PoseTime vs Artist Tools
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PoseTime
This app provides a timed sequence of images for artistic practice, allowing users to set custom durations for drawing studies. It supports custom image selections from galleries or cloud storage, with audio cues for timing. Premium features unlock extended timer options and a reference library.
- Flexible timer settings (10s to 60min)
- Custom image sources (gallery, cloud, folders)
- Ordered or shuffled playback
- Pinch to zoom and drag functionality
- Audio cues for timer alerts
- Split-view support for iPad
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Whether you’re sketching quick 10-second gestures or diving into detailed 60-minute studies, this app turns your device into a powerful tool for artistic growth. It’s designed for fine art students, but could be useful for anyone who wants to have images display in a predictable, timed sequence. To begin, tap on the box on the left that says “Tap Here To Begin” or the text below it “Now Showing”. This brings up the album view. Select your album, and you can press the Load This Album button to begin with the first photo or select an image from the thumbnails to jump straight to that image. To the right of Now Showing is a button to toggle Shuffled mode on and off. At the top is the timer, with a ‘play’ button. Tapping anywhere on the timer will fade out the sidebar and begin the clock. Tapping the timer again will pause and bring the sidebar back up. In the free mode the app will load individual albums from your Photos gallery, so you can place your images in an album such as “Active Poses” or something recognizable and it will show up within PoseTime. All of your albums will load. If you buy the Premium license it unlocks the ability to load image files by selecting folders stored on your device or even in the cloud. It will download the cloud files to your device for you if they are not already local. Halfway through the timer will play a sound, if you have it enabled, to let you know it is halfway through. There is an ending tick sound as well playing at 3, 2, and 1 seconds remaining before the image smoothly transitions to the next image. There is also a fairly extensive reference Built In Albums library for Premium which includes hundreds of action and passive poses, basic forms, drapery, portraiture, still life. The timer in the free mode is set to 10 seconds which is perfect for gesture studies. There are buttons to adjust the timer to 1 minute to 60 minutes (with intermediary steps of 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 minutes) for more advanced timed studies. These are restricted to Premium. Key Features: Flexible timer: 10 seconds in the free mode, up to to 60 minutes per image in Premium mode Custom timer: Select your own times and remove the defaults if you prefer. Custom image sources: your own photo gallery albums in free mode, or local and cloud files and built-in albums in Premium mode Ordered or shuffled playback for variety in all modes Pinch to zoom, drag to move Audio cues for halfway and near-end alerts with options to select a variety of built in sounds. Fully supports split-view for use while drawing on the iPad.
Artist Tools
This app provides objective tools to analyze reference images for drawing. It helps artists improve tonal accuracy, check proportions, and understand value structures using traditional art school techniques. Features include value studies, color simplification, and various drawing guides.
- Value study analysis
- Color simplification
- Black mirror tool
- Invert and flip reference
- Line and plumb line guides
- Grid overlay (rule of thirds, golden ratio)
- Offline functionality
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Artist Tools is the missing piece that will take your drawing to the next level. Import any reference image and instantly see its true value structure, check your proportions, and train your eye using the same techniques taught in traditional art schools. Run a value study on any reference and instantly see where your darks, midtones, and lights actually are — not where you think they are. Your tonal accuracy improves the moment you start using it. Your eyes lie to you. Artist Tools gives you objective tools to catch what your perception misses — the same methods classically trained artists rely on every day. VALUE TOOLS • Value Study Analyze the tonal values in your reference. See exactly which areas are light, mid-tone, and dark. Tap individual values to highlight where they appear in the image. • Simplify Reduce your reference to fewer colors. Strip away detail to see the essential value structure — just like squinting at your subject. • Black Mirror Compress the value range to see subtle value relationships more clearly. A digital version of the traditional artist's black mirror. • Invert Flip values to check your work from a fresh perspective. • Flip Mirror your reference horizontally to spot mistakes and asymmetry. DRAWING TOOLS • Line Tool Draw straight lines at any angle. Perfect for measuring proportions and finding alignments in your reference. • Plumb Line Vertical and horizontal guides that help you check alignment. Essential for accurate figure drawing and portraiture. • Box Tool Create rectangles to frame compositions, measure proportions, or isolate areas of your reference. • Envelope Tool Draw multi-point shapes around complex forms. Trace the outer contour of any subject to understand its basic shape. • Grid Tool Overlay rule-of-thirds, golden ratio, or custom grids for composition and proportion checking. BUILT FOR ARTISTS • Works completely offline — no internet required • Built-in tutorial to learn each tool • Organize guides in layers — toggle visibility, delete, rearrange • Auto-saves your work as you go • Export finished studies to your gallery • Dark interface that won't strain your eyes in the studio • Clean, minimal design that stays out of your way WHO IS THIS FOR? • Figure drawing students learning proportion and anatomy • Portrait artists checking alignments and value structures • Plein air painters simplifying complex scenes • Students practicing classical drawing techniques • Anyone serious about improving their observational drawing skills These are the same tools hanging on the wall of every traditional art school — the plumb line, the measuring stick, the black mirror, and the squinted eye. Now they fit in your pocket. Study any reference with precision. See values clearly. Draw with confidence. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Artist Tools at 100% against PoseTime's 0%. Artist Tools also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.5) and update cadence (every 11 days vs every 5 weeks). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. PoseTime sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Artist Tools sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Artist Tools holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of PoseTime's written reviews are positive against 100% of Artist Tools's.
PoseTime ships an update every 5 weeks, Artist Tools every 11 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | PoseTime | Artist Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.5 (2 ratings) | 4.7 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 11 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 145 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Matthew Porreca | Hessam Emami |
Customer experience
PoseTime
Artist Tools
In-app purchases
PoseTime
- Premium Access$1.99
Artist Tools
- Premium Subscription$1.991 Month
- Monthly Premium - Promo$2.991 Month
- Yearly Subscription - Promo7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- Unlock Full App$8.99









