Sketchbook® vs Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sketchbook®
This app provides a professional-grade drawing and painting experience for artists and illustrators. It offers a natural drawing feel with customizable tools, layers, and guides for precision. Unlock advanced features like custom brushes and canvas resizing with an optional premium purchase.
- Full complement of brush types
- Highly customizable brushes
- Guides, rulers, and stroke tools
- Layers with blend modes
- Clean and unobtrusive interface
- Custom brush creation (premium)
- Canvas resizing (premium)
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From quick sketches to fully finished artwork, Sketchbook goes where your creativity takes you. Sketchbook is an award-winning sketching, painting, and drawing app for anyone who loves to draw. Artists and illustrators love Sketchbook for its professional-grade feature set and highly customizable tools. Everyone loves Sketchbook for its elegant interface and natural drawing experience, free of distractions so you can focus on capturing and expressing your ideas. • A full complement of brush types: pencils markers, airbrushes, smear and more that look and feel just like their physical counterparts • Brushes are highly customizable so you can create just the look you want • Guides, rulers and stroke tools support precision when you need it • Layers with a full complement of blend modes deliver the flexibility to build up and explore drawings and color • Purpose-built for sketching, the interface is clean and unobtrusive so you can focus on drawing Purchase the Premium Bundle to unlock more... • Import and export brushes • Create your own custom brushes • Resize your canvas or image • Set canvas resolution in px/inch or px/cm • Clipping masks • Additional layer adjustments including blur, sharpen, brightness/contrast, greyscale, and invert • Additional color harmonies • Additional custom gradients • Select color from reference images • Extract color palettes from images • Import and export color palettes • Layer grouping • Layer masking Blend Modes • Draw Outline tool • Lasso Fill tool • Export to PDF • plus more to come!
Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw
Create and display handwritten notes, drawings, and sketches directly on your iOS home screen. This app offers a suite of free drawing tools, including customizable pens, an eraser, and undo/redo functionality. Save unlimited notes, organize them into folders, and share your creations easily.
- iOS 14 home screen widgets
- Free drawing and sketching tools
- Apple Pencil compatibility
- Customizable pen types and colors
- Undo, redo, and eraser
- Unlimited note saving
- Folder organization
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It's a handwritten notes app compatible with iOS14 home screen widgets. All features are completely free to use. - Quick start - Easy to draw handwritten notes - Compatible with Apple Pencil - You can choose the type and color of the pen - Undo, Redo, with eraser function - You can share your notes on SNS - Unlimited notes can be saved - Can be divided into folders - Supports iOS14 home screen widget - Dark mode support - Completely free, no additional charge Want to put handwritten notes, scribbles, illustrations and sketches on your home screen? URL scheme: handwritten://
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Sketchbook® at 4.8 against Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw's 4.2. Sketchbook® also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (220K vs 57). Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, update cadence, monetization model 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. Sketchbook® sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sketchbook® holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sketchbook® has 220K ratings behind it against 57, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Sketchbook®'s written reviews are positive against 65% of Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sketchbook® | Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (220K ratings) — better | 4.2 (57 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.6% of reviews — better | 65.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 220K — better | 57 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #41 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 142 MB | 10 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sketchbook, Inc | FugaPiyo Inc. |
Customer experience
Sketchbook®
Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw
Bugs and requests
Sketchbook®
Reported bugs
4 issues- Layers randomly deleted or corrupted
- Freezing when using certain tools like the eyedropper
- Saving issues leading to loss of progress
- Incompatibility with newer iPad Pro devices
Requested features
7 requests- Add blurring and clipping mask tools
- Improve gallery and canvas rotation functionality
- Allow custom font import
- Add effects like glow, stroke, and drop shadow
- Implement layer grouping and organization
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- Add real-time collaboration features
- Improve time-lapse recording and saving
Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Sketchbook®
- Premium Bundle$2.99
Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Sketchbook® free?
Is Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw free?
Which has better reviews, Sketchbook® or Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw?
Do Sketchbook® or Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw have ads?
Which is updated more often, Sketchbook® or Handwritten Notes Widget, Draw?
Other comparisons
