Comparison

Pixel Playground Lite vs Focus Fish

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

Head to head
About

Pixel Playground Lite

Create retro-style graphics with a powerful yet simple pixel art editor. Offers a clean interface, intuitive tools, and smart color management for precise drawing. Export your creations as PNGs.

Highlights
  • Intuitive interface
  • Robust toolset
  • Smart color palettes
  • Precise drawing controls
  • Unlimited undo steps
  • PNG export
Features
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*** Please note: This FREE version puts an overlay on exported PNGs. Saved documents can later be opened in full version if iCloud is enabled! *** - "Wow — just wow, I've played with nearly ALL of the pixel editors out there (I use them daily) and none come close to this in terms of slickness.", UK - "I'm a HUGE fan of Pixel Playground! It's the only iOS pixel art app that's as well designed as iOS itself. Almost every design decision is perfect.", US - "This is Absolutely what you should expect from a great pixel art tool. Some of the tools here work like magic. Nice touches everywhere in the app.", UK - "Extremely feature rich but not bloated. Love the factual names of the colours too.", UK - "This really is a great pixel editor. The interface is refreshing and there’s a surprisingly robust toolset augmented with useful gesture controls. Pixel drawing is precise.", US - "The tutorials are fun and very effective at teaching the app’s features.", US - "Inuitive, fast. Really surprised to see several really cool tools. Lock color. Draw to select. Long press to sample. Nice.", Denmark ---- Do pixel editors have to be as retro as pixel art itself? No! Professionals, hobbyists and newcomers – rejoice! Pixel Playground is here, and it's powerful, beautiful and simple. INTERFACE - Simple & clean with no clutter between you and your art - Intuitive document organizer - Document bounds grow as needed - Super responsive drawing - Fast and smooth pan and zoom - Unlimited undo steps - Portrait or landscape anytime - Instant launch TOOLS - Freehand, lines, boxes, ellipses, flood-fill - Cool auto contour tool - Intuitive tool size: matches finger-tip size at any zoom level - Flood-fill and contour tools supports 4 or 8 pixel neighborhoods - Powerful selection: paint a mask using regular tools - Easy to move stuff around - Cut, copy, paste COLORS - Smart palette with existing document colors - Extensive palette with all recent colors - Paint opacity setting - Automatic color naming for easy reference - Long press to sample existing colors - Lock all pixels of one color - Lock all pixels except one color - Adjust individual colors in your art - Auto erase when drawing on same color SAVING - Syncs using iCloud - Auto saves your work - Export as regular PNGs - Save to photos, air drop, facebook, twitter, etc. BONUS - No in-app purchases - Magic undo/redo transitions - Minimal file size (1,5 MB!) Turn on iCloud sync, and you can access your documents if you upgrade to the full version!

About

Focus Fish

This app gamifies focus sessions by letting you grow a vibrant coral reef. Earn coins and gems by staying on task to unlock sea creatures and decorations, visually reflecting your progress and creating a personalized underwater world.

Highlights
  • Gamified focus timer
  • Virtual coral reef growth
  • Unlock sea creatures and decorations
  • Customizable underwater world
  • Tangible reward for focus
  • Relaxing and motivating environment
Features
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Focus Fish transforms your focus time into a vibrant, ever-growing coral reef. Set a timer for yoga, study, work, or play, then stay on task to earn coins and gems you can spend to customize your own underwater world. As you complete sessions, you’ll unlock new sea creatures, decorations, and diver skins, placing each reward to design a reef that visually reflects your progress and grows richer with every focused moment. The more consistently you focus, the more alive your ocean becomes. Collect golden diamonds to unlock special treasures like rare fish, axolotls, submarines, and other unique additions to your tank. Kids and adults alike enjoy building their dream aquarium as a tangible reward for staying on track. Explore your creation by rotating the tank and guiding your diver through the reef, and use this serene underwater world to relax, decompress, and stay motivated over time.

Screenshots

Pixel Playground Lite4 screens
Focus Fish4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Focus Fish at 5.0 against Pixel Playground Lite's 3.3. Focus Fish also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 75%) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Pixel Playground Lite's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 13.0). On price, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Focus Fish sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Pixel Playground Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Focus Fish holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 75% of Pixel Playground Lite's written reviews are positive against 100% of Focus Fish's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pixel Playground Lite ships an update every 2 months, Focus Fish every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Pixel Playground Lite versus Focus Fish: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixel Playground LiteFocus Fish
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (4 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB198 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStudio MeeSIIMBL LLC

Customer experience

Pixel Playground Lite

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%

Focus Fish

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Pixel Playground Lite

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Focus Fish

One-time10
  • 100 Coins$0.99
  • 5 Gems$0.99
  • 200 Coins$1.99
Show 7 more
  • 10 Gems$1.99
  • 300 Coins$2.99
  • 15 Gems$2.99
  • 20 Gems$3.99
  • 400 Coins$3.99
  • 25 Gems$4.99
  • 500 Coins$4.99

Questions

Is Pixel Playground Lite free?
Pixel Playground Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Focus Fish free?
Focus Fish is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pixel Playground Lite or Focus Fish?
Focus Fish is rated higher. Pixel Playground Lite averages 3.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Focus Fish averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Pixel Playground Lite or Focus Fish have ads?
Neither Pixel Playground Lite nor Focus Fish shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pixel Playground Lite or Focus Fish?
Pixel Playground Lite ships an update every 2 months, and Focus Fish every 3 weeks. Most recently, Pixel Playground Lite was updated on October 5, 2026 and Focus Fish on October 15, 2026.

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