Design Materials vs iDrawlix Mobile
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Design Materials
This app serves as an offline reference guide for various design materials, including polymers and metals. It allows users to manage their own material data, view 3D models, and capture objects with their device's camera. Ideal for professionals and hobbyists involved in product design and 3D printing.
- Offline material reference guide
- Custom material and resin management
- 3D model viewer and import/export
- Object capture via device camera
- Favorites and notes section
- Cross-device compatibility (iOS, macOS)
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Design Materials is an offline material reference guide trusted by hundreds of Engineers, Architects and Designers all over the World. The App was created to be a personal tool to help me take design decisions during the concept ideation of industrial products, in particular for 3D printing. Due to high demand, I decided to make it public and share it's information and power. Basically, it provides the fundamentals for most design/engineer materials on the market, based on reliable and curated academic sources. In addition, you can now create and manager your own Material, Resin or Filament data. Finally, the App features Apple Intelligence (AI) with a pair of Entity Masters in material engineering and STEM: HAL 9000 and Elemento, which can be accessed 24/7 while being on or offline (no internet). The guide contains material categories such as polymers, metals, naturals and more. All of these include synthetic, organic, bio-degradable, plastic, and much more subcategories. Each material contains information such as: About, Properties, Tags, Applications, Types and Photos. HAL 9000 & Elemento (AI entities): The legend of HAL is back. Ask anything from space to robotics or biology, HAL and Elemento are Gods of material engineering and science. HAL does precise flawless analysis while Elemento brings fresh human creativity with an attitude. In addition, you can choose the Tone of AI: Formal, Friendly, Direct or Arrogant. Both AI Entities work offline 24/7. Other features includes: • AI Chat with HAL 9000 or Elemento • Material Packs (subscribers) • 3D-model viewer/import/export • Object Capture: Scan Objects • Favorites section • Offline reference (no Internet needed) • Long list of properties per material • Save Notes per material/resin/filament • Create Designs using Apple Pencil • Support for all iPhone screen sizes • Dark Mode • iPadOS support • MacOS support • Continuous Updates with New Content • UNIVERSAL PURCHASE - One Payment for all Devices New Pro version auto-renew subscriptions: - 1 year (Gold) | 3 month (Silver) | 1 month (Bronze) subscriptions* - Access to all material database ABOUT SUBSCRIPTIONS • Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. • Terms of use (EULA): https://www.termsfeed.com/live/faff17b4-8765-4690-b57e-9aabde3d2950
iDrawlix Mobile
This app allows users to design and verify partially full conduits and open channels. It offers various cross-section types and hydraulic calculation models, displaying real-time flow depth and discharge. Users can also generate stage-discharge curves and analyze hydraulic grade lines.
- Playground concept for real-time experimentation
- Seven cross-section types
- Four hydraulic calculation models
- International and Imperial unit systems
- Real-time normal flow depth and discharge display
- Stage-Discharge curve generation
- Hydraulic Grade Line (HGL) representation
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iDrawlix® Mobile comes as free App, with two In App Purchases options which will unlock Watermarks and file sharing, respectively. It replaces iDrawlix® Premium, for which we will do not grant our assistance starting June, 30 2021, because his not full compatibility with iOS 13 or newer. It has been, fully recompiled in native Swift also for Mac OS. Now it is newer, faster and graphically more beautiful. iDrawlix® can handle a single Sewer or Open Channel, basing on the Playground concept. The iDrawlix® Playground concept allows Users approaching design and verification of partially full conduits or open channels to immediately experiment what happens to their project at any change in the settings, without the burden of building complex ad hoc models in order to get graphics and tables out of it. We chosen to provide iDrawlix® Mobile with the "Top Seven" types of cross section: - Open Channels: -Simple Trapezoidal; - Closed Channels/Sewers: -Rectangular, -Rectangular with Triangular Bottom, -Circular, -Egg-Shaped (old England Style), -Standard Egg-Shaped, -Elliptical. User can select four different Hydraulics Calculation Models: - Gauckler & Strickler, - Chezy-Bazin, - Chezy-Kutter and - Manning. Two different options of System Unit are available: - International System (IS) or - Imperial Units (IU). Each Cross Section, furthermore, can be characterised by two Roughness Coefficients: one for the bottom and one the edges (sides). All the necessary geometric parameters, are anyway explained graphically by the legend and the quotes next to the cross section represented within the Activity. iDrawlix® Mobile displays in real time, at any parameter change: - Normal Flow Depth and - Normal Flow Discharge. One of the main output of iDrawlix® Mobile is the Stage-Discharge curve of the current Cross Section. Each Parameter is plotted in the classic dimensionless scale vs. the ratio Yn/H, where: - Yn is the normal depth; - H is the maximum internal depth of the given Cross Section. In the bottom View, are tabled the following parameters, for each Y, assumed as normal depth Yn: - σn, as the Hydraulic Cross Section involved (m²) or (ft²), - HRn, as the Hydraulic Radius (m) or (ft), - χn, as the corresponding Wet Perimeter (m) or (ft), - Qn, as the normal Discharge (m³/s) or (ft³/s), - Vn, as the normal Velocity (m/s) or (ft/s), - Vc, velocity in critical conditions (m/s) or (ft/s), - Fr, that is the Froud number (n). iDrawlix® Mobile can represent also the HGL (Hydraulic Grade Line) for a given free surface channel or sewer, which is plotted under hypothesis of gradually varied flow. Users can consider Channels or Sewers of semidefinite length in the Mild Slope as well as in the Steep Slope case. Boundary conditions are set interactively by the User, imposing the known depth into the starting downstream cross section (profiles known as M1 and M2) for Mild Slope Channels or, in the opposite case, by imposing the known depth into the starting upstream cross section (profiles known as S2 and S3) for Steep Slope Channels. All the parameters computed within the integration used in order to plot the HGL graph, are represented also in the tabular format as follows: - Y(i) depth of the current. Dimensions: (m) or (ft); - X(i) abscissa corresponding to Y(i), computed as negative for upstream wise case (mild slope) and positive for downstream wise integrations (steep slope). Dimensions: (m) or (ft); - V(i) velocity of the current in the cross section i. Dimensions: (m/s) or (ft/s); - J(i) energy loss or gain between the i-th and the i+1-th cross section. Dimensions: (m/m) or (ft/ft); - E(i) energy computed as sum of the hydraulic grade and velocity head. Dimensions: (m) or (ft). We strongly recommend to buy the "Full unlock forever" In App Purchase in order to get the max from your iDrawlix® Mobile experience. Old Premium version owners are kindly requested to email to idrawlix@idrawlix.com in order to get a new free license.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: iDrawlix Mobile at 100% against Design Materials's 33%. Design Materials's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 1.0) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 10 months). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Design Materials sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and iDrawlix Mobile sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Design Materials holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Design Materials's written reviews are positive against 100% of iDrawlix Mobile's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Design Materials ships an update every 3 months, iDrawlix Mobile every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on July 23, 2026 and July 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Design Materials | iDrawlix Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (2 ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 10 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 17.2 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chrystian Enriquez | Studio Envisys |
Customer experience
Design Materials
iDrawlix Mobile
In-app purchases
Design Materials
- Bronze member$7.991 Month
- Silver member$17.993 Months
- Gold member$49.991 Year
iDrawlix Mobile
- Watermarks unlock forever.$2.99
- Full unlock forever.$5.99
Questions
Is Design Materials free?
Is iDrawlix Mobile free?
Which has better reviews, Design Materials or iDrawlix Mobile?
Do Design Materials or iDrawlix Mobile have ads?
Which is updated more often, Design Materials or iDrawlix Mobile?
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