Sketchbook
One of the most popular apps for sketching on your Android phone is the aptly named Sketchbook from Autodesk. It’s been around for years on Android and has nearly a decade worth of updates and features to show for it.
It’s got all of the basics that you’d want, like a multitude of brushes and writing utensils, layers for blending, lots of customization options, and a minimal interface that gets out of your way so you can focus on your sketch, not the app itself.
Sketchbook is free to try out with a few premium in-app purchases.
Penup
Don’t let the developer fool you; Samsung’s Penup app is an excellent sketching app that’s available for more than just Samsung Galaxy devices.
While the app was initially launched to help people show off their Galaxy Note sketches, it’s evolved into somewhat of a quiet social media site for artists that like to sketch on their phone. The Android app is fully featured with tons of customization options, brush styles, and a built-in social sharing feature so you can let your work out into the world and browse what other people are creating.
Best of all, it’s completely free with no in-app purchases. You can snag this on most Android devices and Windows, if that’s your cup of tea.
Concepts
Concepts is a flexible app that allows you to dive into sketching and creating with a huge suite of features. They’ve carved out niche across multiple industries, including professional settings, school systems, and with casual users. Their app reflects all of that, too.
The Concepts app is free to use with a ton of features, with an infinite drawing canvas, layer drawing, plenty of tools and brushes, professional color wheels, and basic export features. While you can pay for a subscription to gain access to more pro features and extra tools, Concepts also offers things as a one-time purchase if there’s really only one or two things you need for your workflow.
That flexible pricing scheme plus its cross-platform availability makes this a great digital sketchbook for beginners and professionals alike.
Microsoft Whiteboard
If you’re a creative type that just wants to draw and sketch out ideas, Microsoft Whiteboard might be a tough sell. But if you’re a fan of sketchbooks for their planning and productivity capabilities, Whiteboard is an excellent tool to add to your phone.
The app allows you to craft up canvases for professional projects, weekend plans, thought boards, new product designs, and more. You can draw on the canvas, attach sticky notes, make flow charts, add pictures and emojis, collaborate with other users, and more. It’s significantly more featured than a standard sketching app, but for someone trying to get their thoughts in order, you can’t go wrong.
Whiteboard is available for Microsoft Office 365 subscribers.
Infinite Painter
If you’re looking for something with a simple UI but a ton of features, Infinite Painter is an excellent choice. This app features hundreds of included brushes and customization options, realtime color adjustments, pressure and tilt support for compatible styluses, and Timelapse recording, just to name a few things that you get from Infinite Studio’s award-winning app.
The biggest thing, though, is that simple interface. It’s too easy for a sketching app to look cluttered and get in the way of your drawing, but Infinite Painter has managed to cram all those features in a relatively simple UX. It’s also relatively affordable one-time $10 purchase, and is available on Google Play Pass if you’re already subscribed.
These are some of the best sketching apps available on the Google Play Store, and they each offer unique features and cross-platform usability. Dive in and happy sketching.
