Proref vs Gesture Drawing Timer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Proref
Read full descriptionHide full description
Proref is where your references live while you draw โ and where the finished piece goes afterwards. GATHER YOUR REFERENCES Drop everything you're looking at onto one huge canvas and arrange it into a board. Import from Photos, your camera, Files, a web link, the share sheet, or by dragging straight in from Safari. Zoom from 2% to 25,600%, so the board grows with the project. WORK BESIDE THEM Proref is built for Split View: your references on one side, your drawing app on the other. Sketch and annotate over them with Apple Pencil, with pressure. Tune brightness, contrast and saturation, or crop non-destructively โ the original is always recoverable. A minimap shows where you are, and saved views jump you back to any spot in one tap. KEEP THE PIECE, AND THE LESSON When something's finished, keep it. Attach a piece to the board it came from, open it full screen, and see everything you've made on a dated timeline โ as a gallery to swipe or a list to scan. Note what worked and what didn't while it's fresh, star the things to carry forward, and those notes sit in a pane on the board while you draw the next one. If you'd rather Proref stayed purely a reference app, turn the art journey off in Settings and it does. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT No accounts. No sign-in. No server. No tracking, no analytics, no ads. Your boards, your artworks and your critique notes stay on your device. FREE, WITH A ONE-TIME UNLOCK Proref is free to use with 2 boards, 10 images per board, 3 saved views, 5 finished artworks, and 3 focused critique notes per piece. Proref Pro removes those limits and unlocks every feature โ a single one-time purchase, not a subscription. Buy it once and restore it on your other devices.
Gesture Drawing Timer
Read full descriptionHide full description
A timer, a reference, and a canvas โ in one place. Drawing Practice Timer runs the gesture drawing warm-up that artists have done for a century. A reference photo appears, the timer counts down, you draw. When time runs out your drawing saves itself and the next pose appears. No browser tabs. No switching apps. No losing the work afterwards. HOW IT WORKS Pick a subject โ figures, faces, hands and feet, animals, still life or environments. Set your interval: 30 seconds for gesture, or up to 10 minutes for longer study. Draw. The app handles the rest. Every pose you draw is saved automatically to your Library. Nothing to remember, nothing to export mid-session. DRAW THE WAY YOU ALREADY DO Apple Pencil or fingertip โ both work, and both are first class. The drawing tools are the same ones you already know from Notes: pen, pencil, marker, crayon, watercolour, two erasers, ruler, and full colour control with opacity. Choose your paper: plain, cream, newsprint, watercolour, dot grid or ruled. TWO WAYS TO WORK Side by Side โ reference and canvas together, with a drag handle to set the split how you like it. Overlay โ draw straight over the reference for value and proportion studies. Or skip the reference entirely and use it as a plain timed sketchpad. STUDY AIDS Greyscale to judge values without colour. Flip to catch your own drawing bias. Blur for the squint test. Grid for placement. Zoom and lock to work into a hand or a face. Aids change what you see, never what you save. YOUR WORK, KEPT Every session is stored on your device. Come back to the Library to review what you drew, resume a session you left halfway, or export anything to Photos. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT No account. No sign-up. No network requests at all. Your drawings never leave your iPad, because there is nowhere for them to go. Built for artists who want to warm up in five minutes and get to work.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Gesture Drawing Timer at none against Proref's 1. Proref's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Proref sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Gesture Drawing Timer asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Proref | Gesture Drawing Timer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | โ |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No โ better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod โ better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 โ better | 17.0 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 44 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | John Oliver Atienza | INDRA PANDIT |
In-app purchases
Proref
- Proref Pro$7.99
Gesture Drawing Timer
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Proref free?
Is Gesture Drawing Timer free?
Do Proref or Gesture Drawing Timer have ads?
Other comparisons















