Comparison

PictureTimer vs Dottie

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

Head to head
About

PictureTimer

This app transforms your reference photos into timed slideshows for drawing practice. Easily set up custom timers and intervals to focus on gesture drawing, figure studies, and sketching.

Highlights
  • Use personal reference photos
  • Timed slideshows for practice
  • On-screen countdown timer
  • Connect to shared drives (SMB)
  • Customizable time intervals (Plus)
  • Shuffle and forward-only modes (Plus)
Features
Read full description

Build a regular drawing habit with your own reference photos. PictureTimer turns images into timed slideshows with an on-screen countdown for gesture drawing, figure studies, croquis and sketching practice. PRACTICE WITH YOUR OWN REFERENCES Choose photos from device albums, iCloud or folders. Connect to Mac shared drives and compatible NAS devices using SMB to work with your existing image library. KEEP YOUR SESSION MOVING View each reference alongside a countdown so you can focus on drawing. Use timed slideshows for personal practice, art classes, lesson pacing or presentations. MORE CONTROL WITH PICTURETIMER PLUS Choose a Plus subscription or the one-time Plus Lifetime purchase to unlock custom time intervals, images from subfolders, shuffle, a time-up sound and forward-only mode to keep your practice moving to the next reference. Bring the photos you want to study, choose your slideshow settings and start drawing. Privacy Policy: https://zincwhite.art/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Dottie

Features
Read full description

Dottie is a pixel art editor for game sprites, small illustrations and short animations. Start from a template, change the colors and make it your own. START WITH A TEMPLATE Choose from 6 original pixel art templates. A short creation guide takes you through choosing a color, drawing and exporting a PNG. Templates and the guide work within the free limits. DRAW AND REFINE Use pencils, fill, shapes and dithering. Keep colors consistent with palettes, then move, copy, flip or rotate a selection. Symmetry and zoom help with the finishing touches. ADD LAYERS AND MOTION Edit backgrounds and characters on separate layers. Duplicate frames, make small changes and play your animation. Onion skin shows the previous frame as a guide. WORK FROM A REFERENCE Import an image and adjust its position, size and rotation. Assign reference images to individual frames to guide poses and compositions. BACK UP AND RESTORE YOUR PROJECTS Back up all projects or just selected ones to a file, then restore them on another device. Review the contents before restoring; existing artwork is kept. Basic backup and restore are free. This is manual file transfer, not automatic cloud sync. Premium purchases are restored separately through the store where you purchased them. EXPORT YOUR ART Export PNG images and editable project files. Premium also includes animated GIF, PNG sequence, sprite sheet and tile image exports. WHAT CAN I MAKE FOR FREE? Create up to 5 projects, with canvases up to 64 × 64 pixels, 3 layers per frame and 3 frames. The free version displays ads. WHEN YOU NEED MORE ROOM Premium is a one-time purchase that removes ads and expands project, canvas, layer and frame limits, plus export options. You can also complete a rewarded ad to try Premium for 24 hours. Purchases and rewarded ads require an internet connection. Device memory and other limits still apply to project size. No account registration is required. Artwork is saved on your device. Keep a backup file of important projects outside the app. Advertising and purchases use external services. Available in English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Spanish.

Screenshots

PictureTimer4 screens
Dottie4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: PictureTimer at none against Dottie's shown. Dottie's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On price, in-app purchases 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. PictureTimer sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Dottie sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PictureTimer ships an update monthly, Dottie weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
PictureTimer versus Dottie: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPictureTimerDottie
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZinc White LimitedHiroyuki Yamamoto

In-app purchases

3 purchases

PictureTimer

Subscriptions2
  • Plus (All Features Monthly)$1.991 Month
  • Plus (All Features Yearly)7 Days trial$4.991 Year
One-time1
  • Plus Lifetime$14.99
1 purchases

Dottie

One-time1
  • Dottie Premium$3.99

Questions

Is PictureTimer free?
PictureTimer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dottie free?
Dottie is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PictureTimer or Dottie have ads?
Dottie shows ads; PictureTimer does not.
Which is updated more often, PictureTimer or Dottie?
PictureTimer ships an update monthly, and Dottie weekly. Most recently, PictureTimer was updated on October 23, 2026 and Dottie on October 13, 2026.

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