Daniel Leighton Art + AR vs ARtoon
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Daniel Leighton Art + AR
Experience fine art like never before. This app brings paintings to life with augmented reality, revealing animations, narratives, and interactive elements that deepen the emotional impact and storytelling behind each piece.
- Augmented reality art viewing
- Interactive painting animations
- Narrative storytelling through art
- Emotional portrait exploration
- 11 AR-enhanced paintings
- Harnesses technology and emotion
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Daniel Leighton is a contemporary fine artist who merged his painting, filmmaking, storytelling and technology backgrounds by incorporating augmented reality into his iPad paintings. Daniel’s work has been featured by Timothy Potts, Director of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, Bryan Barcena Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), Nicholas Barlow, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where he recently spoke, the LA Center for Digital Art (LACDA), Technarte, the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art (SLOMA) and more. Having Crohn’s Disease since birth, Leighton faced his mortality from a very young age. Countless invasive procedures, hospitalizations and surgeries helped drive him to dive deep into a lifelong quest to understand the workings of his body and his emotions. He creates emotional portraits with simple lines and brilliant colors to capture complex states of the human psyche, while exploring the possibilities of technology and human emotion being harnessed for the greater good. When viewed through this app, Daniel Leighton Art+AR, his paintings come to life as a narrative accompanying the painting; using animation, film and particle systems to further capture a feeling and story. One example is the painting "On Trial" where anger is evident in the faces and pointing fingers of the characters and the moon looking down at the scene has a single tear. When viewed through Leighton's augmented reality app, the painting catches fire and the only way to put out the fire is to tap on the moon which begins to cry therefore putting out the flames with the tears. This piece is about anger in the form of blame and judgment, and shows how when feelings are expressed, anger subsides. Another example is a painting called "A Substance Called Understanding." Through the augmented reality and interactivity (tapping) the room fills up with hearts and the sound of many, layered voices saying "I love you". Leighton has a total of 11 paintings which incorporate augmented reality. If you like this app, please leave us a review or rating as it will help us get more people to see it. Also, please share it with your friends. Thank you!
ARtoon
Create magical photos and videos by adding 3D models and special effects to your surroundings. Transform your imagination into reality with augmented reality, customizing your world with ease. You can also generate 3D floor plans of rooms.
- Add 3D models and special effects
- Create AR photos and videos
- Customize size and placement of models
- Generate 3D room floor plans
- Share creations with friends and family
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ARtoon is an augmented reality app that lets you create, play, and explore in exciting new ways. Place interactive 3D objects into the real world, discover creative AR effects, play fun mini games, and capture unforgettable photos and videos. Whether you’re creating content or simply exploring augmented reality, ARtoon makes it easy and enjoyable. Features • Create stunning AR photos and videos • Place interactive 3D objects in your surroundings • Explore creative AR effects • Play fun AR mini games, including AR Bowling, AR Football, and AR Shadow • Resize, rotate, and position objects naturally in your environment • Capture and share your creations with friends and family • Generate 3D floor plans of rooms using RoomPlan • Regular updates with new content, effects, games, and 3D objects ARtoon is designed to grow over time with new experiences and content, giving you even more ways to create, play, and explore. Imagine it. Make it real.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Daniel Leighton Art + AR at none against ARtoon's 3. Daniel Leighton Art + AR also leads on ratings volume (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). ARtoon's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. ARtoon sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Daniel Leighton Art + AR asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Daniel Leighton Art + AR against 5.0 for ARtoon. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.
Daniel Leighton Art + AR ships an update every 5 months, ARtoon monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Daniel Leighton Art + AR | ARtoon |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (4 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 402 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Daniel Leighton | Grigor Agabalyan |
Customer experience
Daniel Leighton Art + AR
ARtoon
In-app purchases
Daniel Leighton Art + AR
No in-app purchases
ARtoon
- Anolis garmani$0.99
- Turtle$0.99
- RoomPlan$0.99
Questions
Is Daniel Leighton Art + AR free?
Is ARtoon free?
Which has better reviews, Daniel Leighton Art + AR or ARtoon?
Do Daniel Leighton Art + AR or ARtoon have ads?
Which is updated more often, Daniel Leighton Art + AR or ARtoon?
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