Comparison

Pattern Shapes, by MLC vs PicCollage EDU Collage Maker

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

Head to head
About

Pattern Shapes, by MLC

This app allows students to explore geometry and fractions through interactive shape manipulation. Users can create designs, fill outlines, measure angles, and annotate their work. It's an open-ended educational tool for learning mathematical concepts.

Highlights
  • Explore geometry and fractions
  • Create custom designs
  • Measure angles with protractor
  • Duplicate, resize, and recolor shapes
  • Fill built-in outlines
  • Annotate work with drawing tools
  • Share creations via image or code
Features
Read full description

Students use Pattern Shapes to explore geometry and fractions, creating their own designs, or filling in outlines. As they work with the shapes students explore geometric relationships, think about angles, investigate symmetry, and compose and decompose larger shapes. Many of these explorations lead naturally to thinking about fractions as parts of a whole. This virtual version of pattern blocks is an open-ended educational tool, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments that use iPads. Pattern blocks are a key model used in Bridges in Mathematics, second edition. Online preview available at: www.mathlearningcenter.org/bridges FEATURES • Rotate shapes in increments of 15 degrees. • Measure angles with the protractor tool. • Duplicate and change the color and size of shapes. • Fill the built-in outlines with shapes or create your own to share with others. • Choose between a triangular or square grid, or a blank background. • Hide and reveal work with resizable covers to create your own problems and model strategies. • Use the drawing tools to annotate work and show understanding. • Add equations, expressions, and descriptions with the math text and writing tools. • Share your work by saving an image or providing a share code to others. ABOUT US This resource is brought to you by The Math Learning Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to K-12 education since 1976. Our mission is to inspire and enable individuals to discover and develop their mathematical confidence and ability. www.mathlearningcenter.org This app was crafted by Clarity Innovations. We help improve teaching and learning by creating solutions that match promising technologies with the needs of education. Visit us: www.clarity-innovations.com

About

PicCollage EDU Collage Maker

This app provides a safe and user-friendly platform for creating photo collages, ideal for young children and educational settings. It offers a variety of design elements like backgrounds, stickers, and fonts, with options to save or print creations.

Highlights
  • Safe for all ages and classrooms
  • Import photos from library
  • Clip photos with finger outlining
  • Doodle drawings on collages
  • Hundreds of free stickers and backgrounds
  • Variety of fun frames
  • Square and portrait layouts
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

From the creators of PicCollage, the hugely popular photo app with over 200 million downloads, PicCollage EDU is the SAFEST and most user-friendly collage app available. With no account required to use the app and no social sharing features, it's perfect for young children and for classroom use. PicCollage EDU also offers hundreds of free backgrounds, fun stickers, and fonts. Easily create amazing collages with PicCollage EDU and save them to your device or print them out! "PicCollage EDU is by far one of the easiest and safest apps I have run across for elementary learners. I love the option to turn off the image search in the settings and how social media sharing is not allowed. Everything is safe and secure!" Julie S., Elementary Instructional Technology Consultant Highlighted features: * Safe and fun for all ages and perfect for classrooms. * Import photos from your photo library. * Rotate, resize, and delete scraps with simple touch gestures. * Easily "clip" photos by outlining the area you want with your finger. * Doodle drawings on your collage with our new "Doodle" tool. * Access hundreds of stickers and backgrounds for FREE. * Choose from a variety of fun frames to create an instant collage. * Over 100 colorful backgrounds and fun stickers. * Square and portrait layouts. Privacy Policy: https://cardinalblue.com/privacy/piccollageedu Terms of Service: https://picc.co/tos/piccollageedu/

Screenshots

PicCollage EDU Collage Maker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pattern Shapes, by MLC at Free against PicCollage EDU Collage Maker's $1.99. Pattern Shapes, by MLC also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (14.7 vs 17.0). PicCollage EDU Collage Maker's advantage is update cadence (every 5 months vs every 26 months) and rating (4.5 vs 4.2). On 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

Pattern Shapes, by MLC is free to download; PicCollage EDU Collage Maker costs $1.99 up front. PicCollage EDU Collage Maker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pattern Shapes, by MLC asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PicCollage EDU Collage Maker holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PicCollage EDU Collage Maker has 155 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Pattern Shapes, by MLC's written reviews are positive against 79% of PicCollage EDU Collage Maker's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pattern Shapes, by MLC ships an update every 26 months, PicCollage EDU Collage Maker every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on June 2, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Pattern Shapes, by MLC versus PicCollage EDU Collage Maker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPattern Shapes, by MLCPicCollage EDU Collage Maker
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.2 (17 ratings)4.5 (155 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.0% of reviews78.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings17155 — better
Update frequencyEvery 26 monthsEvery 5 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#190 — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS14.7 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB218 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Math Learning CenterCardinal Blue

Customer experience

Pattern Shapes, by MLC

All ratings17 ratings
Positive82.4%
Neutral5.9%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative10.0%

PicCollage EDU Collage Maker

All ratings155 ratings
Positive87.1%
Neutral5.2%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews168 reviews
Positive78.6%
Neutral7.1%
Negative14.3%

Bugs and requests

Pattern Shapes, by MLC

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

PicCollage EDU Collage Maker

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Collages and data being lost or reset
  • Drawing/editing tools not working properly
  • Web search functionality not working as expected

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more backgrounds and stickers
  • Improve web search functionality with better filters
  • Restore camera access within the app
  • Provide more customization options

In-app purchases

None

Pattern Shapes, by MLC

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

PicCollage EDU Collage Maker

One-time1
  • "Remove watermark" feature$1.99

Questions

Is Pattern Shapes, by MLC free?
Pattern Shapes, by MLC is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is PicCollage EDU Collage Maker free?
PicCollage EDU Collage Maker costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pattern Shapes, by MLC or PicCollage EDU Collage Maker?
PicCollage EDU Collage Maker is rated higher. Pattern Shapes, by MLC averages 4.2 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while PicCollage EDU Collage Maker averages 4.5 from 155 ratings.
Do Pattern Shapes, by MLC or PicCollage EDU Collage Maker have ads?
Neither Pattern Shapes, by MLC nor PicCollage EDU Collage Maker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pattern Shapes, by MLC or PicCollage EDU Collage Maker?
Pattern Shapes, by MLC ships an update every 26 months, and PicCollage EDU Collage Maker every 5 months. Most recently, Pattern Shapes, by MLC was updated on June 2, 2026 and PicCollage EDU Collage Maker on September 22, 2026.

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