Comparison

Simply Paint vs Bright Lights (Ape Apps)

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

Head to head
About

Simply Paint

Create and share your artwork with this intuitive finger painting application. It offers essential tools like adjustable brush sizes, opacity settings, and a custom color mixer. Easily save your creations or share them directly to social media and email.

Highlights
  • Adjustable brush size
  • Opacity settings
  • Custom color mixing
  • Pre-set color palette
  • Eraser tool
  • Share to social media
  • Save to camera roll
Features
Read full description

Simply Paint is the easiest way to make and share your art. It has all the things you need to make a beautiful finger painting! This app includes: ∙ Opacity settings ∙ Brush size settings ∙ Mix your own colors to get ANY color you need ∙ Palate of 10 set colors and eraser ∙ Share your art to Facebook & Twitter ∙ Save to your camera roll ∙ Email your pictures to your friends Go wild and let the creativity flow!

About

Bright Lights (Ape Apps)

This app lets you create colorful dot art inspired by a classic toy. Choose from various colors to draw pictures, save them to a gallery, and share with others. It's a fun, nostalgic drawing experience for all ages.

Highlights
  • Draw with colored dots
  • Save pictures to gallery
  • Share creations
  • Nostalgic gameplay
  • Suitable for all ages
Features
Read full description

Bright Lights is a unique drawing app for kids and adults of all ages. It is inspired by the classic Lite Brite toy from back in the day, and older users will instantly feel the nostalgia when they load up the app. In Bright Lights, you draw pictures by placing colored dots on the screen. There are many different colors to choose from. When you are done, you can either start over or save your picture to the gallery so you can share with your friends and family! Bright Lights is a great casual drawing game, and is a must have for any app library, especially for art lovers and those who wish to look back on their childhood days!

Screenshots

Simply Paint4 screens
Bright Lights (Ape Apps)3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Simply Paint at 5.0 against Bright Lights (Ape Apps)'s 4.3. Simply Paint also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). Bright Lights (Ape Apps)'s advantage is update cadence (every 9 months vs every 92 months). On price, ratings volume 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. Bright Lights (Ape Apps) sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Simply Paint asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simply Paint holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 20 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Simply Paint's written reviews are positive against 83% of Bright Lights (Ape Apps)'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simply Paint ships an update every 92 months, Bright Lights (Ape Apps) every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Simply Paint versus Bright Lights (Ape Apps): the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimply PaintBright Lights (Ape Apps)
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (7 ratings) — better4.3 (20 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better83.3% of reviews
Number of ratings720 — better
Update frequencyEvery 92 monthsEvery 9 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMariah CoxBrandon Stecklein

Customer experience

Simply Paint

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bright Lights (Ape Apps)

All ratings12 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Simply Paint

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Bright Lights (Ape Apps)

One-time1
  • Advertising Removal$1.99

Questions

Is Simply Paint free?
Simply Paint is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bright Lights (Ape Apps) free?
Bright Lights (Ape Apps) is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Simply Paint or Bright Lights (Ape Apps)?
Simply Paint is rated higher. Simply Paint averages 5.0 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Bright Lights (Ape Apps) averages 4.3 from 20 ratings.
Do Simply Paint or Bright Lights (Ape Apps) have ads?
Bright Lights (Ape Apps) shows ads; Simply Paint does not.
Which is updated more often, Simply Paint or Bright Lights (Ape Apps)?
Simply Paint ships an update every 92 months, and Bright Lights (Ape Apps) every 9 months. Most recently, Simply Paint was updated on October 20, 2026 and Bright Lights (Ape Apps) on November 1, 2026.

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