RoughAnimator vs Doodle Magic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
RoughAnimator
Create traditional hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animations on your iPad. This app offers professional-grade tools like unlimited layers, onion skinning, and audio import, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced animators. Export your work in various formats or import it into professional animation software.
- Timeline with unlimited layers
- Onion skinning
- Audio and video import
- Custom brushes
- Apple Pencil support
- Export to video, GIF, image sequence
- Import to professional software
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A fully featured hand drawn animation application for iPad. Made by an animator, for animators. Powerful enough for professionals, simple enough for beginners. Everything you need to create traditional hand drawn frame-by-frame animation, anywhere you go! Features: - Timeline with unlimited layers and easily adjustable exposure length of individual drawings, for pose-to-pose or straight-ahead animating - Onion skinning - Preview playback - Scrub along timeline - Import audio for lip syncing - Import video for rotoscoping animation - Custom brushes - Supports Apple Pencil, Logitech Crayon - Control framerate and resolution - Export animation to Quicktime video, GIF, or image sequence - RoughAnimator projects can be imported to Adobe Flash/Animate, After Effects, and Toon Boom Harmony - Also available on desktop See a short film animated with RoughAnimator: https://youtu.be/vaHuJNNPoMM
Doodle Magic
Unleash your creativity with a magical doodle game. Replay your drawings as animated cartoons and explore a variety of colorful brushes and patterns. This app offers a simple yet imaginative way to create unique artwork and relive your artistic process.
- Cartoon playback of doodle process
- Magical paintbrushes (rainbow, neon, pearl)
- Random color variations
- 10+ doodle patterns
- My Gallery for saved drawings
- Mandala and kaleidoscope creation
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It's the most magical doodle game. Playback the doodle process as a cartoon. There’re many beautiful brush tools,10+doodle patterns. The simplest doodle way, free your imagination now! “Cartoon” mode : playback the doodle process as a cartoon. Many Magical paintbrushes：rainbow ,neon ,pearl and more. Radom color variation ,there’re full of pleasant surprise. 10+differents doodle patterns, just create the style which you like. My Gallery : to show your drawing as an artist! Doodle Magic is a very interesting doodle game which is very easy to control! It provide a creative doodle world for everyone! You just need to drawing which you like ,that you can create a very wonderful Mandala flowers，and the magical kaleidoscope patterns! And the most important is you can playback the doodle process as a cartoon! You can enjoy the joy of doodle. Easy to operate, easy to graffiti! Each works that you create are unique and wonderful! Get more childlike innocence ,Get more joy ！ Don’t miss the best interesting doodle game ! DOWN LOAD NOW !
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Doodle Magic at Free against RoughAnimator's $7.99. Doodle Magic also leads on ratings volume (12K vs 3K). RoughAnimator's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence 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
Doodle Magic is free to download; RoughAnimator costs $7.99 up front. Doodle Magic sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. RoughAnimator asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for RoughAnimator against 4.7 for Doodle Magic. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3K and 12K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of RoughAnimator's written reviews are positive against 81% of Doodle Magic's.
RoughAnimator ships an update fortnightly, Doodle Magic monthly. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.
| Parameter | RoughAnimator | Doodle Magic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (3K ratings) | 4.7 (12K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews | 81.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 3K | 12K — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #10 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 108 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jacob KAFKA | 炳甲 梁 |
Customer experience
RoughAnimator
Doodle Magic
User reviews
RoughAnimator
From 3K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Smooth animation
- 💡 Useful features like camera and audio
- 👍 Intuitive interface
- 👍 Great for beginners
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes when importing video/audio
- 🐛 Laggy performance with larger projects
- 🐛 Pixelated/blurry drawings when playing animation
- 🐛 Onion skin not working
- 🐛 Brush issues like splotchy lines
Doodle Magic
From 12K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Relaxing and creative drawing experience
- 👍 Easy to use and intuitive interface
- 🌈 Vibrant and colorful designs
- 💡 Unique and satisfying drawing patterns
- 🤩 Helps users feel like an artist
Room to improve
- 🙄 Excessive advertisements
- 🎨 Limited color options
- 🔍 Difficult to save or share drawings
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezing issues
Bugs and requests
RoughAnimator
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when importing audio
- Onion skin not working
- Pixelated drawings when playing animation
- Laggy performance with larger projects
Requested features
8 requests- Add transparency support for exports
- Implement a text tool
- Provide more brush options and customization
- Add a ruler/shape tool
- Improve audio handling (record, import, sync)
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- Implement a tween/animation feature
- Add layer grouping and organization tools
- Provide a dark mode option
Doodle Magic
Reported bugs
2 issues- Controls stop working after purchasing ad-free version
- Drawings disappear or cannot be accessed after exiting the app
Requested features
4 requests- Allow users to choose their own colors
- Expand drawing tools and brush options
- Improve saving and sharing functionality
- Reduce the frequency of advertisements
In-app purchases
RoughAnimator
No in-app purchases
Doodle Magic
- Remove Advertisement$1.99
Questions
Is RoughAnimator free?
Is Doodle Magic free?
Which has better reviews, RoughAnimator or Doodle Magic?
Do RoughAnimator or Doodle Magic have ads?
Which is updated more often, RoughAnimator or Doodle Magic?
Other comparisons
