Nomad Pixel for iPad

The same app and files as the desktop, with a touch interface built around Apple Pencil Pro. It's a free download with a 14-day trial and one in-app unlock, and it needs iPadOS 26.

Get it on the App Store

One app, two interfaces

Studio is the full desktop interface. Focus is a simpler touch one built for the iPad and Apple Pencil Pro. Both run on desktop and iPad, and you can switch while you work without losing open documents or undo history.

Studio mode on the desktop: the village as a tilemap with the path and the grass on terrain layers, and the Tileset panel showing the grass terrain and its dual grid template
Focus mode on an iPad: the same village on the canvas, with the tool bar, brush size, tile picker, layers and timeline around it

  • Studio

    The whole desktop interface, with dockable workspaces for drawing, animation and tilemaps. Finger gestures work in Studio too, so you can use it on the iPad when you want every panel on screen.

  • Focus

    The canvas takes the screen, and the tools, colors, layers and timeline sit in panels you can close. Fingers move the canvas while the Pencil draws. Focus works on the desktop as well.

Made for Apple Pencil Pro

Hovering the Pencil shows the exact pixels the brush will paint, at any zoom and brush size. Fingers don't paint unless you turn that on.

  • Squeeze the Pencil to open a wheel of tools and recent colors under the tip
  • The line tool gives a small haptic tick when the line hits a clean pixel ratio
  • Pan with two fingers, pinch to zoom and twist to rotate. A two-finger tap undoes and a three-finger tap redoes
  • Touch and hold to pick a color
Focus mode on an iPad with the party on the canvas, the layers and timeline open and the idle and turn tags marked

Draw from the iPad into a file open on your desktop

Pair the iPad with the desktop app over your home Wi-Fi, pick a document the desktop has open, and draw into it with the Pencil. The desktop keeps the file open and shows each stroke as it arrives.

The party open in Studio on the desktop, with a yellow sparkle drawn from the paired iPad showing above Rory
The same party on the paired iPad in Focus mode, with the sparkle just drawn and the top bar showing the desktop as connected
  • Preferences on the desktop with companion devices turned on and the code to scan from the iPad

    Pair with a code

    Turn on companion devices in the desktop's preferences and scan the code with the iPad. The desktop asks you to allow the iPad. It works over your home Wi-Fi and needs no account or VPN.

  • The iPad connected to the desktop, listing the document open there

    Pick a document

    The iPad lists the documents the desktop has open. Pick one and it opens on both screens.

  • The iPad drawing a sparkle into the party with the desktop shown as connected

    Draw together

    Strokes from the Pencil go into the desktop's document, and the desktop shows them as they land.

  • The paired devices list on the desktop showing the iPad connected, with a Remove button

    Off by default

    Pairing stays off until you turn it on. You can remove a paired device whenever you like, and disconnecting doesn't lose any work.

Price

The iPad app is a free download with a 14-day trial, then one in-app unlock for $19.99. It's sold separately from the desktop version. Pricing details.

Get Nomad Pixel

On the App Store for iPad, free to try for 14 days. On itch.io for Windows, macOS and Linux, paid once. Steam comes later.

Get it on the App Store Get it on itch.io