Comparison

Ink Marbling vs SHADR

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

Head to head
About

Ink Marbling

Explore the ancient Japanese art of suminagashi on your iOS device. Create unique marbled patterns by interacting with a digital canvas, simulating ink on water. Save your designs as high-resolution digital art.

Highlights
  • Simulate ink flow on water
  • Multiple interaction modes
  • Customizable brush sizes and colors
  • Dynamic visual effects
  • Save and share creations
  • High-resolution image export
Features
Read full description

Description: Ink Marbling brings the ancient Japanese art of suminagashi (floating ink) to your iOS device. Create stunning marbled patterns by interacting with a digital canvas, simulating the delicate movements of ink on water. Whether you're an artist, a hobbyist, or just looking for a relaxing creative outlet, SuminagashiPainting lets you design unique patterns and save them as digital art. * Note that the first time you open the app after download the initial screen may remain for several seconds as the app loads key components. * Features: Free Flowing Creativity: Simulate the natural flow of ink on water with taps, drags, and swirls on the canvas. Multiple Interaction Modes: Single Tap: Drop ink of one color to create concentric ripples. Double Tap: Add secondary colors for dynamic designs. Tap and Drag: Draw flowing lines of ink using a simulated rake with one tine. Customizable Tools (select the "Gear" icon on the upper-left of the screen): Adjust brush sizes to control the impact of ink drops. Choose from a palette of vibrant colors or create your own. Choose how to initialize your canvas. Dynamic Effects: Watch as blobs and lines interact to produce beautiful marbled patterns. Experiment with adjustable ink viscosities and flow velocities. Save and Share: Export your creations as high-resolution images to your Photos library. Share your designs directly to social media or with friends. COMING SOON: Ad-Free Premium Version: Unlock an ad-free experience and exclusive brushes, effects, and colors with the premium upgrade.

About

SHADR

Transform photos and blank canvases into unique visual art with a variety of creative styles. Refine your creations with expressive controls and discover new directions through generative randomization. Export still images or live photos and videos.

Highlights
  • Diverse and evolving collection of creative visual styles
  • Generative randomization for discovering new directions
  • Focused controls for refining composition, color, texture, and movement
  • Still image export at native resolution
  • Live Photo and video output
  • Local projects and reusable presets
Read full description

SHADR is a creative design toolkit for transforming photographs and blank canvases into distinctive visual artwork. Explore a growing collection of styles including ASCII art, dithering, CMYK halftone, pixel stretch, fluted glass, kaleidoscope, flow fields, kinetic typography, shader art, pixel scatter, surveillance graphics, and more. Each style is a focused creative tool inside one consistent editor. Import a photo or begin from a blank canvas where supported, generate new directions, shape the result with expressive controls, and move fluidly between different visual treatments. Features: - A diverse and evolving collection of creative visual styles - Generative randomization for quickly discovering new directions - Focused controls for refining composition, color, texture, and movement - Still image export at native resolution - Live Photo and video output in supported tools - Local projects and reusable presets - Subject-aware treatments in selected tools Five complete tools are available for free. SHADR Pro is a one-time purchase that unlocks every current and future tool. Tool parameters, projects, presets, and exports are not restricted.

Screenshots

Ink Marbling4 screens
SHADR4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Ink Marbling at none against SHADR's 1. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. SHADR sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Ink Marbling asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Ink Marbling against 5.0 for SHADR. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Ink Marbling ships an update every 4 days, SHADR every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Ink Marbling versus SHADR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInk MarblingSHADR
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.5 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMatthew Szenher伟滔 黄

Customer experience

Ink Marbling

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

SHADR

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Ink Marbling

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

SHADR

One-time1
  • SHADR Pro$9.99

Questions

Is Ink Marbling free?
Ink Marbling is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SHADR free?
SHADR is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Ink Marbling or SHADR?
Ink Marbling and SHADR are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Ink Marbling or SHADR have ads?
Neither Ink Marbling nor SHADR shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Ink Marbling or SHADR?
Ink Marbling ships an update every 4 days, and SHADR every 2 days. Most recently, Ink Marbling was updated on October 4, 2026 and SHADR on October 9, 2026.

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