paperlogoiPad sketchbook app Paper, an Apple Design Award winner, has been updated with a clever new color picker that lets users "mix" colors like they would mix different color paint together.

The app also adds support for the Pogo Connect stylus, an $80 drawing tool that uses Bluetooth 4.0 to determine how hard an artist is drawing and Paper adjusts accordingly.

The Verge has more on how the new color mixer works:

Paper now includes a circular color mixer that lets you tap to pick a color (using RGB sliders, if you'd like), then swipe in a circle clockwise to mix colors and counter-clockwise to unmix. A long press lets you save the color you've made to one of the many black color slots the app now provides. Color is a $1.99 in-app purchase, like many of the app's add-on brushes. If you don't choose to buy it, you still have access to the palette of colors that shipped with the free app.


Paper for iPad is a free download from the App Store, with additional drawing brushes and the color picker available as in-app purchases. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

APlotdevice Avatar
172 months ago
Ugh, I wish all these pressure sensitive stylus makers would come together and agree on an standard. It's such a mess right now.

(Either that or for Apple to get over their pen phobia and produce their own.)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zunjine Avatar
172 months ago
This is one of those apps that I love not only for what it is but for the philosophy behind it. To compare it to other art applications is to miss the point completely.

Powerful tools are often also very complex tools. While Paper is powerful, it isn't designed to be a complete art app and, frankly, that's a good thing. The vast majority of people won't ever use 90% of what the other more "fully featured" art apps can do. All those extra features serve only to add complexity to the app. Rather than empowering the user they slow him down, forcing him to wade through and manage fiddly sub screens and what-not.

Paper is designed to give you a large canvas, some simple but powerful tools and then to sod off out of your way and let you get on with sketching and jotting! No, you won't use this app to create a masterpiece (probably), nor will you use it to design professional quality graphics. You'll use Paper to create quick and beautiful images as part of your creative flow. It's a tool, and a toy. It's about expression, not mastery. I applaud 53 for daring to be different and happily pay for the IAP because I want to see more stuff like this.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HappyDude20 Avatar
172 months ago
One evening I purchased the complete in-app pack purchases and to this day i'm glad I did. It only cost me under $10 and it's worth it. I've always been on my iPad and notice I used it only when I'm outside. But being able to draw with more colors will be totally worth it.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gobeatty Avatar
172 months ago
"Think it would be good for my little boy?"

Paper is my boy's (ages 7 and 9) favorite drawing app. Only feature they have ever asked for is more colors. "Daddy, I want make this Pokemon bright green. I can't get the colors I want!"

Beyond that, and now fixed, perfect app. Each boy has his own 'notebook' in the app with their own drawings as a cover. They love it and get annoyed at other apps when two-finger cirlces don't undo actions or a swipe up from the bottom doesn't bring up the tools!

And the app is FREE to download. You get the caligraphy pen and the eraser and you can create as many books/pages as you want. I used just these for months before springing for the other tools, so you CAN do a lot with the free version. It isn't 'hobbled' at all.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
everything-i Avatar
172 months ago
Looks fantastic, this is the kind of simple yet functional workflow that separates average UI design form really great UI design.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Summersify Avatar
172 months ago
An amazing addition to a brilliant app :)
Good job 53! Keep improving it!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iphone 17 models

No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest

Thursday January 1, 2026 8:43 am PST by
Apple is not expected to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports that suggest the company is planning a significant change to its long-standing annual iPhone launch cycle. Despite the immense success of the iPhone 17 in 2025, the iPhone 18 is not expected to arrive until the spring of 2027, leaving the iPhone 17 in the lineup as the latest...
duolingo ad live activity

Duolingo Used iPhone's Dynamic Island to Display Ads, Violating Apple Design Guidelines

Friday January 2, 2026 1:36 pm PST by
Language learning app Duolingo has apparently been using the iPhone's Live Activity feature to display ads on the Lock Screen and the Dynamic Island, which violates Apple's design guidelines. According to multiple reports on Reddit, the Duolingo app has been displaying an ad for a "Super offer," which is Duolingo's paid subscription option. Apple's guidelines for Live Activity state that...
Clicks Communicator Feature

'Clicks Communicator' Unveiled — Will You Carry This With Your iPhone?

Friday January 2, 2026 6:35 am PST by
The company behind the BlackBerry-like Clicks Keyboard accessory for the iPhone today unveiled a new Android 16 smartphone called the Clicks Communicator. The purpose-built device is designed to be used as a second phone alongside your iPhone, with the intended focus being communication over content consumption. It runs a custom Android launcher that offers a curated selection of messaging...
Low Cost MacBook Feature A18 Pro

Low-Price 12.9-Inch MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Reportedly Launching Early This Year

Friday January 2, 2026 9:08 am PST by
Apple plans to introduce a 12.9-inch MacBook in spring 2026, according to TrendForce. In a press release this week, the Taiwanese research firm said this MacBook will be aimed at the entry-level to mid-range market, with "competitive pricing." TrendForce did not share any further details about this MacBook, but the information that it shared lines up with several rumors about a more...
Low Cost A18 Pro MacBook Feature Pink

Apple's 2026 Low-Cost A18 Pro MacBook: What We Know So Far

Friday January 2, 2026 4:33 pm PST by
Apple is planning to release a low-cost MacBook in 2026, which will apparently compete with more affordable Chromebooks and Windows PCs. Apple's most affordable Mac right now is the $999 MacBook Air, and the upcoming low-cost MacBook is expected to be cheaper. Here's what we know about the low-cost MacBook so far. Size Rumors suggest the low-cost MacBook will have a display that's around 13 ...
Apple Fitness Plus hero

Apple Announces New Fitness+ Workout Programs, Strava Challenge, and More

Friday January 2, 2026 6:43 am PST by
Apple today announced a number of updates to Apple Fitness+ and activity with the Apple Watch. The key announcements include: New Year limited-edition award: Users can win the award by closing all three Activity Rings for seven days in a row in January. "Quit Quitting" Strava challenge: Available in Strava throughout January, users who log 12 workouts anytime in the month will win an ...
Mac Pro Feature Blue

What's Happening With the Mac Pro?

Wednesday December 31, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Mac Pro since 2023, and according to recent rumors, there's no update coming in the near future. In fact, Apple might be finished with the Mac Pro. Bloomberg recently said that the Mac Pro is "on the back burner" and has been "largely written off" by Apple. Apple apparently views the more compact Mac Studio as the ideal high-end pro-level desktop, and it has almost...