Comparison

Puppet Pals 2 vs Random Name Selector Starter

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

Head to head
About

Puppet Pals 2

Unleash creativity by making animated cartoons with interactive puppets. Children and teachers can easily create high-quality animated stories, presentations, and educational content. Share finished projects via email, social media, or direct file transfer.

Highlights
  • Create animated cartoons
  • Interactive puppet show
  • Star in shows with built-in characters
  • Share finished projects easily
  • Engage students in learning
  • Create instructional videos
Read full description

• “Puppet Pals is an amazing app that lets you create animated cartoons.” -David Pogue (NewYork Times) Children unlock creativity with this easy to use (but hard to put down) interactive puppet show! Even young children can create high quality cartoons from their imaginations. Kids can even star in the show along side the built-in characters! Teachers: Engage students by allowing them to act out historical events, practice language skills, or deliver a killer book report. The cartoons that kids are making have delighted thousands of teachers and parents around the world - let yours be next to experience this award-winning digital addition to your classroom. The finished projects are easily shared to be watched by others (share via email, Facebook, or simply copy the video file to your computer and distribute how you see fit - Hint: students love to see their work displayed on a classroom blog). • Create short instructional videos (in any learning area) • Storytelling, Reports, Historic Retells • Help reluctant public speakers present to the class • Help foreign language or ESL students practice their fluency & language skills • Brainstorming or storyboarding ideas and presentations Characters chosen from standard curriculum allow kids to fully engage with content - not even realizing they are actually learning valuable lessons that will stay with them for years to come!

About

Random Name Selector Starter

This tool helps teachers and groups randomly select names from created lists. It allows for excluding participants and offers animated graphics and sound effects for an engaging experience. The starter edition has limitations on groups and names, with an option to upgrade.

Highlights
  • Random name selection from groups
  • Exclude participants from selection
  • Animated graphics and sound effects
  • Universal app for iPhone and iPad
  • Direct user feedback option
  • Share selections on social media
Features
Read full description

A great tool for Teachers, Clubs, or anyone who wants to Randomly select names! Simply create one or more Groups (up to 3 in this "Starter" Edition of the app). Add names to those groups (up to 20 names per Group in this Starter Edition) . The App will then randomly select and display names from the highlighted group. All names will be displayed before a name is displayed for a second time.  Features: • Call on your students in a different (Random) order every time. • If you want to exclude a Student/s from the selection simply turn them off in the settings screen. • The number of Groups / Names is limited in the "Starter Edition" ( 3 groups with up to 20 Names in each Group) but unlimited in the "Pro" Edition of the App. • This is a Universal App for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. • The Animated Graphics and sound effects make the whole experience a pleasure. The audio can be switched ON/OFF in the app and even mirrored (via Airplay) to external speakers. • Users can provide Feedback to the Developers directly from within the App….let us know how we can make it better.  • Share with your friends on Facebook or Twitter from within the App. • If you like the app tap on the "Go Pro" button to see what additional features are available in the "Pro" version!

Screenshots

Puppet Pals 24 screens
Random Name Selector Starter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Puppet Pals 2 at 4.1 against Random Name Selector Starter's 2.7. Puppet Pals 2 also leads on review sentiment (63% vs 38%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). Random Name Selector Starter's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 12.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support 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

Both are free to download. Puppet Pals 2 sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Random Name Selector Starter asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Puppet Pals 2 holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 123 and 53 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Puppet Pals 2's written reviews are positive against 38% of Random Name Selector Starter's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Puppet Pals 2 ships an update every 2 months, Random Name Selector Starter every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Puppet Pals 2 versus Random Name Selector Starter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPuppet Pals 2Random Name Selector Starter
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (123 ratings) — better2.7 (53 ratings)
Positive reviews63.4% of reviews — better38.5% of reviews
Number of ratings123 — better53
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size359 MB71 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPolished Play, LLCEDTECH MONSTER LIMITED

Customer experience

Puppet Pals 2

All ratings123 ratings
Positive76.4%
Neutral7.3%
Negative16.3%
Written reviews216 reviews
Positive63.4%
Neutral10.2%
Negative26.4%

Random Name Selector Starter

All ratings53 ratings
Positive41.5%
Neutral1.9%
Negative56.6%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive38.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative61.5%

Bugs and requests

Puppet Pals 2

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Saving issues causing loss of progress
  • Freezing and crashing when trying to access certain features
  • Audio and visual glitches during playback
  • Compatibility problems on newer devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more free characters and backgrounds
  • Implement better saving and autosave functionality
  • Allow for custom character creation and customization
  • Add more diverse themes and settings
  • Improve overall stability and reduce crashes

Random Name Selector Starter

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Puppet Pals 2

One-time10
  • North Pole Pack$0.99
  • Royal Hall Pack$0.99
  • Time & Tech Pack$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Saddle Up Pack$0.99
  • Vroom Vroom Pack$0.99
  • Civil Rights$0.99
  • Ptolemaic$0.99
  • Under The Sea$0.99
  • Custom Heads$1.99
  • All Access Pass$5.99
None

Random Name Selector Starter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Puppet Pals 2 free?
Puppet Pals 2 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Random Name Selector Starter free?
Random Name Selector Starter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Puppet Pals 2 or Random Name Selector Starter?
Puppet Pals 2 is rated higher. Puppet Pals 2 averages 4.1 out of 5 from 123 ratings, while Random Name Selector Starter averages 2.7 from 53 ratings.
Do Puppet Pals 2 or Random Name Selector Starter have ads?
Neither Puppet Pals 2 nor Random Name Selector Starter shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Puppet Pals 2 or Random Name Selector Starter?
Puppet Pals 2 ships an update every 2 months, and Random Name Selector Starter every 4 months. Most recently, Puppet Pals 2 was updated on October 6, 2026 and Random Name Selector Starter on October 7, 2026.

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