Although some apps are optimized for Samsung’s S Pen, most of them work with other types of stylus. Here are our best stylus apps, including games, drawing and coloring apps, note-taking apps, and e-signature apps. We hope you enjoyed this list of the best stylus apps.
The stylus has become an icon of Android. Not many people use it, but those who really like it. It is well known that Samsung Note devices are equipped with the S Pen, and devices such as the Nvidia Shield tablet also have it. Fortunately, there are many applications that can use the stylus. The stylus is a little more down to earth than it was a few years ago. Application development for the stylus is a bit down right now. However, there are some great applications for the stylus.
Let’s take a look at the best stylus and S Pen apps for Android. We would also like to mention Easy Canvas (Google Play). The application turns your Android tablets into a Wacom-style tablet for use with desktop drawing applications such as Photoshop and others. It is fairly new, but very promising. Below, we have mentioned the best apps for Stylus.
Here is the list of 10 Best Stylus Apps
Sketchbook
Autodesk Sketchbook is a drawing application available for computers and mobile devices. It is somewhat like Photoshop and its many alternatives in that it is a bitmap editor, but what makes it unique is that it places a lot of emphasis on drawing, sketching, and creating illustrations quickly. Unlike Photoshop, Sketchbook is not designed for image manipulation or photography. Instead, the application includes a wide range of tools designed for artists and designers, from drawing and line tools to brushes, textures, gradients, and blending modes.
The application makes full use of layers, so you can easily group and rearrange different elements. In addition to the basic ones, Sketchbook includes several more specialized tools. These include a set of guides and rulers, perspective guides, distortion transformation, brush blending, simple gradients, and a separate “Flipbook” animation mode.
How to Draw
How to Draw – Easy Lessons is one of the most popular drawing and image-making applications. It is one of the most versatile programs. When used in combination with a stylus and an S-Pen, it is possible not only to draw, but also to process images. The application is described as a complete graphics editor with the ability to sketch. It is also possible to draw and create complex graphic compositions. More than one hundred artist-designed brushes and art accessories are provided.
Watercolor and pastel drawings created in the application look almost real. You can adjust stroke thickness, mix colors, and more. How to Draw – Easy Lessons also offers features for photo editing and graphic design. It also offers a wide range of colors. You can mix and match them to create unique shades. This simplifies the management of layers and templates.
Coloring
Adult coloring pages are a popular way to relax and escape from the world for a while. Coloring is an application that includes many free images to color on the go. It is convenient that there is a left-handed mode and a huge color palette. You can use the Bucket tool to color the image piece by piece, or color in crayon with a pencil. The app has a library of premium images that can be unlocked with coins or accessed in full by subscribing for $2.99 for one month or $4.99 for three months. Both subscription options include a three-day trial.
Bamboo Paper
Bamboo Paper follows the excellent Penultimate in its simple approach. You get little more than a virtual piece of paper on which to scribble drawings and letters. The choice of ink is limited to six colors and the pen thickness is only three. An eraser, Undo and Redo, and a Bookmark function are also available. The latter appears to make little more than a marker in the corner of the page. Only one notebook is provided and, compared to Penultimate, the range of paper styles is very limited.
But Bamboo Paper has what you need: a handwriting engine. Few applications come close to Penultimate’s engine. But Wacom could do better. The feeling of “ink” appearing under the stylus tip when writing is very natural, and if you quickly swipe the tip, the line disappears as if you were writing with a marker or brush.
Evernote
No two workflows are the same, but Evernote can help you stay productive and organized. First, Evernote is relatively easy to use. Due to its popularity and large user base, tutorials are everywhere. Thanks to the low learning curve, it won’t take you long to understand the application. Evernote organizes notes into notebooks, which are basically file folders. The notes themselves are text files with a standard blog-style GUI for formatting text, inserting images or entering basic code blocks.
Two of the most useful features are note tags and the Evernote Web Clipper browser extension. Note tags work like tags in a blog post or like hashtags. This gives you a second way to organize your notes. Tags are useful for searching through notes and categorizing them for later use.
Snapseed
Teachers themselves can use Snapseed to create attractive and illustrative photos for lessons or presentations. Students can also use Snapseed for their personal expression or projects. Its best use is in an art or photography class, but it can be a useful tool for any class where students take and share images for research projects or portfolios. Because the app is free and available for iOS and Android, it is easy for most students to access and use.
If you or your students are new to photo editing apps, check out all the editing options on the support page. There is also a support forum dedicated to this app with many people willing to help. One way teachers can start a collective self-editing session on Snapseed is to invite students to spend the day taking photos of each other, nature, architecture, or whatever catches their eye.
MyScript Calculator 2
MyScript Calculator 2 is probably the best calculator for stylus and S-Pen enthusiasts. You literally write down the equation you want to solve. The application uses OCR to convert it into an equation and then solve it for you. It is great for middle school, high school and college math. However, once you get past trigonometry, the app starts to struggle.
To be honest, it is fun to watch this app work. You can also copy and paste solutions (and problems) from this app into other apps without any problem. This is a very good deal for such an app, and $2.99 is quite reasonable. There are no additional ads or in-app purchases in the app.
Simplenote
Created by the geniuses at WordPress, Simplenote is the most minimalist application on this list. There is nothing to see, you are immediately greeted with the ability to take notes. While sticking to its conservative implementation, Simplenote’s list of features may seem bare to some. This is because Simplenote is not intended to be a heavyweight in the clipboard business. The goal is only to make it easier for laypeople to take notes and make a shopping list, not essays and dissertations.
You need a Simplenote account to access your notes and store them in the cloud. And yes, the app is available on multiple platforms. You can organize your notes using the tags and labels available in the app. But don’t expect hierarchical organization or other complex sorting methods.
Adobe Photoshop Sketch
Adobe Photoshop Sketch can be used alone, with Adobe Photoshop CC, or with Illustrator CC. The Sketch app works in layers, and you can include anything created in the app in a project using any of the desktop tools. The Android app has five pen and brush options, each with a color picker and size options.
You can also add a variety of lines and shapes, as well as images from other applications. An Adobe account is required to access the app, but a free version is available that includes access to Adobe’s stock photo collection, cloud storage, and the ability to send the file to Photoshop CC and Illustrator CC with entire layers.
Squid: Take Notes, Markup PDFs
Teachers who wish to reduce the amount of paper piling up on their desks or in student folders will find Squid – PDF Notes & Markups an attractive alternative to traditional notepads. Import an image, diagram or notes to share with your students. Use the graph paper feature to practice algebra or geometry problems. Or, if you can make an in-app purchase, you can switch to paper with PDF markup capabilities. In addition, students can easily switch between diagrams, drawings and written text without leaving the note.
Just turn the page by clicking the arrow and choosing a background. Use it for a quick formative assessment to check understanding. Since students can comment on pictures, diagrams, historical documents or virtually anything they find online, you can encourage them to use Squid for research projects and presentations. Remind students of copyright and privacy protection laws if they plan to publish their content online.
Final Words
Taking notes, jotting them down in a notebook, or sketching is a common thing for most people. Although we live in a digital world, paper and pen remain our Best Stylus Apps. Taking notes and sketching helps our brain come up with ideas and develop them. And handwriting helps us not only think more creatively but also more effectively.