 4.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards averages 4.5 from 200 ratings.
Do Instant Sign or Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards have ads?
Neither Instant Sign nor Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Instant Sign or Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards?
Instant Sign ships an update every 16 months, and Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards every 4 months. Most recently, Instant Sign was updated on October 23, 2026 and Unicode Pad Pro with keyboards on October 29, 2026.

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