Useful apps for digital storytelling
Here is a side-by-side comparison on a spreadsheet of the major features of just the animation apps, and here is a comparison of the other story-telling apps.
- Use these apps in conjunction with the image editing apps.
- Some apps only work on iPads. Universal apps work on both iPads and iPods/iPhones. iPod/iPhone apps will work on an iPad, but the quality of the image on the screen may not be as good.
- If you are using an iPod, you need an iPod with a microphone to add audio to your stories.
- To share your stories with the wider world, you will need the iPod or iPad to be able to access the internet, may need an email account associated with the device, and may need your own website.
 | iPad only $4.99 Create your own iBooks for reading on the iPad. Add pictures & text, record speech and import music, then save to iBooks. Books are shareable as ebooks, PDFs, or printable. Creates fixed layout books.(Fixed layout iBooks are not ideal for long texts.) |
 | iPad only $1.99 Draw pictures or use photos to illustrate your story. Add text and audio recording. Read your finished book right inside the app or share your story book as an ePub via email to anyone with an iPhone or iPad. Publish your story book to iBooks. |
 | FREE From the Open University in the UK. Use pictures from the photo album on your iDevice, add text and audio to create a digital book. See here for more info. |
 | Universal app $14.99 ea. (1-19 units), $7.49 ea. (20+ units) The most expensive of the apps listed on this page. Has a text-to-speech option. Read more about Pictello here. |
 PhotoPuppet HD PhotoPuppet Go | PhotoPuppet HD for iPad. $4.99 ea. (1-19 units), $2.49 ea. (20+ units) PhotoPuppet Go for iPod/iPhone $0.99 (No volume discount) Almost the most expensive of the apps listed on this page, this potentially is also the most versatile of the animation apps in that you can build your own puppets from your own content rather than depending on characters provided by the publisher. Not only can finished animations be shared, but so can the puppets you create to use in the app. This app probably has the steepest learning curve of all the apps listed on this page . . . See here for more about PhotoPuppet |
 | For iPad only $2.99 ea. (1-19 units), $1.49 ea. (20+ units) With built-in production elements like sound effects and music, Playtime Theater promises to be an outstanding app for creative storytelling. and has been well-reviewed. Version 1.0 did not allow you to save or export your stories, but the developers have listened to their customers and you can now save up to 10 stories in-app. For the moment you are still limited to the fairy-tale castle theme, but the developers promise other themes in future updates. See here and here for more information on Playtime Theater. |
 | Available for both iPod and iPad (HD version) (Not universal - must buy each separately) FREE, $2.99 to buy all the extra available content or $0.99 for one set of characters "Create your own unique shows with animation and audio in real time! Simply pick out your actors and backdrops, drag them on to the stage, and tap record. Your movements and audio will be recorded in real time for playback later. "Video export option on the iPod/iPhone requires 3GS (or better) or comparable iPod touch. The app will run on older devices just without the video render option. See here and here for more info on Puppet Pals. |
 Scribble Press | For iPad only FREE Similar in many ways to StoryKit. 50 built-in story templates that you can use as starting points for a story, or you can choose to start with a blank book. Plenty of options for illustrating your story. No audio option. Finished stories can be read in the app itself, saved from the app as an ePub file that can be added to iBooks, or shared via the Scribble Press website. See here for more information about Scribble Press. |
 | Universal app FREE. In-app purchases range from $0.99 to $4.99 for additional characters and backgrounds Record a story with your chosen puppets, background and props. Choose the pitch of each character's voice. Finished videos can be shared by uploading to Facebook or YouTube. See more about Sock Puppets here. |
 | FREE Choose pictures from the album on your iDevice, add pictures with the camera, or add video. Then add text and captions to create a 'book' you can share on the story.us website. More about using Story |
 | FREE * Write some text. * Illustrate by drawing on the screen, taking a photograph of something you see, or drawing on paper and then photographing the paper, or attaching photos from your album. * Sounds can be recorded for telling your story or as sound effects. * Layout the elements of your story (text boxes, images, and sound clips) freely by dragging them or pinching to resize. * Add, reorder, or delete pages from your book. Your story is always saved in your iPod. Carry it with you and work on it any time. Upload your story to the StoryKit web server and email a link to the story from within the app. No account is necessary. Stories are private until you share the address. More about using StoryKit |
 | $0.99 Choose pictures from your album, make sure they are in the correct order and record a narration to go with them. Save as a video. More about using StoryRobe |
 SonicPics | $2.99 ea. (1-19 units), $1.49 ea. (20+ units) Add images from your iPhone's photo library or camera, arrange your photos, and then narrate the project to create an enhanced m4v video (complete with chapters). See here and here for more info on SonicPics. |
 | iPad only $2.99 ea. (1-19 units), $1.49 ea. (20+ units) Toontastic provides more built-in structure to the process of story creation than any of the other apps listed here. The company website says it is for the creation of: an animated story made up of different types of scenes: a Setup, a Conflict, a Challenge, a Climax & a Resolution. Together, these scenes form the Story Arc. Toontastic guides kids through the Story Arc, introducing key concepts and helping them to define the turning points in their stories.Finished projects all get saved to/shared via the ToonTube website. Read more about Toontastic here. |
| Universal app $1.99 ea. (1-19 units), $0.99 ea. (20+ units) Create a story with text, illustrations and audio (music, recorded speech or text-to-speech). |
Here is a side-by-side comparison on a spreadsheet of the major features of just the animation apps, and here is a comparison of the other story-telling apps.
