Lake vs Recolor

Lake is a freemium iOS coloring app built around hand-drawn books from independent illustrators. The homepage advertises more than 1,500 unique illustrations and says additional books are coming. Tools include artistic brushes, palettes, a color picker and a rainbow with over 700 shades. Coloring is freeform, works offline and can include imported images. Lake presents coloring as a way to support mindfulness, relieve anxiety and unwind, while saying part of each subscription fee goes directly to artists. The app is intended for iPhone and iPad and is available in English plus 10 other languages. Lake began in 2016 with an idea for illustrators and fans to co-create. The App Store lists it as free with in-app purchases and a free trial. Listed options are Lake Coloring at $9.99 a month or $39.99 a year, and Lake Premium at $29.99, paid once, with no term specified. Apple’s listing says the developer may collect purchases, coarse location, identifiers, product interaction and crash data not linked to the user.

Recolor is an adult coloring app for relaxation and creative expression on Android and iOS. It offers more than 4,000 coloring pages created and curated by professional artists, plus freeform coloring for pictures users import themselves. Free users can import three pictures in 24 hours; subscribers can import without a stated limit. Tools include more than 70 palettes, solid and live colors, gradients, crayons, and more than 80 effects, filters, and outlines. The app does not list brush tools. A public gallery lets users share colored pictures, like other artists’ work, and comment. Free users can publish five pictures in 24 hours. The monthly Premium subscription has no listed price and unlocks 5,000+ pictures, all colors, effects, filters, and outlines, unlimited image imports, and publishing for 20 pictures in 24 hours. Recolor offers a seven-day trial. iOS subscriptions can be weekly, monthly, or yearly; Android subscriptions can be monthly or yearly. Free Android artwork is stored locally, while subscribers can use Google Drive backup.