This review originally appeared within iLounge’s iOS Gems series within the compilation article, iPhone Gems: Every Drawing Application, Reviewed. Additional details may be found in the original article.
Sketches ($6) is a well-designed drawing application, with a fairly robust feature set and highly usable interface. Upon launch, users are bought to a screen with a navigation bar at the top and drawings represented by thumbnails that have been pinned to the corkboard background.
As with several other apps, a number of preloaded sketches serve as a user’s guide, explaining the function of each button in the app’s interface. Buttons in the navigation bar allow the user to delete sketches and create new ones.
On the drawing screen, a navigation bar at the top provides a back button and a zoom control button, while buttons along the bottom allow the user to tap to undo/hold to erase all, pick a color from 24 swatches and control the brush size, pick a shape from a myriad of options sorted into one of six categories, set the background using the iPhone’s camera, the photo library, a solid color, an image from the web, a map (using the user’s location), or one of paper-like patterns, and either export the sketch to the photo library or post it to Twitter. Users draw using one finger, and use two-finger pinch and grab gestures to make shapes; these are displayed in real time as the user moves his/her fingers, giving clear indications of what is being drawn.
Shaking the device clears the sketches but not the background; a menu in the device’s Settings app allows the user to turn this on and off. Other options reset the device’s first-run tutorial and present the version information for the app.
While it lacks the interesting and potentially useful wireless sharing feature of the same-priced NetSketch, Sketches makes up for it with a broad range of drawing options, reasonable features, including a built-in gallery, and a smart interface. While it is one of the two most expensive drawing apps for the iPhone and iPod touch, Sketches is largely worth it; a slightly lower price and adjustable brush textures would make it even better.
