Last updated on December 1st, 2022
Not very long ago, desktops and laptops were the only means available for graphics designers looking to create some awesome graphic design artwork.
We’re sure we don’t need to you tell you that…
….the incessant technological advancement has brought to the fore many other alternatives to fulfil one’s graphic design needs.
Smartphones, and tablets are not considered the costly, sophisticated ‘Sci-fi Toys’ for the elite. But are easily available to everyone with different budget, taste and preferences.
This era of android powered smartphones and tablets has brought with it a whole new app ecosystem. With an app available for almost everything, it’s hardly surprising that there is a multitude of android app for designers too!
These cool graphic design apps have made it possible for graphic designers to build awesome designs and dissect design details, no matter where they are.
We’re sure you might be wondering:
“Why should I go for an android app and not the iOS app?”
Here’s your answer:
The fact that Android is owned by Google makes it one of the world’s most commonly used smartphone platform. It is Linux-based and partly open source. In fact, more than 70% of the smart phones in the world are powered by this operating system.
When compared to iOS, Android apps for designers are more PC-like in terms of interface and usability making creative artwork easier and convenient.
In addition, the basic features of Android apps are much more customizable from top to bottom. This makes Android apps good even for the occasional designers who wish to do photo editing without necessarily having to acquire special technical skills.
But wait:
We aren’t writing off iOS graphic designs themed apps completely. Much to many Android users’ disappointment, a large fraction of mobile apps come to iOS way before they come to the Android platform.
Why?
Because developers tend to make more money from iOS users on an average than they do from Android users.
This brings us to our next question:
“What are the pros and cons of Android apps for designers?”
Okay, let’s take a look at the pros first:
- Ease of Customization – You can easily customize Android applications without getting restricted by the traditional limitations. An organization can adjust an Android operating system on the basis of its in-house operations.
- Ease of Adding Features – Most android applications are feature rich in terms of both functionality and usability. As a freelance graphic designer, you may add features such as email, calendar and task manager in a custom Android app.
- Ease of Inter-Application Integration – Custom Android apps allow inter-application. So, if you need a specific suite of different android applications, you may easily integrate and start using them.
Now, that you know the pros of using Android apps for designers, let’s talk about some cons too:
- Lesser Storage Memory – A typical issue with Android apps is that the system storage is small. A large number of many android device don’t allow you to store app data in your memory (SD) cards.
- Data Connection – Android apps usually have a number of process that run in the background eating up your mobile data. Thus Android apps usually increase the data cost.
- Malware & Threats – While Google Play store provides a considerably large number of applications, many of them are malware. So, you need to be very careful when downloading applications from Google Play Store.
Okay! We’re sure now you know a fair bit about Android apps for designers!
But here’s the deal:
There are hundreds and thousands of such apps and the sheer multiplicity of such design apps can perplex even the seasoned graphic designers of the lot.
So how do you pick the best app that actually work wonders?
Well, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered here!
Just spare a few minutes of your day and take your best pick from these top 10 android apps for designers.
- Infinite Design
- Of Installs: 10,000 – 50,000
- Overall Rating:9 by 670 users
- Developed by: Sean Brakefield
One of the newest kids on the block, Infinite Design app is a vector graphics app that allows designers to build and create designs using their Android powered smartphones or tablets. What makes this android app for designers rather special is that it provides user the option of creating 3D images with five different perspective views!
Moreover, Infinite Design app provides a range of ground-breaking features such as infinite canvas, unlimited layers, shape detection tools, Boolean operations, grids and much more. Designers can add special effects with path editing and use the in-built pen tool for greater control.
- Sketchbook Express
- of Installs: 5,000,000 – 10,000,000
- Overall Rating:3 by 128,57 users
- Developed by: Autodesk Inc.
Yet another popular android app for designers, Sketchbook Express is a professional paint and drawing application. It is the best bet for uber creative souls fanatics who like to sketch down every imaginative idea!
The sketch tools in the app include 15 preset brushes and an advanced color wheel. Features such as fade-effect brush, smooth lined shapes, and transform selection tool help designers ensure that their graphics are a cut above the rest.
Other attractive features include multi-touch navigation, multiple draw styles, transparency control and toggle-able layers.
Download Sketchbook Express App
- ArtFlow
- of Installs: 1,000,000 – 5,000,000
- Overall Rating:2 by 18,066 users
- Developed by: Artflow Studio.
Here is an Android app for designers that consistently tops all popularity charts – Artflow! This app was created with an aim to replace the physical sketchpad and become universal art studio type application for Android.
It offers more than 70 brushes and tools in order to provide designers with a lot of options to choose from when it comes to sketching the best of designs.
The app’s user-friendliness makes it useful for all age groups. While an 8-year-old can use it to boost his/her creativity, seasoned designers can use it for more advanced and complex designs.
It supports resolution up to 4096×4096 pixels, which means that users can create HD images on this app rather easily. It’s ‘Palm Rejection’ feature makes it unique in the list.
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- Paperless
- of Installs: 10,000 – 50,000
- Overall Rating: 8 by 261 users
- Developed by: Early Melon
Another Android app for designers that’s slowly and gradually making its place amongst some of the best applications in the world is Paperless. It provides user with access to 6 different types of tools to help them color, sketch and to insert text annotations.
It allows designers to save their work or ideas in an organized manner in the form e-books, or canvas.
This app allows designers to share their creations o social media without having to login to their individual social media accounts by exiting this app.
Freelance graphic designers’ using this app can add up to 3 different layers in an image and easily manage its opacity. It is a fairly good app. No wonder, it is liked by many.
- AutoCAD 360
- of Installs: 10,000,000 – 50,000,000
- Overall Rating: 2. by 119,597 users
- Developed by: Autodesk Inc.
Yet another brilliant Android app for designers developed by Autodesk Inc., AutoCad360 allows designers to view, create, edit and share AutoCAD drawings even when on the go, with its easy-to-use drawing and grafting tools.
Though a little complex than other apps in the list, you will be able to use a lot of high-end functions and create unique drawings, once you get to understand the functionality of this amazing app.
- Adobe Illustrator Draw
- of Installs: 500,000 – 1,000,000
- Overall Rating: 8 by 7282 users
- Developed by: Adobe Inc.
Developed by the renowned Adobe Inc., Adobe Illustrator Draw is an exceptional Android app for designers that allows users to create vector illustrations with easy and intuitive touch controls.
It has five built-in vector brushes that provide exceptional help in drawing. Moreover, it supports the most recent drawing tools such as Adonit Jot Touch , Adobe Ink, Apple Pencil, etc.
With Adobe Illustrator Draw, designers can easily create free-hand drawings with smooth, scalable strokes. It is also easy to add depth and dimension to the design projects with up to 10 drawing layers and a photo layer.
Download Adobe Illustrator Draw App
- Camera MX
- of Installs: 10,000,000 – 50,000,000
- Overall Rating: 3 by 166,342 users
- Developed by: Appic Labs Corp.
Developed by Appic Labs Corp., Camera MX app can be used to create and edit photos and videos. . A useful feature of this amazing Android app for designers is its ‘Live Shot’ feature that saves the last few seconds of the picture before it is being captured.
But the major attraction of this app for designers is its amazing image effect options including rotation, hue effects, contrast, and video trimming.
- Color Pop Effects
- of Installs: 100,000 – 500,000
- Overall Rating: 1 by 1,727 users
- Developed by: MD Mahmudur Rahman.
Though the technique of having only a part/object of the image in color is not new, Color Pop Effects has made the task of creating an image like this a piece of cake.
Some of the many innovative features of this great Android app for designers include pan and zoom, undo and redo, adjustment of brush size and control of the image opacity for precise editing, recoloring and option of social media sharing without having to necessarily exit the app.
Download Color Pop Effects App
- Fresco Paint Pro
- of Installs: 5,000 – 10,000
- Overall Rating: 1 by 172 users
- Developed by: Sean Wilson.
Fresco Paint Pro is a painting app. It turns mobile screen into a full featured canvas. It brings to its users one of the finest painting tools available across all available Android apps for designers.
With 4 layers, 21 filters and 12 brushes, the app gives users a real drawing experience. Designers can also share the images that they create on Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox and more.
- Type:Rider
- of Installs: 1,000,000 – 5,000,000
- Overall Rating: 4 by 3,199 users
- Developed by: BulkyPix
If you’re a newcomer to the design industry and are looking to know more about fonts and typography, then Type:Rider could be the most entertaining way to get started on your learning curve.
The brilliant Android app for designers is actually a game designed in the style of titles like Limbo and Badland. As you explore through the history of typography, you get to know about newer typefaces and their letterforms.
Over to You!
A designer’s life is a creatively stimulating one! You don’t know what may inspire you when. And that’s why it’s important to stay prepared to capture the idea in your mind right at that time. This is where these amazing android apps come to your rescue.
So, we recommend you to install one amongst these top 10 apps in order to stay prepared. We’re sure that with one of these mobile applications handy, you can do a lot on the go.
You can even get your own app developed. All you need to do is to reach out to Android App Development Company.
Do you know some other Android app for designers that’s deserves to be on this list? If so, then leave us a quick comment and let us know.
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